Chili Lime Chicken Wings & Dipping Sauce

At a glance

What stands out: Glazed with a sweet and tangy sauce, oven baked chili lime chicken wings are crispy and sticky, just the way they’re supposed to be! This recipe comes with its own sour cream dipping sauce, too!

How long it takes: 50 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, sheet pan with wire rack, small saucepan
Servings: 4

Chili Lime Glazed Wings & Sauce

An standout glaze. While crispy chicken wings are pretty irresistible, the glaze on these wings makes them special. Butter, honey, lime, garlic, and chili powder simmer while the wings bake; then this zippy glaze is slathered on the wings, and wow! Wait til you try them!

Includes a creamy dipping sauce. This recipe includes a great sour cream dip that’s reliable for dipping these wings. (The dip is great! You’ll want to use it for everything!)

An appetizer or main dish. Serve chili lime chicken wings as an appetizer at your next big shindig or enjoy them for dinner time. They’re straightforward to mix (you can even make them ahead) and everyone loves them. If you’re looking for a great salad to serve with the wings, try this Asian-style cabbage salad with mandarin oranges and honey lime dressing.

Jared Said:

“This recipe is a keeper in our household. The glaze and the dipping sauce. 100% recommend.”

See More Reader Reviews

What goes in

• Chicken wings: We recommend either chicken wings or wing portions. If you buy whole chicken wings, trim off the wing tips if desired. You could also substitute chicken drumsticks if you prefer, keeping in mind that legs will take slightly longer to cook.
• Seasoning: Coat the wings with a mixture of flour, baking powder, and garlic powder, chili powder, lime zest, and salt. The baking powder aids in the crisping process, drawing out excess moisture. If you don’t happen to have baking powder, just skip it. Your wings will still turn out fine.

• Glaze: For the glaze, you’ll need butter, honey, lime juice, lime zest, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt. If you like spicy wings, add a little cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.

• Dipping sauce: Sour cream, lime juice, green onions, garlic powder, paprika, and lime zest are stirred together for a creamy dip that contrasts nicely with the wings.

Cooking Smart

You’ll notice that the flour mixture for the wings, the glaze, and the dip have many of the same ingredients. We recommend making them all at once. Get out a large bowl for the seasoned flour, a small saucepan for the glaze, and a small bowl for the dip. Measure out ingredients for each. It takes a little focus but it’s nice to get it all done at once. Refrigerate the dip until you’re ready to use it.

How it comes together

Season and bake the wings. For the first step, the wings are coated with seasoned flour and baked until they are crispy and completely cooked.

Add the glaze. Once the wings are baked, they get coated with a good glaze. This is totally a standby part! Either brush the sauce on or dump the wings and sauce in a big bowl and toss them around until each wing is coated (that’s our preferred method).

Serve as is, bake, or broil to set the glaze. This is your choice. You can serve the wings freshly glazed, stick them back into the oven for 5 minutes, or run them under the broiler for a few minutes to set the glaze. This one’s totally up to you.

Broiling caramelizes the glaze ensuring that the wings are finger lickin’ good. If you choose to broil the wings, reserve a fourth cup of the glaze so you can brush just a little more on the wings after they come out of the broiler, so they are good and sticky.

Watch these tasty chili lime chicken wings fly off the platter! Serve them garnished with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro, green onions, or parsley. And don’t forget the sour cream dipping sauce! And LOTS of napkins!

Helpful Tips

Use a wire rack. Baking the chicken wings on a wire rack eliminates the need to flip them. If you don’t happen to have a wire rack that fits inside a rimmed sheet pan, it’s a good idea to flip them halfway through the baking time so that they bake evenly and crisp on both sides.

Check with an instant read thermometer. A standby way to tell when chili lime chicken wings are done is by inserting an instant read thermometer into the meatiest part of the wing. The temperature should be at least 165° F. If you don’t have a thermometer, pierce a wing with a fork. The juices should run clear, not pink or bloody.

Add the sauce after baking. Coat the wings with the glaze or sauce after baking when the wings are crisp and dry. The sauce will stick to the exterior of the wings and coat them beautifully. If you put sauce on before baking the wings, they won’t get crispy and the sauce may scorch.

Ways to change it

• Add a little heat. If you like spicy wings, add cayenne pepper or hot pepper flakes to the glaze. How much you add depends on how hot you like them. We'd start with a pinch and work up from there.
• Make them in your air fryer. Here’s the straightforward recipe for air fryer chicken wings. We love using an air fryer for wings because it’s fast and they turn out so well. You can glaze them as directed in this recipe.
• Try drumsticks instead. Drummies are fine in this recipe but bake them a bit longer, about forty minutes.
• Go Asian. Try these baked spicy Asian chicken wings.

Make-Ahead

Wings: While they won’t be quite as crispy, you can make a bunch of chicken wings ahead. Buy a big package, bake the wings, cover them with the sauce, as directed, but don’t broil them. Cool the wings down, wrap, and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to a month.

Dip:The sour cream dip can be made up to three days in advance. Refrigerate in a tightly covered container. Stir well before serving.

Reheating

For refrigerated leftover wings: Reheat in the microwave, or see method below, reducing baking time slightly.

For frozen cooked wings: Line a large baking pan with foil for straightforward cleanup. Arrange the frozen wings in a single layer and bake, uncovered, in a preheated oven (400°F) for 13 to 16 minutes or until heated through (145°F).

• Yield: 4 main dish
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 35 minutes
• Total: 49 minutes

Ingredients

For Wings:

• 3 pounds chicken wings (or chicken drumettes and flats)
• ¾ cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

For Glaze:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon lime juice (be sure to zest the lime first!)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon lime zest
• cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes, if desired (see note)

For Dip (optional):

• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 green onions, sliced
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon lime zest
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Method

1. If you're using whole chicken wings, trim off the wing tip portion. You can also use chicken wing portions (drumettes and flats).
2. Preheat oven to 425°F. Pat the chicken wings dry with a paper towel. Combine flour, baking powder, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, lime zest in large bowl. Add the wings in batches, 3 or 4 at a time, and toss to coat.
3. Arrange the chicken wings on a wire rack lightly sprayed with cooking spray, set on a large rimmed sheet pan. We usually line the sheet pan with foil for easy clean up.
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the wings are crisp and the internal temperature reaches at least 165°F.
5. Meanwhile, combine the glaze ingredients in small saucepan. Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until the honey has melted and the glaze is starting to bubble and thicken.
6. Stir together the dip ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use. The dipping sauce can be made up to a day ahead.
7. Option 1: When wings have finished baking, put them in a large bowl, pour the glaze over, and toss until the wings are coated with glaze. Serve immediately.
8. Option 2: Brush each wing with sauce. Reserve about ¼ cup of sauce to brush on after broiling. Place the wings about 6 inches away from the broiler. Turn the broiler to high and broil for 2 to 3 minutes or until the wings start to caramelize. Don’t walk away because they can burn very quickly! Remove from the broiler and brush on remaining glaze.
9. Serve glazed wings hot, garnished with green onions or parsley, if desired. Serve dipping sauce on the side.

Notes

Add spicy heat. These are mild wings. If you would like to make them spicier, add cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to the glaze, to taste.

Make them in your air fryer. Preheat the air fryer to 400°F. Arrange wings in a single layer on the rack. You’ll have to do them in batches. Air fry for 9 to 10 minutes, flipping once. Keep cooked wings warm in a low oven (200°F), arranged on a wire rack in a sheet pan so they stay crispy.

Substitute drumsticks. Drumsticks work fine in this recipe but bake them a bit longer, about 40 minutes.