Tandoori Baked Chicken Wings

This post contains affiliate links and may earn commissions on recommended products. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Full of flavor while skipping the fryer, these tandoori baked chicken wings are a great snack to enjoy while watching the game.

This recipe has been retested and updated since first posting March 2016.

When I first posted these chicken wings, I couldn’t have imagined that all these years later, wings would be one of my kids’ favorite foods.

Everyone has their preferences when it comes to wings. I like the “drumette” part of the wing. My older son prefers the flats. Other people like boneless wings. (Which are just chicken nuggets, people.)

Then there’s the preference to how they’re cooked. Some like them triple-fried, which tastes amazing but isn’t necessarily appreciative of your heart function. Unless you just like to get it to work really, really hard, that is.

I prefer to bake chicken wings, which not only keeps the mess to a minimum, it also gives the chicken a great crispy exterior like on my sticky chicken wings.

This version is inspired by tandoori chicken. We can’t mimic those high temperatures in a home kitchen, but we can still enjoy the wonderful flavors!

Ingredients for baked chicken wings

Full list of ingredients with quantities is located in the recipe card.

You’ll need:

• Chicken wings – A mix of flats and drummettes is best for a big group.
• Onion
• Tomato sauce
• Plain Greek yogurt – Any fat percentage is fine.
• Garlic
• Garam masala
• Fresh ginger
• Salt and pepper
• Paprika
• Ground cumin
• Ground cayenne pepper
• Whole cloves

If you are making the optional raita (I highly recommend it!), you’ll also need:

• Cucumber
• Cilantro
• Mint

Garam masala is a spice blend that will be slightly different from store to store. Generally, it contains cinnamon, cumin, cloves, green or black cardamom, bay leaves, and peppercorns. It might also have star anise, nutmeg, fennel seeds, or mace. If you have an Indian grocery near you, definitely grab it there, but you’ll also be able to find it at any supermarket.

how to make baked chicken wings

Baking chicken wings works a lot better than you might think. I promise you can get great flavor and crispy texture from baking!

First we will need to marinate the chicken, which will flavor the chicken as well as help keep it moist during cooking.

Put the chicken wings in a large rectangular baking dish. If you don’t have one, you can use a couple of smaller baking dishes, or gallon-size plastic bags. Use ceramic or glass dishes, not metal.

Using a blender or a food processor, combine the onion, tomato sauce, yogurt, garlic, garam masala, ginger, salt, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and cloves. Blend it all together until it is a very smooth paste.

Pour the marinade over the chicken wings and use tongs or a fork to turn over the chicken so it coats on all sides. Cover tightly with plastic wrap (or seal the bag) and place in the refrigerator.

You can marinate for as little as 4 hours, or up to 24 hours. When I make these wings, I usually prep them in the morning after breakfast, so they’re ready to cook for a midday kickoff or for dinner after work.

When it’s time to cook, preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a couple of rimmed baking sheets with foil or parchment paper for easy cleanup, and top with a wire cooling rack.

With this method, the hot air has room to move around the wings. This lets you achieve plenty of crisped texture without the extra fat. If you have a broiler pan, you can also use that.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and arrange it on the prepared baking sheets in a single layer. Discard the marinade.

Bake wings for 35-40 minutes, until crisp.

To make the optional sauce, stir together yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, chopped cilantro, chopped mint, salt, cumin, and pepper. Taste and adjust any seasoning.

Serve the crispy wings with the raita for dipping and watch them disappear!

recipe tips

You can make these tandoori chicken wings as spicy as you like by adding more cayenne pepper. The cucumber sauce will help cool off any extra-spicy bites.

For the raita, you can dice the cucumber into small pieces rather than grating, or do half and half for a uniform flavor with a bit more texture. If you prefer, you can leave the cilantro out.

If you can only find whole wing pieces, you can either leave them as-is or separate them by using a sharp knife to cut through the joint. Cut off the wing tip and discard, or save to make chicken broth.

Baking wings is an extremely hands-off process, giving you plenty of time to whip other snacks, such as roasted garlic guacamole, firecracker crackers, or sweet potato wedges.

If you have an air fryer, try air fryer buffalo wings!

If you have any leftover raita, you can put it on everything from lamb burgers to chicken and rice bowls. Or just grill up a piece of naan and eat it right from the fridge. I won’t judge.

Making these crispy baked chicken wings for a party spread? Make sure to serve up some delicious crab dip as well!

For more tandoori chicken recipes, try spicy tandoori chicken drumsticks, grilled tandoori chicken, or air fryer tandoori chicken.