I know that turkey isn’t on our plates all that often. For most people, it’s basically a once in a year type of a dish… for Thanksgiving. But it doesn’t have to be that way. After all, we don’t have to cook the whole bird either, right? You know what’s my favorite part of turkey? It’s the wings. Turkey wings are much larger than chicken wings and they taste just as great…if not better. If you have never cooked these before, I have a very simple BAKED TURKEY WINGS recipe for you today.

This recipe requires just a few ingredients, no complicated preparations are needed and it only takes about an hour and half from start to finish. These baked turkey wings are best served with rice or mashed potatoes… and some vegetable salad would go really with them too.

What are some other ways of cooking turkey wings?

My preferred way is to bake them in the oven, but there are other options. Smoked turkey wings are awesome, for example. You could also make them in a slow cooker, braise in a pan, bread and deep fry. Basically, you can cook turkey wings the same way as chicken wings, just keep in mind these are way bigger so you need to adjust the cooking times.

TIP: Want to try some of the mentioned methods? Check these three chicken recipes and just use turkey wings instead: Grilled, Oven baked or Breaded & fried. And here is a nice smoked turkey wings recipe from Darcey.

Baked turkey wings recipe ingredients

Base:
4 large turkey wings (1 per person)
Half a cup of cherry tomatoes
3-4 sprigs of basil

Marinade:
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
Chopped herbs of choice (I’ve used fresh rosemary)
2 tablespoons of honey
1 half of a lemon
3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
Salt and pepper to taste

How to make baked turkey wings

Read on or watch the recipe video below:

First thing we need to prepare is the marinade. Start with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Add chopped herbs of choice, I have used fresh rosemary, but thyme would work great too. Add about 2 tablespoons of honey and the juice from one half of a lemon. Go on with 3 cloves of crushed garlic and wrap it up with a generous amount of salt and black pepper. Mix properly and our marinade is ready.

Turkey wings are usually quite large so it’s better to cut them in 2 parts. Locate the join and cut through it with a sharp knife, it should go pretty easily.

Note: You can totally leave the wings intact, but when cut in 2 parts they will bake a bit quicker and it’s easier to lay them out evenly on the pan or baking dish.

One tip now. The marinade would need a few hours to properly season the meat, but I didn’t want to wait. So to make sure we have enough flavors in, I’m adding a bit more salt and pepper from both sides. Massage the wings a bit to make sure the spices are spread evenly. In case you have the time, leave the wings marinating in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

The next step is to coat the turkey wings with our marinade. Add them one by one and make sure every single piece is properly covered with the marinade.

Place the wings at the bottom of a deep baking dish now. If possible, leave some space between the pieces. And definitely don’t discard the excess marinade. Pour it over the wings for maximum flavor.

TIP: The spaces between the wings will allow them to bake from all sides better, which equals to more crispy skin.

To make sure the wings don’t burn from the bottom, add a bit of water. Don’t pour the water directly over the wings, that would wash the tasty marinade away. And do not add too much water, one quarter of an inch is all we need. Alternatively, you can replace the water with chicken stock, but that’s optional.

Cover the baking dish with foil and place it into the oven that you preheated to 425F or 220C. Bake for about 50 – 60 minutes.

While the wings are baking, let’s prepare some tomatoes that we will add to the baking dish later on. I’m using about half a cup of cherry tomatoes that I cut into halves. Some herbs will make this even better so let’s cut a few sprigs of fresh basil into larger pieces.

Mix it with the tomatoes, touch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. You can also add a little bit of olive oil.

It’s time to check the turkey wings now. Remove the foil and baste the meat with the juices. The meat should be fork tender by now so let’s add the tomatoes and basil mixture. Use a tablespoon and fill all the empty spots. Do not place the tomatoes over the meat, push them down into the juices.

And back to the oven. Up the temperature to 475 F or 250C and bake until the skin turns golden brown and crispy. This should take about 20 minutes. Please keep in mind that we have used honey in the marinade. Because of this, the color of the skin will become darker as the honey caramelizes, which is perfectly fine.

And we are done. Our perfectly baked turkey wings are ready. Serve them with rice, mashed potatoes or a vegetable salad.

And that’s it for today, thanks for reading the blog or watching the video. See you next week.

Optional Tips:

• You can use more vegetables. I have used just tomatoes today, but you could add small onions, garlic, carrots, zucchini, bell peppers… whatever you like.
• Are you a fan of spicy food? Add some spicy sauce or chili flakes into the marinade. This would take these baked turkey wings to another level.
• Want to use vegetable salad as the side, try preparing the one I have made with this grilled chicken.
• This recipe would work great with turkey drumsticks too, just adjust the cooking time to reflect the larger size of the drumsticks.
• One more tip for the side dish, these simple oven baked potatoes would be a great choice too.