Everyone loves football food, but sometimes there just isn’t enough time to whip up a feast. Cue to easy or make-ahead recipes, like these Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken Ranch, Slow-Cooked Pulled Brisket, Ham and Cheese Pinwheels and Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip. It took me a long time to surrender to the air fryer frenzy. Being Brazilian, I am not afraid of deep frying food! 😂 But a few years ago, Prime Day came and I just couldn’t pass on a good deal on a very nice air fryer. And I’m so glad I finally joined the air frying team. That thing is magical! I still have to explore more with it, but I’ve used it to make the classics: french fries, chicken nuggets, tater tots and, obviously, chicken wings. It is also the best method I’ve found to reheat leftover pizza! If you are craving crispy chicken wings but don’t feel like dealing with the mess of a deep-fryer or a pot full of oil, look no further. These air fryer chicken wings will knock your socks off!
Ingredients
To make air fryer chicken wings, you will need:
Chicken Wings – You will need 2 pounds of chicken wings, drumettes and flats separated. If your chicken wings are frozen, I recommend you thaw before cooking them so they can be extra crispy. You can cook from frozen, but they will take longer to cook and I find that they don’t get as crispy.Baking Powder – This is the secret ingredient, responsible for the wings being extra crispy! Make sure your baking powder is aluminum free, so you don’t taste it on the wings. Do not use baking soda!Salt – Even if you are tossing the wings with sauce, I recommend seasoning them before cooking, so they are throughly seasoned.Cooking Spray – We’ll use the cooking spray to coat the basket, so the chicken wings don’t stick, but also to coat the wings so the baking powder sticks to them, which will create a nice crispy crust.
How to Make Chicken Wings in Air Fryer
Air frying is one of the healthiest methods for “frying” food!
The air fryer is like a convection oven that mimics the results of deep-frying with hot air and no need for oil. The hot air circulates around the food, cooking and browning whatever food is in the basket. It does actually fry food, but it produces very similar results, only healthier and less messy!
Now, the downside is that it’s not really efficient if you are cooking chicken wings for a crowd, as even the largest capacity air fryer (8 quarts) will only fit about 2 pounds of chicken wings per batch. So you’d have to cook several batches to feed lots of people, which you would achieve quicker by deep frying or using your oven.
Recommended tools and equipment: air fryer, mixing bowl.
Here’s how I make this air fryer chicken wings recipe. As always, you will find the printable (and more complete) version of the recipe at the end of this post!
Step 1: Prep the Chicken
For the crispiest wings, pat them dry with a paper towel before cooking. Extra moisture prevents the skins from crisping nicely.Coat the chicken wings with nonstick spray. You can use vegetable or olive oil instead, if you prefer.Toss with salt and baking powder until the wings are thoroughly coated.
Step 2: Air Fry the Chicken Wings
Preheat your air fryer to 380ºF.Coat the basket with a little bit of vegetable oil. Arrange the wings in a single layer. If you stand the drumettes on their sides, you will have more space. Ideally, the wings wouldn’t touch, but it’s okay if they do as we will flip them twice.Cook for 25 minutes, flipping them halfway through.Flip them again.Raise the air fryer to 400ºF (or as high as your air fryer will go) and cook the wings for an extra 5 minutes so they get extra crispy!
Serving Suggestions
These air fried chicken wings are delicious as is, with a squeeze of lime juice! However, you can bring them to the next level by tossing with your favorite wing sauce. Here are a few suggestions:
Buffalo SauceBBQ Sauce or Guava BBQ SauceGarlic ParmesanLemon PepperSpicy Korean SauceThai SauceSrirachaHoney Mustard
Serve your wings (naked or tossed with sauce) in a platter with veggies – such as carrots and celery – and a dipping sauce. Dipping sauce will depend on what sauce you are tossing with your wings, but ranch and blue cheese are classic choices!
How Many Air Fryer Chicken Wings Per Person?
That will depend on what you are serving with the chicken wings. If they are part of a largest spread, you should calculate 8-10 wings per person. If the wings are the main event, then I’d say at least 15 per person. One pound of chicken wings is about 10 chicken wing pieces (drums and flats), so you’d need one pound (or one and a half if the wings are the only food you’re serving) of uncooked wings per person.
More Chicken Recipes
Brazilian Chicken WingsThe Crispiest Fried ChickenBlackened Chicken BreastsSouthern-Inspired Fried Chicken Sandwich
