Air Fryer Chicken Wings

At a glance

What stands out: Air fryer chicken wings turn out evenly crispy and they’re straightforward to mix. Add your favorite sauce, and you’ll be ready for game time or a straightforward dinner.

How long it takes: 15 minutes to prep, and 20 minutes to cook each batch
Equipment you’ll need: large mixing bowl), air fryer, tongs
Servings: 4

Crispy Wings, No Deep Fryer

Not every batch of chicken wings needs to be tied to a football game, a party, or a restaurant order.

Sometimes you just want wings.

You know by now that an air fryer is one of our favorite kitchen appliances. We love it for speedy and straightforward 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 we are excited to share these air fryer chicken wings with you. They’re similar to our air fryer chicken thighs and air fryer drumsticks, and they’re reliable for dinner or an appetizer.

What makes ours special:

• Simple seasoning. To make these air fryer wings, all you need are a few pantry ingredients to give them a nice flavor.
• 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.

Andrea G. Said:

“we made these the other night and they came out reliable!! We have tried over and over to get our wings crispy for several years … [Our husband] said they were a standby wings ever! We will make our wings like this from now on!”

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What goes in

Chicken wings: Rather than frying whole wings, we trim the wing tip off, and then usually cut the chicken wings into 2 segments at the joint: flats and drumettes. They’re easier to eat and don’t take up as much room in the air fryer. We can easily fit 8 of them in our air fryer.

Seasoning: We keep the seasoning pretty simple so that the sauces we serve can take the spotlight. A mixture of garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper is all you need for tasty wings.

Olive oil: The seasonings are combined with olive oil so they coat the wings evenly. The olive oil helps the wings get brown and crispy in the air fryer, too.

Your favorite sauce: Keep reading for lots of sauce inspiration!

How it comes together

Season the wings. Pat the wings dry for maximum crispiness! Combine the spices and olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Add the chicken wings to the bowl, and stir until the wings are coated with seasoning.

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 a couple of batches, depending on how large your air fryer basket is. 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!

Ways to serve it

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, bang bang sauce, or everyone’s favorite, Chick-fil-A sauce. 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 straightforward; just toss the wings in 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. We suggest you try: Instant Pot broccoli mac and cheese, stove top scalloped potatoes, crockpot baked beans, or potato salad. Really, anything goes with chicken wings.

Ways to change it

• Try your own seasoning blend. You can use whatever spices that you prefer for this air fryer chicken recipe. You can try a from-scratch Italian seasoning, chili spices or even a from-scratch ranch mix. Lemon pepper is rich, too. If you prefer a dry rub, that works too. Lightly spray the wings with olive oil spray before air frying.
• Double the recipe. This works best if you have a large air fryer, or an air fryer feature in your stove.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate: Leftover wings, well-wrapped, can be refrigerated for three to four days, as long as they were refrigerated promptly.

Freeze: You can make chicken wings to freeze and eat 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.

Reheat: For best results, reheat chicken wings in the air fryer for a couple of minutes to regain some of the crispiness. If they’re frozen, reheat the unthawed 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.

• Yield: 4
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 20 minutes
• Total: 35 minutes

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

Method

1. Pat the chicken wings dry with paper towels. (See notes about cutting whole wings, if desired).
2. In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper.
3. Add the wings to the bowl; stir to coat the wings completely with the oil mixture.
4. 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 at 375ºF (or 380ºF, depending on your air fryer) 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.
5. 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.
6. 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. We like this basic seasoning so the sauces we add 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.