Air Fryer Chicken Wings
My easy Air Fryer Chicken Wings are the best shortcut for making the crispiest wings without excess oil or deep frying! They make the perfect game-day snack or quick appetizer for your friends and family.
Crispy chicken wings have always been one of my favorite things to eat, but I used to avoid them because of all the oil and mess. Then, I discovered how to make perfectly crispy wings in the air fryer, and my whole appetizer world changed.
When you air fry your chicken wings, 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?
Serve your wings plain or slathered in your favorite sauce to make Air Fryer Buffalo Wings, Honey Old Bay Wings, or Cosmic Jerry Air Fryer Wings!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- 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!
Ingredients You Will Need
- 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 Crispy chicken Wings In Air Fryer
Step 1: Season the wings. Place the chicken wings on a cookie sheet and season.
Step 2: Place wings in air fryer basket. Make sure to arrange in a single layer.
Step 3: Cook wings. Air fryer at 400 F for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Step 4: Serve. Serve plain or with your sauce of choice, like Homemade 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
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).
A light dusting of seasoned flour or baking powder before air frying will give your wings an extra crisp, but it’s not necessary.
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.
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!
More Air fryer recipes for the perfect crisp
- Crispy Air Fryer French Fries
- Air Fryer Pickles
- Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs
- Air Fryer Latkes
- Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
- Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts With Maple Syrup
- Air Fryer Halibut
Check out my Air Fryer 101 post for all my air fryer tips, tricks, and hacks!
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!
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs chicken wings
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- garlic powder
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.
Notes
-
- Use paper towels to blot any moisture off the wings before adding seasoning.
- Lightly coat the wings with around ½ teaspoon of baking powder—this helps the skin get extra crispy in the air fryer.
- Lay the wings out in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Don’t stack or crowd them. If your air fryer is on the smaller side, work in batches.
- Skip the frozen wings. Air fryers don’t handle frozen meat well—it can cook unevenly and stay raw inside. Defrost your wings ahead of time by tossing them in the fridge the night before. No extra steps—just let them sit overnight.
Some of my favorite wing sauces:
Truff Hot Sauce, Buffalo and BBQ Assortment, Medium Buffalo Sauce, and Asian Zing Sauce all make great dipping sauces for wings!Nutrition
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Delicious!!
I am making the wings tomorrow. I brine my wings in water with garlic, salt and hot pepper flakes. Does that make a difference?
Thank you,
Erica NY
Nope, that sounds delicious!
These were outstanding! Seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Nice and crispy outside and inside was tender and moist. First time making them in my air fryer and will definitely make them this way from now on. Thank you!
Thank you Debbie!
These came out perfect.Made a small batch for lunch.My husband’s were the salt and pepper which he loved.I used Weber chili lime rub on mine .Also delicious❤️
How long do you preheat your air fryer for chicken wings
If you don’t have a preheat setting on your air fryer, you can preheat for about 5 minutes before putting them in.
I’m confused because this recipe says not to cook frozen wings but your eBook has a recipe using frozen wings.
Hi Trina,
I don’t have a wing recipe in my ebook. While you technically CAN cook frozen wings in the air fryer, I prefer not to cook from frozen.
WAY TOO SALTY,I HAD TO WIPE THEM ALL OFF. NOT GOOD FOR SOME ONE WHO HAS HIGH BP
Hi Janet – I’m sorry to hear that. You are welcome to adjust the salt to your liking for any recipe you are making.
Easy and delicious!! Will make often. No need for sauce. I used the baking powder to make extra crispy
Thank you so much!
What is the portion size of the nutritional value?
Hi Tabitha – nutrition was calculated for about 2 wings per serving.
Jordan you are the first food blogger that told the antiscroll clowns off and I respect that. Keep speaking your mind girl it’s refreshing
Thank you!
I love your replies to the haters! Fist time trying your recipe…wings are frying as I type!! Can’t wait!
Hehehe 😉 Hope you love the wings!!
First time making wings in the air drier and they turned out juicy and crispy! Used drum sticks instead. Great recipe and the honey hot sauce cut down on the sodium in the old bay.
These came out absolutely incredible. I’m pretty picky on my wings since I’m a huge texture eater and these did not disappoint. They were so crispy and the meat was so juicy and tender. I tossed mine in Buffalo sauce and minced garlic. I won’t ever make my wings another way except with this recipe! I’m definitely on a wing kick now! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Vanessa! I’m so glad you enjoyed them 🙂
First time making chicken wings in my new air fryer and this recipe was so easy and so delicious! This will definitely be my go to recipe for chicken wings!
I absolutely hate having to scroll down endlessly to get to the recipe.
While we’re on the subject of things we hate, I very much dislike when it rains outside. I also hate olives, beans, and anchovies.
I don’t like scrolling either! Have tried to forward recipes to my email (I do not do Facebook) and can’t get the recipe just the picture. Any suggestions.
Yes! You should buy a cookbook and stay off the internet 🙂
There is literally a button at the top that says “Jump to Recipe”…….
Always look at the top for something that says jump to recipe or go to recipe, usually there if you look for it. I agree having to scroll through is a bit annoying
Yeah, I really hate getting free online recipes that someone has posted with ads. Not to mention the chef’s expended time, food costs, trials and errors, writing reviews, measuring, etc. Yeah, I hate having free recipes that may make me a better cook. Don’t like the ads, why not create your own food blog?!
There is a tab on the top that says “jump to recipe”. Tap it and it scrolls down to it automatically.
Most of these recipes have a tab you can click at the top of the post to JUMP TO RECIPE 😉 This one has it also 😃