Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings

Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings are simply the best ever! Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and with a smack of homemade buffalo sauce, they’re finger lick’n good!

These make a great appetizer, serve them up with some of my other favorites for a restaurant worthy appetizer menu that will surely wow everyone. Try Crispy Onion Rings, Crispy Parmesan Fried Zucchini and my personal favorite the The Best and Easiest Hush Puppies.

Spicy and crispy air fryer chicken wings with sauce.

Air Fryer Wings

Using an air fryer to cook chicken wings is ingenious! It’s the perfect way to get super crispy wings without frying. Baking wings doesn’t seem to ever get that nice crisp on the outside without drying them out on the inside. Now you can have both, the tender juicy inside and crispy outside and in half the time of baking! You are going to absolutely love these.

Now when game time comes around throw a basket or two of these in your air fryer and you will be crowned the MVP! They will be perfect for anytime, even as a meal! Just be prepared to make several batches, because they are so good! Serve them with celery and side of Homemade Ranch or Famous Fry Sauce.

Chicken Wing Ingredients

Simple ingredients go into this recipe for a sure fire winner. Pick up your favorite buffalo sauce at your local grocery store. These can be made from frozen chicken wings as well just add on 5-7 min of cooking time or thaw before cooking.

Chicken Wings: I recommend buying chicken wings that are already broken down into drumettes and wingettes. You can buy whole chicken wings, but you’ll need to break them down yourself.
Olive Oil: You’ll toss the wings with oil to help the seasonings stick.
Garlic Powder: Gives a subtle flavor.
Paprika: Adds color and flavor.
Salt and Pepper: Add to taste.

Honey Buffalo Sauce Ingredients

Buffalo Sauce: Pick your favorite buffalo sauce.
Honey: This will help soften the buffalo spicy kick and add a little bit of sweet.
Worcestershire Sauce: Adds a bit of a savory flavor, it’s amazing.

Making Chicken Wings In The Air Fryer

Using the air fryer makes these so easy and so fast to make. Remember to not over pack your air fryer. If you need to, cook the wings in batches. This will help the wings all cook evenly. You’ll turn these half way through cooking to get them nice and crispy.

Prepare: Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees. In a medium sized bowl add the chicken wings and toss with olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.
Cook: Place in an even layer in your air fryer basket. Cook for 8 minutes. Flip the wings and continue cooking for at least 8 minutes or until done

Making the Buffalo Sauce

Mix Together: In a small bowl whisk buffalo sauce, honey and Worcestershire sauce. Brush glaze on top of wings.

Seasoning, air frying and basting perfect chicken wings.

Tips to Get the Crispiest Wings

These wings are definitely restaurant worthy. This will be your new tried and true to get your wing fix, I promise. Cooking them in the Air Fryer just makes them so easy. If you haven’t gotten on the Air Fryer band wagon it’s definitely time.

Wings: As mentioned above, you can buy wings in two ways. They come whole or they come “trimmed” or “broken” down into parts: The drumette and the wingette. You definitely want to cook these in their parts, not whole. The whole wings are cheaper but it takes a lot of work to break them down. It’s worth paying a little bit more for the work to be already done.
Dry: Patting the wings dry before adding the oil and seasoning will help them get even crispier. It’ll remove any excess water which can slow the cooking and cause them to steam. They’ll still get cooked but won’t be as crispy. Use paper towels to pat them down, or even keep them in the fridge uncovered before seasoning to help dehydrate them.
Turn it up: If you desire an extra crisp almost char to your wings, turn the air fryer up 20 degrees the last 2-3 minutes of cooking.
Stand them Up: Line the chicken wings standing upright along the sides of the air fryer. This is a great little trick if you need to fit them all in. It doesn’t affect how they’re cooked, but gets them all in. I’ll admit I haven’t tried this tip yet, but I heard about it and can’t wait to try it out the next time I make these.

A Few More Suggestions For Great Chicken Wings

Making these wings is going to be life changing, especially if you are wing lover. Making anything with the word crispy in it is just plain amazing like Crispy Garlic Sweet Potato Fries or Crispy Parmesan Garlic Chicken! Yummy!

Can I make air fryer chicken wings in the oven instead? Yes, most definitely! They will take longer and your results may not be the same. Bake the chicken wings at 425 degrees F for 35-45 min or till the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Flip the chicken half way through baking.
Variations: This is such an easy recipe to adapt to your likes. It’s amazing as is, but you can definitely try different seasonings and sauces to mix it up.
How do I know they’re done cooking? Using a meat thermometer, insert it into the thickest part of the wing. It should register 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dipping a chicken wing in ranch sauce.

How Do You Reheat Leftover Air Fryer Wings?

Warm up leftovers in the air fryer at 375 degrees for about 2-3 minutes or you can microwave till heated through.

Can you Freeze Cooked Chicken Wings?

You sure can! Let the chicken wings cool completely to room temperature. Freeze for 2-3 hours on a baking sheet before transferring them to a freezer safe container or freezer bag. They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge over night before reheating.

Storing The Best Air Fryer Chicken Wings

These wings are best right from the air fryer. This is because storing them or letting them sit too long will cause them to lose their crispiness. If you have any leftovers store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.

Crispy air fryer chicken wings with celery and dip.

More Air Fryer Recipes to Try

Cooking with an air fryer just makes sense. It cooks your favorite foods in a healthier, easier and faster way. What’s not to love? I know what you may be thinking, can an air fryer really be that great? Yes, it is! Need more proof? Try these other favorites for yourself