These crispy, homemade Air Fryer Boneless Wings are expertly breaded with simple seasonings and tossed in a spicy buffalo sauce. Boneless wings are easy to make at home with your trusty Air Fryer!
Recipe Overview
We’ve made air fryer chicken wings here a few times and in a variety of different flavors and styles.
However, this recipe for Air Fryer Boneless wings lets you enjoy all of the delicious flavor of chicken wings, without all the bones and skin.
These breaded white meat chicken bites are juicy, tender, and perfectly cooked in under 15 minutes.
Be sure to check out all of our Air Fryer Chicken recipes, including Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Tenders and Air Fryer Fried Chicken Drumsticks.
What you’ll need to get started
- Chicken – Boneless, skinless chicken breast makes the best boneless wings. We’ll slice it up into small pieces that you can eat in 2 bites or so.
- Buttermilk and Egg – Together these two create a flavorful and sticky coating for the chicken that will help adhere seasonings and flour. Don’t have buttermilk? Use regular milk instead.
- Flour – I’m using all-purpose gluten-free flour in the images here. You can make boneless wings with regular all-purpose flour or gluten-free – it’s your choice!
- Seasonings – The seasonings I’m using here make these wings flavorful and a bit spicy, even before the buffalo sauce. Smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne are perfect.
- Cooking Oil Spray – My favorite is avocado oil cooking spray. You can use any type of oil spray that you like though. Whenever you air fry anything that is coated in flour, it’s important to add oil to it to keep it from having a dry coating.
- Buffalo Sauce – Use your favorite wing sauce to coat the air fryer boneless wings when they’re finished cooking. Buffalo Sauce is traditional, but you can also try barbecue, honey mustard, or teriyaki sauce for boneless wings.
- On the Side – While totally optional, I always like to have some ranch dressing or blue cheese to dip these into, as well as some fresh veggies.
If you have any questions about making air fryer boneless wings, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you ASAP!
How to Make these Boneless Wings
- Slice the chicken breast into cubes that are between 1 and 2 inches square. If needed, trim off any fat or skin that might be on the meat.
- Add the buttermilk and egg to a small bowl and whisk to combine.
- In another shallow bowl, add the flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Whisk to combine.
- Dip the chicken pieces in the buttermilk and egg mixture. Make sure that they are completely covered, and shake off any excess.
- Add the chicken pieces to the flour mixture, flipping them over to coat all of the sides. Tap off any excess flour.
- Spray the bottom of the air fryer basket with spray oil. Place the breaded chicken pieces in the air fryer basket in a single layer. Spray the top of the chicken with more spray oil.
- Air Fry the chicken as directed in the recipe below. It should take about 12-14 minutes at 400°F/200°C, flipping halfway through. The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F/74°C.
- Remove the cooked boneless wings from the air fryer and place them in a bowl. Toss with buffalo sauce just before serving. Serve with additional dipping sauce, ranch or blue cheese dressing, and fresh vegetables like carrots and celery.
These numbered steps match the numbered photos above and are for illustration purposes. For the complete list of ingredients and instructions for these air fryer boneless wings, please see the recipe below.
Making Homemade Buffalo Sauce
A traditional Buffalo sauce that Western New York would be proud of is made from just two simple ingredients: Franks Red Hot Sauce and Melted Butter.
Start with a mixture that is half of each, and then adjust to get the sauce to your desired level of spiciness. More butter makes mild boneless wings, and more hot sauce makes them hotter.
If you want your Buffalo sauce to be extra spicy, toss in a pinch of cayenne pepper!
If you’re looking for something a little bit different, this Vegan Buffalo Sauce uses plant-based butter and some extra spices.
Serving Ideas
Serve these with other air fryer appetizers or a veggie tray to create a whole meal or a party spread.
Here are some other air fryer appetizers you could pair these with:
These boneless wings are also great with pizza! Try a Garlic Knot Pizza in the Air Fryer, or just heat up some Frozen Pizza for dinner.
Storing leftovers
Keep leftover boneless wings in a container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
It’s best to leave them un-sauced if you’re not planning to eat them right away. Reheat the boneless wings and then toss them with sauce just before you serve them.
