Air Fryer Chicken Wings
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These Air Fryer Chicken Wings are a quick and easy appetizer idea when you want to impress a crowd! Extra crispy without the hassle of deep-frying. They also take half the time as a conventional oven!
Air frying is also less messy too since all the fat renders down through the basket leaving you with deliciously, crispy wings you can toss in your favorite sauce. This recipe includes my spicy buffalo sauce, which is easy to make with pantry staples I bet you already have on hand.
New to air frying? Check out all my Air Frying recipes for a delicious variety of air frying recipes that are sure to become new favorites!
Step#1: Season the Chicken Wings
To assure your wings are nice and flavorful and tender season them first with salt and pepper.
How to Make the Wings Extra Crispy
- For extra crispiness, be sure the wings have no moisture on them, by patting them dry on all sides with a paper towel.
- Then place them in the refrigerator uncovered for 45 minutes.
- The dry air from the refrigerator will dry the skin of the wings further and allow the skin to crisp up even more.
Using Frozen Chicken Wings
You can use frozen wings with this recipe too. There’s no need to thaw them first, just increase the baking time by 15 minutes.
Step#2: Air Fry the Chicken Wings
- Place the wings in the basket being careful not to over-crowd them. I find air frying 8-10 wings at a time works best.
- Air fry at 350F for 25 minutes. They become really nice and golden brown, on all sides, at this temperature. But for extra crispiness, you can increase the temperature, after the initial air fry, to 400F and air fry for another 5-8 minutes.
- You’ll know that they are done when the internal temperature reaches 165F with a meat thermometer.
Making This Recipe in a Conventional Oven
- You can make these wings in a conventional oven too, it will just take a bit longer.
- It’s best to line a sheet pan with foil, and place a fitted rack on top and spray with cooking spray.
- Then place the wings on the rack and bake at 425F for 40-45 minutes, turning halfway through.
Making a Large Batch of Wings
- If you are looking to feed a crowd you can batch-fry the wings in the air fryer 8-10 wings at a time, and then keep them warm in a conventional oven at 300F.
- They will stay crispiest if you place them on a sheet pan, fitted with a rack, to stay elevated.
- Then once all the wings are done, toss them with the sauce.
Step#3: Make the Buffalo Sauce
- The base of Buffalo sauce is an equal ratio of butter to hot sauce. That may seem like a lot of hot sauce, but the butter mellows it out quite a bit. So you’ll need a good amount to get a nice kick.
- You can follow this guide to pull back or step up the spiciness of the sauce.
- Mild Use 1/4 cup of butter to 2 tablespoons of hot sauce. I like to use Cholula hot sauce but you could also use Tabasco, Frank’s Red Hot or Sriracha too.
- A Nice Kick Use 1/4 cup of butter to 3 tablespoons of hot sauce.
- Extra Spicy Use 1/4 cup of butter to 4 tablespoons of hot sauce.
Step#4: Toss the Wings with The Sauce
- Buffalo sauce works best when tossed with the wings after they are cooked.
- At this stage you can choose to either pour all the sauce on the wings for extra saucy wings or add only half the sauce, reserving the rest for a dipping sauce you can serve on the side.
- This way your guests can control how much sauce to put on their wings.
Step#5: Garnish and Serve
- Classic garnishes for hot wings include a creamy blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.
- You can use store-bought blue cheese dressing or follow my recipe below for homemade.
- If you don’t have buttermilk in the house for the homemade variety you can also use plain milk, and add a splash of white wine vinegar for the tang.
- I also like to garnish with whole crumbles of blue cheese on top too. It looks pretty and reminds guests what’s in the dip.
- For a cooling effect, I like to add either fresh cilantro or Italian parsley on top of the wings and serve some celery stalks on the side as well. Not only is the celery a nice palette cleanser after a few hot wings, but it’s also great dipped into the blue cheese dressing as well.
Making BBQ Chicken Wings in the Air Fryer
- For BBQ Chicken Wings, you can follow this recipe for air frying the chicken wings and then use my fantastic Homemade BBQ Sauce from my BBQ Ribs Recipe.
- Or make both sauces and offer guests a choice!
Reheating and Storing the Wings
- You can place any leftovers in an air-tight container and place them in the refrigerator overnight.
- Then to reheat the wings place them back in the air fryer at 375F and air fry for 5-8 minutes. Even though the sauce is on them, they will crisp back up.
- The buffalo sauce will set with the heat, but you can re-toss the wings in any leftover sauce, or whip up a half-batch of sauce.
More Easy Air Fryer Recipes!
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
These Air Fryer Chicken Wings are a quick and easy appetizer idea when you want to impress a crowd! Extra crispy without the hassle of deep-frying, and they take half the time than a conventional oven!
Ingredients
- 10 Chicken wings
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter
- 3 Tbsp (45ml) hot sauce
- 1/2 tsp (2.5ml) Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/2 tsp (2.5ml) white vinegar
- 1/4 tsp (1.25ml) garlic or onion powder
- 1 Tbsp (15ml) fresh cilantro, chopped
- 10 celery stalks (4 inches long)
Blue CHeese Dressing:
- 1/3 cup (80ml) sour cream
- 1/3 cup (80ml) buttermilk
- 1/3 cup (50g) crumbled blue cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 tsp (1.25ml) fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Season wings with salt and pepper and then air fry at 350F (175C) for 25 mins.
- Meanwhile, create Buffalo Sauce. Add the butter and hot sauce to a small saucepan, on low flame.
- Then add Worcestershire Sauce, vinegar, and onion powder. Stir until smooth and combined.
- Place wings in a heat-safe bowl. Pour half the sauce on top. Toss to coat. Use the remaining sauce as a dipping sauce.
- Place the wings on a platter and garnish with cilantro. Serve with celery stalks and Blue Cheese Dressing.
Notes
You can use frozen chicken wings for this recipe too, just increase the air frying time by 15 mins.
For extra crispy wings, after the initial air fry, increase the temperature to 400F and air fry for another 5-8 minutes
To reheat leftovers, place the chicken wings back in the air fryer at 375F and fry for 5-8 minutes. The sauce will set but you can either use the reserved sauce to toss them in again, or whip up a half-batch of sauce too.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 312Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 1025mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 4gSugar: 7gProtein: 14g
