Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Air fryer chicken wings come out extra crispy and are ready to eat in less than a half hour. All you need are a few common spices and olive oil to make these easy chicken wings!
How long it takes: 10 minutes to prep, and 15 minutes to cook each batch
Equipment you’ll need: zip-top bag (or bowl), air fryer, tongs
Servings: 4 (3 wings each)
Air Fryer Magic
You all know by now that an air fryer is one of my favorite kitchen appliances. I love it for quick and easy meals without turning on the oven.
Chicken is one of the easiest things that you can make in your air fryer (you can even air fry a whole chicken!), and I am excited to share these air fryer chicken wings with you. They’re similar to my air fryer chicken thighs and air fryer drumsticks, and are perfect for dinner or an appetizer.
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Simple ingredients. To make these air fryer wings you will need a few common ingredients: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and black pepper, a basic seasoning blend to give these wings a nice flavor. It’s easy to adjust the seasoning if you want to go in another direction, too.
Extra crispy. Drying the wings with paper towels to remove excess moisture ensures that they’ll turn out crispy. A light coating of olive oil helps the seasoning stick and allows the wings to crisp up nicely in the air fryer.
Good for specialized diets. The recipe is keto, low carb, Whole 30, and gluten free.
How To Make Air Fryer Wings
Season the wings. Combine the spices and olive oil in the plastic bag, add the chicken, and squish it around until the spices and oil completely coat the wings. If you prefer not to use plastic, you can season the wings in a large mixing bowl instead.
Air fry the wings. Arrange the wings in a single layer. It’s okay if they overlap a little because they shrink as they cook. You may have to cook them in batches. (I have a 6 quart air fryer and 4 (full) wings fit perfectly in the basket.) Flip the wings once during the cooking time. They’ll take about twenty minutes to cook.
Serve. Remove the wings from the air fryer with tongs, serve with your favorite side or sauce and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
Dip it! Many of us love wings at a party or while watching your favorite team. Offer a variety of dips, like jalapeno ranch dressing, fry sauce, French onion dip, homemade tartar sauce (it’s not just for seafood!) or herbed feta dip. A spicy barbecue sauce is so good, too.
Add a sauce. You can easily make a sauce to coat the wings, too, if you like sticky, finger-lickin’ wings. These baked spicy Asian chicken wings or chili lime chicken wings recipes have sauces that can easily be used for the air fryer wings. Air fryer BBQ chicken wings are so easy — just use your favorite barbecue sauce.
Side dishes. If you choose to eat these as a full meal you will want a side dish to go along with your chicken. I suggest you try: Instant pot broccoli mac and cheese, stove top scalloped potatoes, crock pot baked beans, or potato salad. Really, anything goes with chicken wings.
Recipe Variations
- Mix up your own seasoning. You can use whatever spices that you prefer for this air fryer chicken recipe. You can try a homemade Italian seasoning, chili spices or even a homemade ranch mix. Lemon pepper is delicious, too. If you prefer a dry rub, that works too. Lightly spray the wings with olive oil spray before air frying.
- Segment the wings. I almost always cut off the wing tips which are basically skin and bone. After you remove the tips, you can cut the wings into two pieces at the joint: wingettes and drumettes. Segmented wings take up less room in the air fryer, too.
- Double the recipe. This works best if you have a large air fryer, or an air fryer feature in your stove.
Refrigerate/Freeze: Store leftover wings, well-wrapped, in the refrigerator for one or two days or in the freezer for up to a month. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating for best results.
Reheat: Air fryer chicken wings are good leftover but they will lose some of that crispiness. For best results, put them back into the air fryer for a couple of minutes to regain some of the crispness. You can reheat the wings in the microwave, too, but don’t overheat them because they’ll get tough.
More Air Fryer Recipes
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings (whole, drummettes, or flats, see note)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Pat the chicken wings dry with paper towels. (See notes about cutting whole wings, if desired).
- In a large bowl, mix the olive oil , garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper.2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Add the wings to the bowl; stir to coat the wings completely with the oil mixture.2 pounds chicken wings
- Place wings in the air fryer basket in a single layer in your air fryer (you may have to do them in batches). Air fry for 10 minutes, flip each wing, and air fry for 6 to 10 minutes longer, checking occasionally. If you like them really crispy, add a few more minutes. Cooking time depends somewhat on the size of the wings. If the wings are on the smaller side, reduce cooking time. Internal temp should be 165°F.
- Remove the chicken from the air fryer; repeat to air fry all the wings. To keep cooked wings warm while you're frying the remaining wings, preheat your oven to 200°F. Place the cooked wings on a wire rack, placed on a sheet pan lined with foil, and keep them warm until all the wings are ready.
- To serve, toss the wings with sauce if desired, and serve with your favorite side or dip.
Notes
- Cutting whole wings: If the wings are whole, cut off the wing tips, and cut at the joints to separate flats and drumettes. The number of wings will vary depending on size. A 2 pound package will contain 7 to 10 whole wings, or 14 to 20 flats and drumettes.
- Seasoning: Use whatever spice mixture that you prefer. I like this basic seasoning so the sauces I add really shine but feel free to use other seasonings if you wish.
- Make ahead: You can easily make a double batch and freeze cooked wings to reheat later. Cool the air fried wings completely on a wire rack. Place them in a single layer on a pan to freeze so they don’t stick together. Once the wings are frozen, place them in a resealable freezer bag. They’ll keep for three to four months.
- Reheating frozen wings: Air fry the unthawed cooked wings at 375°F for 8 to 12 minutes, flipping halfway through. For a large amount of wings, preheat the oven to 400°F, place the frozen wings on a wire rack placed on a sheet pan, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until heated through.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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