Air Fryer Chicken Wings

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Craving wings without any fuss? These Air Fryer Chicken Wings are my shortcut for the crispiest wings made without any oil! Serve them plain or slathered in your favorite sauce to make Air Fryer Buffalo Wings, Honey Old Bay Wings, or Cosmic Jerry Air Fryer Wings!

Air fryer chicken wings on a white plate with wing sauce.

Crispy chicken wings have always been one of my favorite things to eat but I used to avoid them because of all the oil. That made me sad. But then, I discovered how to make wings in the air fryer.

With air frying you don’t have to use nearly as much oil as deep frying. It also still produces the best crispy results. I mean, have you tried bacon in the air fryer? Anyway, now that I have this air fryer chicken wings recipe, I’m no longer sad!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

A girl in a white sweater serving food.
  • Easy: Make homemade chicken wings in just a few simple steps with nothing but chicken and pantry spices!
  • Healthy: No deep frying means you can save on calories…and use them to enjoy your favorite beer, with less guilt!
  • Dietary Restrictions: These wings are gluten-free, Whole30 friendly, high protein, keto-friendly, and low carb (depending on what sauce you use).
  • The Perfect Wing: Even though we’re not deep frying, air fryer chicken wings result in the a juicy inside and perfectly crispy outside. You can’t beat it!
Jordan

Ingredients You Will Need

Chicken wings, salt, pepper, and garlic powder portioned out.

  • Chicken Wings: You’ll need about 2.5 lbs of wings and drumettes.
  • Seasonings: I use a simple combination of salt, pepper, and garlic powder, but feel free to season with additional herbs and spices if you like.

Variations

  • Air Fryer Chicken Breasts: If you prefer chicken breasts over wings, the air fryer still produces the juiciest results! You’ll just want to add a few extra spices.

How To Make chicken Wings In Air Fryer

Chicken wing sections seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder on parchment paper.

Step 1: Season the wings. Place the chicken wings on a cookie sheet and season.

Seasoned chicken wings in an air fryer basket arranged in a single layer.

Step 2: Place wings in air fryer basket. Make sure to arrange in a single layer.

Cooked chicken wings in an air fryer basket.

Step 3: Cook wings. Air fryer at 400 F for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Crispy air-fryer chicken wings with celery and wing sauce.

Step 4: Serve. Serve plain or with your sauce of choice, like Whole30 BBQ Sauce.

Recipe Tips

  • Pat the wings dry with a paper towel to remove any excess liquid before seasoning.
  • Toss the wings in about 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder before air frying to make the skin even crispier.
  • Make sure to arrange the wings in a single layer in the air fryer basket. This ensures they’ll be crispy. You may have to do several batches if you have a smaller air fryer. 
  • Do not use frozen chicken wings. When it comes to cooking in an air fryer, you don’t want to use anything frozen, especially meat. Frozen chicken can actually be undercooked in this appliance. You will want to make sure you take the time to thaw the chicken wings before you make them. You can thaw chicken in the fridge overnight. Simply place the chicken wings in the fridge the night before you plan on making them. This is the easiest way because you don’t have to do anything but remember to leave it in the fridge!

Recipe FAQs

How long does it take for wings to cook in an air fryer?

Timing can vary based on the size of your wings, but most likely they’ll need 25-30 minutes to cook (flipping half way through).

Should I flour my wings before air frying?

A light dusting of seasoned flour or baking powder before air frying will give your wings an extra crisp but it’s not necessary.

Why are my wings not crispy in air fryer?

One main reason this happens is because of overcrowding. The wings need a little bit of space around them for the air to properly circulate. If your wings overlap in the air fryer basket, you may need to cook them in separate batches.

What dipping sauces go best with Air Fryer Wings?

Spicy Mayo and Cilantro Lime Sauce are two of my favorites, but I love this Old Bay Sauce. Or use seasonings instead of sauce, like these Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Wings!

Crispy air fryer chicken wings in a glass bowl.

More Air fryer recipes for the perfect crisp

If you tried these Air Fryer Chicken Wings or any other recipe on my blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and tell me how it went in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!

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4.91 from 71 votes

Air Fryer Chicken Wings

The BEST Air Fryer Chicken Wings recipe for the crispiest wings made without any oil! Serve them naked or slather them in your favorite sauce.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Calories: 227
Author: Jordan

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the air fryer to 400° F. Place wings on baking sheets and season to taste with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
    2.5 lbs chicken wings, kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder
  • Place seasoned wings in the air fryer basket in a single layer. Cook the wings for 10-15 minutes, then turn them and continue cooking 10-15 minutes or until wings are golden brown.
  • Remove from air fryer and serve with sauce of your choice.
If you tried this recipe, please leave a review letting me know how it was!

