Baked Tandoori Chicken Wings

Baked tandoori chicken wings are a great snack to enjoy while watching the game.

It’s weird to me that we’re already in the college basketball playoffs. If time is measured by sporting events, we’re flying through the year.

Pretty soon it will be August and we’ll be collectively hoping Bob Costas doesn’t contract a new disease in Brazil.

Anyway.

Chicken wings have always been associated with sports for me, probably like a lot of people. Apparently we Americans like to get extremely messy when watching sports, probably so we have something else to focus on if our team is playing poorly.

Everyone has their preferences when it comes to wings. I like the “drumette” part of the wing. 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.

And then, of course, there’s baking.

how to make baked chicken wings

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

By setting the wings onto a broiler pan or a cooling rack set on a rimmed baking sheet, the hot air has room to move around the wings. This lets you achieve plenty of crisped texture without the extra fat.

Flavor for these tandoori chicken wings is provided by way of a day-long marinade, which also helps keep the chicken moist inside. I made my raspberry chipotle wings on the stove, but I think I might be an oven convert!

Baking wings is also an extremely hands-off process, giving you plenty of time to whip up a dipping sauce or spend time mixing together other snacks, such as roasted garlic guacamole or roasted veggie dip, instead.

tandoori chicken wings

Tandoori chicken wings utilize yogurt in the marinade, which is an excellent way to prepare chicken.

The tang from the yogurt combined with onion and garam masala bumps up the chicken wings into a level that’s more complex than just dousing them in hot sauce.

And after all, why not give your guests something a little bit unexpected after a season full of buffalo wings?

You can make these tandoori chicken wings as spicy as you like by adding more cayenne pepper, and then cool things off with a simple raita, which is just a yogurt sauce.

There’s many different ways to make raita, but my favorite has cucumber and mint. It’s a more elevated way to munch on chicken wings than ranch dressing!.

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

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

Baked Tandoori Chicken Wings

Author: Megan | Stetted

Prep Time: 4 hours

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours 35 minutes

Servings: 8 servings

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Ingredients

• 5 pounds chicken wings
• 1 medium onion , cut into wedges
• 1 8- ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 6- ounce carton plain Greek yogurt
• 4 cloves garlic , coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper , optional
• 2 whole cloves

For the raita

• 8 ounces plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cucumber , grated
• 1 clove garlic , pressed
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped mint
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Place the chicken wings in a 3-quart rectangular baking dish; set aside.
2. In a blender or food processor, combine onion, tomato sauce, yogurt, garlic, garam masala, ginger, salt, cayenne pepper, and whole cloves. Blend to a very smooth paste.
3. Pour the tandoori masala over the chicken wings; turn chicken wings to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours.
4. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place a wire rack on top of a baking sheet, or use a broiler pan. Arrange chicken wings on rack or pan in a single layer. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Transfer drummettes to a serving platter.
5. To make the raita, mix together yogurt, cucumber, garlic, mint,salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. Serve with the chicken wings.

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