Cooking for Pleasure: Spanish-style chicken wings

Patty Schied
Dec 27, 2025
2 min read

If you are going to a big party and want to bring something unusual but not too difficult to make, consider this recipe

By Patty Schied

Every Christmas Eve, my extended family has a big party with an ethnic theme. Over the years, we have cooked meals from every country we could think of. This year it is Spain. Just for fun, I thought I would prepare some Tapas. These are small savory dishes, shared and served with wine or cocktails. One of these is Spanish-style chicken wings, marinated in a fragrant spice mixture and baked. They are easy to prepare since you can make the marinade several hours in advance or overnight, then bake the wings just before serving.

If you are going to a big party and want to bring something unusual but not too difficult to make, consider this recipe.

Marinade-covered wings. (Photo by Patty Schied)

Ingredients for about three pounds of chicken wings:

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 garlic cloves grated or very finely minced

2 tablespoons Spanish smoked paprika

1 tablespoon hot paprika (or 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon ground cumin

Preparation for wings. (Photo by Patty Schied)

Directions:

Mix thoroughly. Add chicken wings and cover completely, massaging the marinade into the wings. This is best done with a disposable kitchen glove unless you don’t mind red-stained hands (I highly recommend keeping a box in your pantry).

Massage marinade into wings, cover and let chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. Heat oven to 450 degrees. If you have an air fryer, heat to 425 degrees.

Place chicken wings on a rack over a parchment-lined cookie sheet, preferably with a rim so that the grease doesn’t get onto your oven floor.

Bake for 30 minutes. Halfway through the baking process, turn the wings over.

They should be crisp and savory. Serve as is or with a dip of your choice (such as aioli mayonnaise).

Happy holiday parties!

• Patty Schied is a longtime Juneau resident who studied at the Cordon Bleu in London and has written a cookbook. Cooking For Pleasure appears every other week in the Juneau Independent's features. She welcomes recipe ideas and questions about her column at patschied@yahoo.com.