Jalapeno Apricot Chicken Wings
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Jalapeno Apricot Chicken Wings are sweet and spicy, and with a secret ingredient, these wings are baked to crispy perfection!
Jalapeno Apricot Chicken Wings are the crispiest baked chicken wing you’ll make this season, all thanks to one secret ingredient! Baking powder is the secret ingredient, and while it sounds super odd, it creates the most unbelievably crispy wings.
Thanks to Cooks Illustrated, baking powder is the prime medium for crispy wings. Not to get too food nerd on you, but the makeup of baking powder draws the moisture out of the chicken skin. Producing super crispy skin, perfect for any chicken wing recipe you have!
The other part of the secret to the crispy wings you know and love that are traditionally fried is the cooking method. Roasted in a low-temperature oven for a good half hour, before being blasted with heat. The low heat causes the fat to melt, and moisture to evaporate. The high temperature dries out the skin, creating a crispy exterior you can hear immediately when you take them off the baking rack.
ITEMS YOU NEED TO BAKE CHICKEN WINGS
WHAT KIND OF WINGS CAN YOU MAKE?
Any kind of wings! Order some wing sauces from Amazon, and try them all! Or, make your own at home. I’ll show you how to make a wing sauce using pantry staples — you can use this formula to make all kinds of sauces for chicken wings, chicken tenders, or grilled chicken breasts.
HOMEMADE CHICKEN WING SAUCE IDEAS:
Oven-baked chicken wings are perfect for any game day weekend! You can make up a few sheet pans, keep them warm in the oven, then let people sauce their own little basket.
I like to keep these paper food trays on hand for easy DIY service. People load up their tray, and take it wherever they like. It’s a great way to serve any tailgating food, too – especially at the stadium! Since these paper trays stack, you can purchase a whole bunch of them, then just keep them in the pantry on a shelf.
These are great for sending kids outside for supper, too! ((I’m really not a paper food tray sales lady, but I sound like one! ??))
HOW DO I MAKE OVEN-BAKED CHICKEN WINGS?
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.
Pat your wing pieces dry using a paper towel. Be sure to pat each side dry, and if you flip to the wet side, flip it onto a paper towel – otherwise, the first side gets wet again.
Toss your wings with 1 tablespoon of baking powder for every 2 pounds of chicken wings. DO NOT USE BAKING SODA! It’s not the same thing, and cannot be substituted. You can add salt and pepper or a dry rub here as well. Just be sure to toss really well, so each wing gets a proper coating of the baking powder + spice mixture.
Line your half sheet pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil, and place a baking rack overtop. Spray the rack with non-stick cooking spray.
Place your wings onto the rack, being careful not to overcrowd.
Roast your wings at 250 degrees for half an hour. After half an hour, raise the temperature to 425 degrees for another 40 minutes. Watch carefully as every oven is different. If your pan is crowded, the wings will take longer to crisp up. If you’re just baking a dozen, they should take about 35 minutes under a 425-degree oven.
Once they are crispy to your liking, toss in wing sauce once they’ve come out of the oven. Serve immediately!
Jalapeno Apricot Chicken Wings use jalapeno apricot jelly that has been melted down. I purchased mine at the farmers market, but any hot pepper jelly will work. Equal parts spicy pepper jelly and hot sauce combined over low heat until the jelly melts and a sauce forms.
It’s just delicious!
Jalapeno Apricot Chicken Wings
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 75 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Category: appetizer
- Method: roasting
- Cuisine: american
Description
Jalapeno Apricot Chicken Wings are sweet and spicy, and with a secret ingredient, these wings are baked to crispy perfection!
Ingredients
Chicken Wings
- 2 pounds chicken wings
- 1 tablespoon baking POWDER
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
Wing Sauce:
- 1/3 cup jalapeno apricot jam
- 1/3 cup hot sauce
- 1/2 stick butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.
- Pat your wing pieces dry using a paper towel. Be sure to pat each side dry, and if you flip to the wet side, flip it onto a paper towel – otherwise, the first side gets wet again.
- Toss your wings with 1 tablespoon of baking powder for every 2 pounds of chicken wings. DO NOT USE BAKING SODA! It’s not the same thing, and cannot be substituted. You can add salt and pepper or a dry rub here as well. Just be sure to toss really well, so each wing gets a proper coating of the baking powder + spice mixture.
- Line your half sheet pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil, and place a baking rack overtop. Spray the rack with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place your wings onto the rack, being careful not to overcrowd.
- Roast your wings at 250 degrees for half an hour. After half an hour, raise the temperature to 425 degrees for another 40 minutes. Watch carefully as every oven is different. If your pan is crowded, the wings will take longer to crisp up. If you’re just baking a dozen, they should take about 35 minutes under a 425-degree oven.
- While the wings roast in the oven, in a small sauce pan over medium low heat, melt apricot jam, hot sauce, and butter until a sauce forms. You may need to whisk everything together before pouring over wings after they’ve cooked.
- Once they are crispy to your liking, toss in wing sauce once they’ve come out of the oven.
- Serve immediately!
Notes
You can make the wings ahead of time, just warm back up in the oven on the roasting rack at 350 degrees.
What is your favorite chicken wing?! If you’ve got an air fryer, check out this Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings recipe! It is SO tasty!
These wings sound absolutely amazing! I had no idea baking powder makes them so crispy! Love that they are not fried too!
And, I should be linking to YOU!! Telling folks to use the end of their jar of whatever to create a wing sauce! 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
This was the first time I’ve used jam on wings but it won’t be the last. It was so good!!
Woo hoo!! So glad!!!
I did not know about baking powder for wings! Our Sunday football food will be forever changed, because I will totally do this now. (btw I love that you emphasized POWDER in your recipe card because it’s so often confused with baking soda – smart chickie!)
Oh yeah!! Sunday Night Wings FTW! ((And, I only emphasized it because it’s easy to confuse the two, and think they’re substitutes!)) Thanks for stopping by!
Ordinary wings can go take a seat! This jalapeno apricot sauce on these wings is a game-changer.
Oh yeah!!! It’s so so good!
I don’t think that I have ever had chicken wings made with such combo, but it certainly sounds fantastic! I’ve got to get everything I need for this recipe now and make a big batch of these wings this weekend!
Enjoy!! You won’t be able to stop! 😉
You got me at jalapeno and wings love spicy foods and then adding the sweetness of the apricot makes this chicken wings so special finger-licking no doubt
Oh yeah!! It’s a great combo!! Thanks for popping by, Adriana!