Spicy baked chicken wings, pile them high and serve with our light and refreshing lime crema dressing. This is a real family favourite and a winner with adults and children alike!
Is there anything more tempting that a bowl of spicy chicken wings doused with hot sauce and cooling lime crema? I'm not sure there is! This is one of our favourite dishes to share with family and friends.
The perfect balance of the spicy hot sauce and the cooling lime crema is a taste explosion and can be easily adapted to suit individual palettes. Place the wings on the table then let everyone top them as they like.
Whether its a main for 2, a side for 4 or a trebled up serving to feed friends, our spicy baked chicken wings will keep everyone coming back for more.
Recipe ingredients
- Wings: I use a large pack of fresh chicken wings in this recipe.
- Dry spices: I use a combination of smoked paprika, dried oregano, ground cumin, ground coriander, garlic powder, black pepper and some sea salt in my dry spice rub.
- Oil: I use sunflower or olive oil to combine the dry spices into a paste for the chicken wings.
- Lime Crema: For the lime crema I combine sourced cream (you could also use greek yogurt or creme fraiche), with the zest and juice of ½ lime with a pinch of salt.
- Garnish: I like to garnish the wings with some fresh coriander leaf and drizzle over some of my favourite hot sauce to serve.
How to make Oven Baked Chicken Wings
- Preheat the oven to 180CFan/200C and look out all your ingredients.
- Place all the spices into a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil, stir to form a paste.
- Place the chicken wings into a large bowl and pour over the spice paste.
- Ensure the chicken wings are completely coated in the spice paste.
- Add the second tablespoon of oil to a large shallow sided baking tray and place the spice coated wings in a single layer.
- Bake the wings in the oven for 25 minutes then remove the tray from the oven and turn the wings over.
- Return the tray to the oven and cook the wings for a further 25 minutes.
How to make lime crema?
- Pour the sour cream into a bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice and a pinch of salt.
- Give everything a good stir to combine, then pop the lime crema into the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Recipe substitutions and variations
- My spice blend comprises a blend of spices that I like to eat. However, this is versatile dish so feel free to add the spices that you and your family enjoy eating.
- There is no chilli powder in our blend, as I want to ensure that our kids eat these wings too. Instead we add hot sauce to our own wings when we want to increase the chilli heat.
- Smoked paprika add a lovely smokiness to the chicken wings you can buy it in sweet and hot varieties depending on how much heat you want to add.
- Chicken wings are the perfect pick up food. You could also use the same spice paste and lime crema for chicken thighs, whole chicken legs, or chicken drumsticks.
- Lime crema is made using sour cream with lime zest and juice. You could also use a combination of sour cream and double cream, or even some buttermilk. Or swap the cream for creme fraiche or Greek yogurt.
- Recipe toppings, as well as the lime crema I topped the wings with some fresh coriander and a drizzle of hot sauce. You could add other chilli sauces, some thinly sliced fresh chilli, chopped parsley, thinly sliced spring onions. In other words top these wings using the ingredients and flavours you enjoy.
Useful hints and tips
- This recipe feeds 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter.
- Leftover wings no problem. Pop them into the fridge and reheat them in a warm oven for 15 minutes the next day until the chicken has heated through.
- This recipe is easily doubled up and doubled up again if necessary! Ideal for anyone hosting a larger party or having friends around to watch the game.
- Oven baked wings are ideal for anyone following a gluten free diet as our spice paste does not contain any gluten products. Just ensure that if using the optional hot sauce that you choose a gluten free variety.
- Allergy advice: gluten free, egg free, soya free. For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.
FAQs
Lime crema is a sour cream based dressing or dipping sauce that is flavoured with both lime zest, lime juice and just a pinch of salt. It adds a lovely coolness to our spicy baked chicken wings.
Yes, oven baked wings are healthier than deep fried wings and provided you don't over-bake them, they are just as juicy.
Also I have coated the wings in my own spice paste. The advantages of making your own spice paste are that you can firstly use the spices that you enjoy eating. Don't like a particular spice, then leave it out! You also have total control over the amount of salt and sugar you put into the paste. My spice paste contains only ½ teaspoon of salt and no sugar.
There are elements of this recipe that can be made ahead of time. You can make the spice paste and coat the chicken wings, then set aside to marinate in the fridge until you are ready to cook. The extra marinate time will only enhance the flavour.
You can also make the lime crema ahead of time, simply cover and pop into the fridge until you are ready to cook the chicken wings.
I do not recommend cooking the chicken wings in advance as the wings are at their best served hot straight from the oven.
Although best eaten hot from the oven, once cooked and cooled the spicy chicken wings can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. When ready to enjoy reheat in a hot oven until warmed through.
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Additional recipe suggestions
If you like this recipe then try some of these recipes which all the family will enjoy:
- Easy Chicken Tacos
- Chicken Shawarma Kebabs
- 3 Classic Hot Dog Toppings
- Twice Baked Potatoes
- Sticky Sausage Traybake
- Cajun Chicken & Vegetable Traybake
- Lemon & Paprika Chicken Kebabs
For more recipe ideas, hints and tips on how to feed the family, have a look at my Ultimate Guide to Family Dinners.
Spicy Baked Chicken Wings with Lime Crema
Ingredients
Wings
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (heaped)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 kg chicken wings
- 2 tablespoon sunflower oil
- fresh coriander (to serve)
- hot sauce (to serve)
Lime Crema
- 150 ml soured cream
- ½ lime (zest & juice)
- pinch salt
Instructions
Wings
- Preheat the oven to 180°CFan/200°C.
- In a small bowl, mix all the spices together with 1 tablespoon of the sunflower oil to form a paste.
- Place the chicken wings in a large bowl. At this stage cut them in half at the wing joint for small wing portions or choose to leave them whole.
- Add the spice paste to the wings and mix well to thoroughly coat the wings.
- Add the second tablespoon of oil to a large shallow-sided baking tray. Place the spice coated wings in a single layer on the sheet.
- Place the tray in the hot oven and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and turn the wings over. Return the tray to the oven and continue to bake a further 25 minutes.
Lime Crema
- While the wings are baking, get on with making the lime crema dipping sauce.
- Add the salt, lime zest & juice to the soured cream and mix well. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
- Once the wings have cooked, remove from the oven. Drizzle over some hot sauce and the lime crema. Top with freshly chopped coriander and serve - with lots of napkins!
Notes
• Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only •
Chloe says
Yeh so I'm going to need to quadruple this recipe!
Lesley says
Ha ha, yes I'm not the best a sharing a bowl of wings myself.
Cat says
These are amazing! And the crema really sets them off. I was raving about them and now my Mum is desperate to get her hands on some chicken wings because she wants to make them ASAP!
Lesley says
Thank you Cat, I totally agree that the lime crema really does make a huge difference. I hope your Mum enjoys them.
Janice says
So delicious, and I love that the chilli is an optional extra.
Lesley says
Thank you Janice, as much as I love chilli, it's always best left as optional as I know not everyone shares my love of very hot food.
Karen says
Love a citrus crema and often make one for my fish tacos! This looks SCRUMPTIOUS and would be a great midweek family meal.
Lesley says
Thank you Karen, the lime crema really does lift the dish and is so simple to make.