Video

Notes

  • Pat the wings dry with a paper towel to remove any excess liquid before seasoning.
  • Toss the wings in about 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder before air frying to make the skin even crispier.
  • Make sure to arrange the wings in a single layer in the air fryer basket. This ensures they’ll be crispy. You may have to do several batches if you have a smaller air fryer. 
  • Do not use frozen chicken wings. When it comes to cooking in an air fryer, you don’t want to use anything frozen, especially meat. Frozen chicken can actually be undercooked in this appliance. You will want to make sure you take the time to thaw the chicken wings before you make them. You can thaw chicken in the fridge overnight. Simply place the chicken wings in the fridge the night before you plan on making them. This is the easiest way because you don’t have to do anything but remember to leave it in the fridge!
  • Some of my favorite wing sauces: Truff Hot Sauce, Buffalo and BBQ Assortment, Medium Buffalo Sauce, Asian Zing Sauce

Nutrition

Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 79mg | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 159mg | Vitamin A: 150IU | Vitamin C: 0.7mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.
Tried this recipe?I’d love to see your dish, mention @jzeats or tag #jzeats!
4.91 from 71 votes (38 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




80 Comments

  1. Brian Ramstead says:

    5 stars
    I followed your instructions, for the most part, and the wings came out amazing. The big changes I did was to use frozen wings instead of fresh and also cooked for 25 minutes at 380ยฐ, turning them over at the halfway point. If I can plan far enough ahead, Iโ€™ll try fresh wings as you suggest and see how they do. I have to say, using frozen wings is very convenient.

    1. Thanks for the feedback, Brian! Love to hear how you made this recipe work for you.

  2. 5 stars
    This recipe is so easy and delicious! I just put them in a bowl and seasoned. Added a drizzle of olive oil. The seasoning combination is on point. I did set them at 400 to 10 minutes and watched at that point. My first batch had bigger wings so I did 15 minutes each side. Second batch were smaller and then I did 10 minutes each side. So good and crispy. Thank you for sharing. ***** Five stars !!

  3. I donโ€™t know what I did wrong but I put my air fryer at 400 degrees, prepped the wings as instructed, put them in for the first of two 15-min sessions and they all burned. Bummed out.

    1. Yikes! What kind of air fryer do you have, and did you change anything in the recipe (additional seasonings, etc) or did you make it exactly as it’s written?

    2. 3 stars
      Don’t preheat your air fryer and if you are using thawed wings, 30 minutes is way too long at 400 F. Put them in at 400 F and flip every 5 minutes so you can keep an eye on them and use a meat thermometer so you know when they are at 165 F internal temp. By the way, there is nothing wrong with using frozen wings. I use them all the time. i throw them in and flip every 5 minutes. It usually takes about 25 minutes to cook from frozen. I always use a meat thermometer though to make sure they are completely cooked.

      1. Thanks for your feedback, Janice! Cook time can vary depending on the size of wings you are using, type of air fryer you have, and how crispy you like your wings.

  4. 5 stars
    Not into wings at all but these come out perfect every single time! Great recipe!

  5. 5 stars
    Great recipe, super easy and my boyfriendโ€™s favorite ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Patricia McIlwain says:

    5 stars
    My wings never turn this brown and crispy, and the stick.

    1. What kind of air fryer are you using? Do you preheat it first?

  7. 5 stars
    These are hands down the best wings I have ever made in the air fryer. Delicious!

  8. Whenever I make wings, either baked, fried, or now air fryer, they come out nice and crispy and then the skin gets soggy as soon as I put on the sauce. What am
    I doing wrong? I Have tried double trying after the sauce coating, less sauce, etc. nothing seems to work. I feel like I am doing something wrong.

    1. I like to toss them in sauce or brush the sauce over them towards the end of their cook time (2-5 minutes) I also find that if you place them in the oven at about 250 F while you are cooking the other batches, it helps them to stay crispy. Check out the instructions on this post: https://jz-eats.com/air-fryer-buffalo-wings/

    2. You need to let the wings rest before adding sauce.

  9. 5 stars
    This recipe was my first recipe as I tried my air fryer for the first time. They came out so crispy and juicy inside. I used a cilantro, lime seasoning salt. My husband loved them too. Easy and quick. Its a keeper!! Thank you. Pinned!

    1. Thank you! That sounds delicious!

  10. 5 stars
    These came out delicious! Love no fuss crispy wings. Will make these again!

  11. 5 stars
    I love this recipe! It’s so quick and easy to make – perfect for lunch!

  12. Matt Ivan says:

    5 stars
    These are so simple but awesome in the air fryer!

  13. 5 stars
    Love how crispy and delicious these wings are! Just as good as a restaurant and obviously way healthier!

    1. 5 stars
      Iโ€™m using my momโ€™s old GoWise air fryer. (She never read the instructions so didnโ€™t use it much) and this recipe for wings was perfect! I ended up cooking the batches about 25 mins, 15 mins first before flipping them for the last 10. They came out perfectly crispy and cooked the whole way through. Iโ€™ll need to put a bit more salt for my own taste. Thank you!

      1. Thank you for sharing that!

  14. Alexandra says:

    5 stars
    SO delicious – they worked so well in the air fryer! Really easy recipe too – thanks!

  15. 5 stars
    I love the recipe but how many wings are a serving? Maybe I overlooked it but itโ€™s really important for my diet.

    1. Hi! There are 8 servings in this recipe, and the recipe calls for 2.5 pounds. There are roughly 4-5 wings in a pound so a serving would be about 2 wings. If you are following a strict diet, I recommend double checking with the nutrition calculator you use on a daily basis because these nutrition facts are approximate. Hope this helps!