Air Fryer Chicken Wings

How to Make Air Fryer Chicken Wings

Our recipe below tells you all you need to know about getting crispy wings, but here is an overview.

Coat Chicken in Oil and Seasoning

Start by tossing frozen chicken wingettes and drummettes with a bit of vegetable oil, paprika, salt, and pepper. Paprika adds flavor and helps achieve a golden color on the wings. Add your own favorite seasonings as well, like lemon pepper, barbecue seasoning, or garlic powder.

Arrange in Air Fryer

Next, arrange the wings in a single layer in the air fryer (no need to grease or spray the basket). You will be working in batches, so refrigerate any wings that don’t fit in the air fryer. This also gives you a chance to serve hot wings throughout the game or party.

Set the Time and Temp on the Air Fryer

Set the air fryer’s time and temp, and walk away. Come back in 10 minutes to turn the chicken wings halfway through cooking. Set the timer for another 10 minutes and come back to piping hot and crispy air fryer chicken wings. Cook another batch to keep the party going.

Tips for Getting Crispy Air Fryer Wings

Our chicken wings recipe for the air fryer gives you what you need to know for crispy wings. Keep the wings separated and in a single layer so air can circulate around the wings during cooking. The number of wings you can cook at one time will depend on the size of your air fryer.

Be patient. The dark meat of the wings should get to a higher temp than white meat to deliver perfectly cooked meat with a crispy skin. The inside of the chicken will get to 180°F or more, and that helps the skin get golden brown and crispy.

Seasoning and Sauce Variations

Dipping sauce inspiration can be found many places and can take you around the globe.

Already on Hand: Look to the refrigerator for condiment ideas to customize your air fryer wings. Salad dressings, like ranch, blue cheese, and honey-mustard make perfect dipping sauces for the wings. Barbecue sauce or steak sauce also add a savory variation.

Grocery Shelf: There is also a shelf-load of wing sauces to find at the grocery store. Some interesting flavors include Buffalo (of course!), Parmesan-garlic, bourbon-peach, and Nashville hot. The bottle doesn’t need to say “wing sauce” to work. Think sweet and sour, teriyaki, specialty mustards, or Thai peanut sauce.

DIY: If you want to elevate the wing experience, make your own dipping sauce. Check out these recipes from Pillsbury.com.

Chipotle Mayonnaise takes 2 ingredients you may have on hand and elevates the sauce to smoky, smooth goodness.

Pistachio Pesto may seem like an odd combo, but the rich herb flavor pairs perfectly with the crispy wings.

Storing and Reheating Leftover Wings

If you have leftover air fryer chicken wings, place in an airtight container, and refrigerate up to 3 days. To reheat the wings, air fry in a single layer in the air fryer at 375°F for 6 minutes, turning halfway through heating. The inside of the wings should reach 165°F. Air frying the leftover wings will recrisp the wings, which wouldn’t happen if you reheated them in the microwave. However, watch the temperature closely so you can avoid overheating and drying out the wings. For food safety and quality reasons, we do not recommend freezing already cooked air fried chicken wings.

Sides for Air Fryer Wings

Wings in the air fryer make a great weeknight meal, too. Serve with a green salad and a slice of watermelon. Then add one of these family-friendly sides.

Boiled Corn on the Cob keeps the fun of finger food in the meal. As the water heats to cook the corn, start air frying the wings.

One-Pot Mac and Cheese is an easy 3-ingredient recipe to put together while the wings are in the air fryer.

If you are serving the air fryer wings for an appetizer party, here are a couple of ideas to add to the buffet.

Slow-Cooker Elote Dip combines the flavors of Mexican street corn in a easy to make dip.

Stuffed Pretzel Dippers with cheesy mustard dip are another crowd-pleasing app. It’s likely the mustard dip will do triple duty as a favorite dip for fries and wings as well.