Don’t like the breading?
You can make tasty buffalo boneless wings that are “naked” or without any breading in less time than the breaded air fryer boneless wings take.
Instead of breading the chicken bites with seasoned flour, just season the chicken with the seasonings. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and air fry at 400°F/200°C for 6-10 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked.
Toss with buffalo sauce and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- Buttermilk adds flavor and helps to tenderize the chicken. Normal milk will work too.
- Use lots of spray oil – Don’t shy away from spraying the oil all over the breaded chicken bites. When you check on the chicken, spray with more oil as needed to moisten any spots that look dry and floury.
- Don’t crowd the basket – Space around each piece of chicken is key to allowing them to cook evenly and get nice and crispy.
Recipe FAQs
Yep! Instead of buffalo sauce, toss the cooked boneless wings in your favorite barbecue sauce until they are well coated. You can use any type of sauce to flavor your air fryer boneless wings!
Air Fryer Boneless Wings
Equipment
- 2 small bowls
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 1 cup all-purpose flour traditional or gluten free
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- avocado oil cooking spray or other light oil spray
- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce or dipping sauce of choice
Instructions
- Slice the chicken breast into 1-2 inch cubes.
- Add the buttermilk and egg to a small bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add the flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to a shallow bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Dip the chicken pieces in the buttermilk and egg mixture. Make sure they're completely covered. Tap off any excess.
- Then, place the chicken pieces in the flour mixture, flipping to coat. Tap off any excess flour.
- Spray the bottom of your air fryer basket with spray oil. Place the chicken pieces in the air fryer basket in a single layer. Spray the top of the chicken with the spray oil.
- Air fry the chicken at 400F for 12-14 minutes, flipping halfway through, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F. Spray the chicken as needed with spray oil to get rid of any floury bits.
- Remove from the air fryer and place the chicken in a bowl. Toss with buffalo sauce just before serving. Serve with additional dipping sauce like ranch or blue cheese, and fresh celery and carrots.
Video
Notes
- I like to use chicken breast for this recipe, but you could use chicken tenderloins which are already cut thinner or even chicken thighs if you like dark meat.
- I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour in this recipe. You could also use all-purpose flour if you are not gluten-free.
- Depending on the size of your chicken, you may need to cook it more or less than the recipe states. Make sure your chicken reaches an inner temperature of 165°F/74°C.
- Instead of buffalo sauce, you could use BBQ sauce, honey mustard, teriyaki sauce, or a honey sauce to change up your wing flavors.
- I like to serve my buffalo chicken wings with ranch dip to cut the heat and some fresh celery and carrots.
- Pro Tip: This recipe can be made in the air fryer unit with a basket or the air fryer oven. If you are using the air fryer oven, use the middle rack and select the “Air Fry” function.
- Pro Tip: Check your food as it cooks. Each air fryer runs a bit differently. Sometimes air frying is a trial and error process. Check your food as it cooks to learn your air fryer better! When cooking a new recipe or food items be sure to check your food often to help avoid over/under cooking.
Have oven recipes that you’d like to convert to an air fryer recipe? Use our Air Fryer Calculator to help you estimate cooking times and temps! Calculator here: https://airfryereats.com/air-fryer-conversion-air-fryer-calculator/
These boneless wings are amazing! As much as I love chicken on the bone, this is a nice change and the coating is perfect. I’m not a lover of buffalo sauce though, so I used a ready made bbq sauce that I had in the fridge.
Lovely! Thank you
We love this recipe and make it just about every week. But since it’s just two of us we always have leftovers. How would you recommend we save them?
Hey Madisyn! The best thing to do is put them in an air tight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. If you want, add a paper towel to the bottom of the container to help soak up any moisture – that’ll help them from getting soggy.
Reheat them in the air fryer at 400F for a few minutes and they should be pretty good!
Also, (and I don’t think we’ve officially tried this so let me know how it goes), but if you give them a misting with cooking oil before reheating they should get super crispy – almost like when they’re fresh!