These baked Vietnamese Chicken Wings are savory and flavorful. They're crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, just like a good chicken wing should be. Best of all they are extremely easy to make and only require a few ingredients!

A white rectangular platter of dark brown glazed chicken wings on a striped towel.

(This post was originally published in September 2017, but was updated with a new recipe, new photos, and additional content in 2023).

Vietnamese-inspired chicken wings will liven up your next game day menu. These crispy baked wings pack tons of umami flavor with loads of garlic and fish sauce. Move over, Buffalo. There's a new kid on the block.

I love chicken wing season, aka football season. Along with nachos, chicken wings are probably the most consumed snack while enjoying the big game. Even when football season is over, there always seems to be an occasion for wings. Monday night. Tuesday night. Wednesday night. You get the picture.

With a minimal ingredient list, these wings are a breeze. They marinate in a mixture of fish sauce, brown sugar, and garlic. The same combination is used to make the glaze. Finish with a flourish of crunchy chopped peanuts and bright green cilantro if you'd like.

Ingredient notes

Ingredients for Vietnamese chicken wings on a light grey background.

Chicken Wings: Usually chicken wings are sold either in whole wings (which need to be split by you) or already split (sometimes labeled as "party wings"). If you need to split the wings yourself, you'll use the flats (wingettes) and drumettes and can save the wing tips to make stock. In this recipe, I've used 2 pounds of chicken wing segments which included a dozen chicken wing pieces. The exact amount of chicken wings you use in this recipe is flexible, and if you need to segment them yourself you may want to start with closer to 3 pounds of wings. You will have enough marinade and glazing sauce even if you end up with a bit more than 2 pounds of split wings.
Fish Sauce: Fish sauce is a popular liquid condiment in East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine, including Filipino, Thai, and Vietnamese. Different brands can have a slightly different flavor and saltiness. Fish sauce usually doesn't have the best smell, but it provides intense umami flavor and is vital in a lot of popular dishes from these regions.
Garlic: I prefer to crush or basically puree the garlic in a food processor for this recipe. It yields a smoother result then if you were to merely chop or mince them by hand.
Brown Sugar: Use firmly packed light brown sugar for these Vietnamese chicken wings. It helps to balance out the extreme saltiness of the fish sauce and provides a beautiful dark brown lacquer to the finished wings.

Closeup of dark brown glazed Vietnamese chicken wings garnished with chopped peanuts and cilantro.

How to make it

Combine the fish sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and vegetable oil in a mixing bowl (PHOTO 1). Combine half of this mixture with the chicken wings and mix well so the wings are thoroughly coated (PHOTO 2).

Dark brown marinade in a metal bowl before and after mixing with chicken wings.

Transfer the remaining unused half of the marinade to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. Refrigerate the wings and allow them to marinate for 2 to 3 hours (if you marinate longer they can become too salty).

Chicken wings marinating in a plastic zip-top bag.

Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Arrange the chicken wings skin-side up on the pan (PHOTO 3). Bake the wings for about 30 minutes, or until crispy and lightly browned (PHOTO 4).

Marinated Vietnamese chicken wings on parchment paper before and after baking.

Meanwhile, add the unused marinade to a small saucepan, bring to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer and reduce until it thickens and starts to become syrupy, about 5 to 7 minutes. Keep a close watch, as the mixture will foam and can overflow if you don’t monitor it (PHOTO 5). The mixture will thicken more as it cools (PHOTO 6).

Dark brown sauce thickening and bubbling in a saucepan and then a spoon lifting some out.

Once the Vietnamese chicken wings are browned, remove from the oven and baste with some of the reduced marinade (PHOTO 7). Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes (PHOTO 8).

Chicken wings on parchment paper after glazing with more sauce and then baking again.

Remove from the oven, baste with a little more sauce, transfer to a serving dish, and sprinkle with chopped peanuts and cilantro, if desired. Serve.

Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

Twelve dark brown glazed chicken wings topped with cilantro and peanuts on a white platter.

Expert tips

You can marinate the wings in a large zip-top freezer bag or in a mixing bowl covered in plastic wrap. I like using a zip-top bag because it’s easy to flip the bag over a few times while marinating to ensure the wings marinate evenly.

Use a silicone brush to baste the Vietnamese chicken wings with sauce. The sauce will thicken a lot as it cools and will get stuck in the natural bristles of a standard brush.

The salt content of the fish sauce helps keep the chicken juicy (similar to brining meat), but if you marinate them for too long they can get too salty (ask me how I know). I’d suggest a maximum of 3 hours or so, but 2 hours is probably better.

Sprinkling the finished Vietnamese chicken wings with chopped peanuts and cilantro is a great way to add more texture, flavor, and a color contrast. The wings will be stickiest and most receptive to these additions immediately after you brush them with the last bit of glaze.

Previously, this post featured a recipe for fried chicken wings with a similar flavor profile. I find that baking them is easier, less messy, and yields fantastic results so I have modified (and in my opinion) improved the recipe by doing so.

Twelve baked Vietnamese chicken wings with dark brown glaze, peanuts, and cilantro on a white platter.

Other game day recipes you may like

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