There’s no need to go out for wings when you can make them right in your home using your air fryer! These Air Fryer Chicken Wings are crispy, flavorful, and cooked perfectly in only 20 minutes!
chicken wing recipe overview
Air Fryer Chicken Wings taste so much better than takeout! Plus, they are much cheaper, and you can control the crispiness and flavors!
You can keep them “naked”, add your favorite seasonings to spice them up, or turn them into BBQ wings! Of course, the best way to eat chicken wings is Buffalo style, and I will tell you how to make buffalo wings in the air fryer too.
Want to see our other chicken wing recipes? Check out Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Wings, Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Wings, and these wings with our Air Fryer Chicken Wing Dry Rub.
ingredients you’ll need
- Chicken Wings – This recipe makes one pound of wings. Depending on their size, this should be 10-12 pieces. You can cook more wings, but you’ll want to do them in batches.
- Oil – Vegetable oil, light olive oil, or another mild flavored oil will make your wings extra crispy.
- Garlic Salt – if you aren’t going to toss your wings in sauce, seasoning them before cooking is a great idea. Garlic salt is easy and tastes delicious on chicken wings.
If you have any questions about Air Fryer Chicken wings, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you ASAP!
how to make these wings
- Rinse and pat your chicken wings dry, then separate them into drums and flats if needed.
- Place the wings into a bowl, then drizzle a little oil over the pieces.
- Sprinkle some garlic salt over the chicken and toss to coat.
- Line your air fryer basket with foil or parchment, then arrange the chicken in the basket in a single layer.
- Air fry the chicken at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces and cook for another 8-10 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite dressing (ranch or blue cheese is classic) or dipping sauces and enjoy!
how to make our buffalo sauce
I consulted a friend who lives in Buffalo so that I could give you the most authentic buffalo wing sauce recipe possible! Here’s the super simple recipe:
- Mix 1 part melted butter to 2 parts Franks Red Hot sauce.
- Taste and adjust as needed.
- For a hotter sauce, add more hot sauce
- For milder wings, add more butter.
- When the chicken wings are done, toss them in buffalo sauce before serving them with ranch or bleu cheese.
Tip: Save the wing tips in the freezer for the next time you make chicken stock or soup!
how to serve wings
Simple Dippers: Place the wing pieces on a platter, sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley, and serve with ranch dressing or your favorite dipping sauce.
Buffalo Style: Toss the wings with buffalo sauce before plating. Serve with a good quality bleu cheese dressing.
What to serve with chicken wings
If your wings are on the spicy side, serve them with fresh celery and carrot sticks to counteract the heat from the buffalo sauce. Baked beans and creamy coleslaw are some other good options.
Making a game day appetizer spread? Pair these wings with air fryer meatballs, air fryer pickles, and air fryer mozzarella sticks.
reheat instructions
I recommend skipping the microwave to avoid a soggy and rubbery reheated texture. Do it right in your air fryer instead!
Air fry at 360 degrees F for 4-5 minutes to reheat them. That’s just enough time to get them reheated and crispy without overcooking them.
how to separate whole chicken wings
Your local grocer or butcher may sell chicken wings already separated. If so, that’s great as it’s a big time saver!
But if not, it doesn’t take much effort to separate whole chicken wings yourself.
Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- First, identify the two bone joints in the wings.
- Next, use a pair of kitchen shears to snip through both joints.
- Discard the tips of the wings (they’re mostly cartilage and skin), and cook with the little drums and flat pieces.
recipe tips and tricks
- Save on cleanup! Line the bottom of the air fryer basket with foil to keep the wings from sticking to the basket and making too much of a mess. Be sure to leave the sides of the basket uncovered so that air can circulate.
- Make sure your chicken wings are dry before coating them with oil. I recommend rinsing them with water and patting them dry with paper towels.
- Don’t skimp on the oil. While you won’t want to go overboard, you won’t get that crispy golden skin texture without it. Use a simple oil with a high smoke point like vegetable oil or peanut oil.
- Measure the internal temperature to make sure your meat has been cooked to completion. Chicken is cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F/74°C.
- Serve sauce on the side. Since chicken wings are dark meat, the meat will likely stay nice and juicy inside. Doing it this way will let everyone enjoy their favorite wing flavors, or more than one.
FAQs
Frozen wings are no problem for the air fryer! Follow my Frozen Air Fryer Chicken Wings recipe to see how we do it. You can cook frozen wings in the air fryer, it just takes a bit longer.
Wings will cook best in the air fryer in a single layer. Most large air fryers will be able to fit 1 pound of chicken wings this way. If you stack them on top of each other, you will have a difficult time getting the wings crispy, so cook your wings in batches if you need to.
You can! I find that adding a bit of oil gives them a golden brown crispy exterior. You’ll still get crispy wings without adding oil, but the color won’t be as dark.
There are suggestions I’ve seen to add flour, baking soda, or even baking powder to the wings to get them crispy. I’m here to tell you that you do NOT need to add any flour or powder to the wings. It doesn’t do much to make them crispier, it only adds a coating to the outside.
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken wings split into drums and flats
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
Instructions
- Gently rinse the chicken pieces and pat them dry with a paper towel.
- Place the chicken pieces into a large bowl.
- Pour the oil over the chicken.
- Sprinkle the garlic salt over the chicken and toss to coat.
- Place parchment or foil in the bottom of your air fryer basket for easy cleanup.
- Arrange the chicken pieces in the lined fryer basket.
- Air fry the chicken at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
- Flip the chicken pieces and cook for another 8-10 minutes.
- In the last 2-3 minutes, open your air fryer basket and spray the chicken generously with oil to help crisp the chicken. (optional)
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- I have found the sweet spot of cooking to be around 16 minutes. Â
- Thicker wings will take longer to cook, so you may need to adjust your air fry cook time by a couple of minutes.
- Keep in mind that there are many different models of air fryers on the market, so cooking times and temperatures might vary slightly.
Nutrition
Air Fryers can vary greatly. Please take the time to learn your specific air fryer. You may need to adjust times and temperatures based upon your air fryer. All though this website attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, the information should only be considered an estimate. Varying factors such as different product types, different brands, etc. can change nutritional information. It is your responsibility as a consumer to read all labels to make sure the ingredients fit your dietary needs as well as calculate your own nutritional information as a double check.
Yes! What a great idea to make these in the air fryer. This is perfect for Super Bowl or any get together. Can’t wait to try these. Thanks so much for sharing.
You are so welcome, we created these air fryer chicken wings with the superbowl in mind! Its coming up quick! I hope you enjoy!
Everyone at my house loved it! Tasted SO good!
So glad Shadi! Thanks for reporting back on our Air Fryer Chicken Wings!
Air fryers are so excellent for cooking chicken, especially wings, they turn out great. Very excited to try your recipe out.
Thank you Heidy! Enjoy!
These wings are awesome! I love my air fryer.
I am all about the air fryer and not having to use such large amounts of oils! Comes out crispy every time!
The air fryer is wonderful, isn’t it? We love it for making some Air Fryer Chicken Wings when the neighbors come over for football games!
We love chicken wings in the air fryer. It is the only way we make them now after trying your recipes. I’ve been making them for weeks. Just wanted to come back and let you know how much we enjoy them!
HI Rob and Minnie, so glad you guys have been enjoying the wings!
I can’t believe how easy and tasty these wings are! I’m not much of a cook at all, but even I managed to perfect these (THANKYOU!!!), and I’m not ashamed to admit that we’ve eaten quite a lot this weekend!
Looking forward to your next creation 🙂