Have you hoped on the Air Fryer bandwagon yet? If not, this is BEST Air Fryer Chicken Wings recipe to convince you! It makes crispy wings that are juicy and spicy, with no deep frying and super easy cleanup.
That, my friends, is the power of the Air Fryer.
What is an Air Fryer?
It's a tiny game changer of a convection oven that fits on your counter top. The two main types are a toaster-oven style and what you see below, which has a basket. The Air Fryer below is the type I have - it's a Dash 1.2 L and I love it like a family member. You can check it out here.
No, this isn't sponsored by Dash. I just love mine.
What's so great about the Air Fryer?
It fries things ... without oil ( for the most part. ) . Frozen french fries, mozzarella sticks, or chicken tenders? Throw those suckers into the Dash and BAM! They'll come out tasting crispy like you'd deep fried them, with none of the added deep-frying calories.
I like to save those calories for the actual food, not the oil.
Then when you are done, pour out any accumulated grease that fell below the grate ( away from your precious now-crispy and cooked food ), give the inside a quick wash, and it's clean! No scrubbing. No vat of oil to dispose of.
Okay, okay so now you know what it is. Let's talk about all the fun you can have with it - like the reason you're here:
How to air fry chicken wings
It's so easy. So so so stupid easy.
- Spray the inside of the Air Fryer Basket with cooking spray.
- For crispy skin, be sure to pat them dry with something like a paper towel. Then spray the raw chicken wings with cooking spray.
- Dump the chicken wings into the sprayed basket, set the temperature to 400 degrees F, and the timer for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, open the basket, shake up the wings to make sure the parts that are crunchy already fall to the bottom and the parts that are not yet crunchy get exposed to the top of the basket.
- Do this four times, for a total of 40 minutes cooking time.
Then you'll open the basket and it will look crispy and golden brown like the picture below!
Can I cook Frozen chicken wings in air fryer?
Sure. But you'll need to prep them first with an additional 10 minutes of cook time in the machine at 350 degrees F. If your wings are particularly large ( or frozen in a huge lump and not individually, then you might need to add additional time to defrost.)
Then proceed with the recipe as written.
Alrighty - so we've successfully cooked our crispy chicken wings and we're ready to sauce 'em.
Time for my super easy, super delicious, all-time-favorite Buffalo Sauce Recipe:
How to Make Buffalo Wing Sauce
Simply melt ¼ cup of butter, and stir in ⅔ cup of Frank's Red Hot Sauce.
Make super sure you are using Frank's Hot Sauce and not Frank's Buffalo Sauce. Make even MORE sure that you are using Frank's, and not some other brand!
I find this mix is perfectly spicy for me - but if you want less spice, add some extra butter 1 Tablespoon at a time until it's to your liking. If you want more spice, add more hot sauce 2 Tablespoons at a time.
Now we are ready to pour our homemade buffalo sauce onto the Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings and toss in a large bowl!
And prepare to have your mind blown that you just made about 18 hot wings for about $8 instead of the nearly $20 it would cost you to get delivery.
OH, and without all that grease!
Don't forget the side of blue cheese dressing and fresh celery sticks! I've got the BEST Blue Cheese Dressing recipe EVER.
If you are looking for some other great healthy chicken wing and chicken wing inspired recipes (okay, healthiER), check these out:
Looking for other favorite Air Fryer Recipes? look no further:
Air Fryer Chicken Wings with Buffalo Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken wings tips removed, flats separated from drummettes
- 2 sprays cooking spray Pam Organic Canola Oil
- 6 ounces Franks Red Hot Sauce
- 4 Tablespoons butter melted
- ¼ cup blue cheese dressing optional, for serving
Equipment
Instructions
- Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray. Spray the wings with cooking spray and add them to the basket.
- Set the air fryer to 400 degrees. After 10 minutes of air frying, shake the basket, making sure that any parts that already look crispy fall down to the bottom and any wings that need more crisping are brought to the top. You might require tongs to assist with the shaking and moving of wings. Repeat 3 more times until the wings are fully cooked and crisped for a total cook time of 40 minutes.
- In a small jar or bowl, mix the melted butter with the hot sauce until they are thoroughly combined.
- Toss the wings with the hot sauce and serve.
My sauce is different. I use frank hot sauce some melted butter and then some vinegar. My husband says this is the best. Then serve with Blue cheese dressing.
These are delicious but the sauce isn’t quite Buffalo sauce. I followed the directions but just couldn’t seem to enjoy the sauce. I went out and bought anchor bar Buffalo sauce and will try that. Maybe I’m just trying to hard to replicate Imperials. That being said my husband doesn’t want me to change anything bc he loved these but he is from NJ sooooo.. haha.
-Also from Buffalo, NY.