Ready for the crispiest chicken wings of your life? Air Fryer Chicken Wings are crisped in the air fryer with just a drizzle of oil and pinch of seasonings.
Today we’re talking Air Fryer Chicken Wings, baby! Aka the crispiest, juiciest, most irresistible game-day snack you can get your hands on (besides the 10 other gluten-free game-day recipes I’m sharing below, of course.)
Let it be known that I’ve never been a fan of chicken wings. It pretty much boils down to not wanting to get my hands dirty when I eat. #cleanfreak My brothers used to go to quarter wing night at the local wing joint every week in high school and come home like, $12 poorer (you do the math – spoiler alert: it’s a $h!t load of wings) but the appeal had always been lost on me until Ben started “frying” these babies up in our Air Fryer last month. One bite and I was HOOKED. That said…
Friends, meet my Air Fryer. Air Fryer, meet my friends! This bad boy is a 3.5 quart capacity Philips XL Air Fryer. If you’re not familiar, an Air Fryer heats up extremely quickly, cooks frozen foods in half the time as an oven, and “fries” foods with little to no oil. We use ours multiple times a week for cooking chicken nugget-type foods, baked potatoes, and even reheating foods.
Air Fryers also makes killer chicken wings. I thought Ben had lost his mind when he randomly tossed a couple wings in the Air Fryer basket last month but quickly changed my mind when I had a bite. Like I said, impossibly crispy, juicy, and no deep fat frying required – nor do you need to toss the wings in baking soda or cornstarch or whatever you supposedly have to do when making baked wings. All you need is chicken wings, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, and lemon pepper seasoning. Yes!
Tips for Making Air Fryer Chicken Wings:
- What To Buy. For this recipe, I recommend using chicken wings that are already broken down into drumettes and wingettes. However, you can use whole chicken wings, which are a little less expensive. If you want to save a buck or two, here’s a great tutorial for breaking down whole chicken wings.
- Cooking Tip. Chicken wings can come in various sizes so if your 2lbs of chicken wings contains more than 20 wings you might need to increase cooking time at 360 degrees to render the fat and cook the wings all the way through.
- To Get Crispy Wings. To ensure your chicken wings turn out sizzling and crispy, don’t overcrowd your Air Fryer basket. Cook the chicken wings in batches if needed for optimal crispiness.
- What To Serve Them With. I like my chicken wings best plain but feel free to serve them with your favorite dipping sauce like Thai sweet chili sauce, BBQ sauce, ranch, and/or buffalo sauce.
How To Make This Recipe:
Start with 2lbs trimmed chicken wings. I didn’t learn this until making these wings myself but you can buy chicken wings whole and break them down yourself OR as I mentioned before, you can buy them already broken down into drumettes and wingettes, which is what we want for this recipe. It costs a little more to buy the wings broken down but I’m willing to pay a slight premium for this.
Add the chicken wings to a gallon-sized Ziplock bag or a large bowl then add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil – maybe a scant Tablespoon or so – plus a pinch of salt, and 2 scant Tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning. I prefer Tone’s Lemon Pepper Seasoning Blend.
Seal the bag keeping the air trapped inside then shake to coat, or stir to coat if you’re using a bowl. You can now either use the wings right away, or press the air out of the bag and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
When it’s time to cook, preheat your Air Fryer to 360 degrees then add the chicken wings to the basket (NOTE: the batch in the photos was 1-1/3lb, so the full 2lbs will overlap each other slightly – that’s ok.) Cook for 18 minutes, shaking the basket 3 times, then turn the heat up to 390 degrees and cook for another 6 minutes, shaking the basket every 2 minutes, or until the wings are brown and crisp.
Toss the wings with your favorite sauce or pour onto a platter with dipping sauces and get to WORK! No matter what team you’re cheering for, everyone will root for more Air Fryer Chicken Wings – enjoy!
10 Ways to Simplify Your Life
Kombucha MuleAir Fryer Chicken Wings
Description
Ready for the crispiest chicken wings of your life?! Gluten-free Air Fryer Chicken Wings are crisped in the air fryer with just a drizzle of oil and pinch of seasonings. Get your dipping sauces ready!
Ingredients
- 2lbs trimmed chicken wings (called wingettes and drummies or drummettes)
- extra virgin olive oil
- big pinch salt
- 2 scant Tablespoons Lemon Pepper Seasoning
- Recommended Dipping/Tossing Sauces:
- Ranch
- Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
- Buffalo Wing Sauce
- BBQ Sauce
Directions
- Preheat Air Fryer to 360 degrees. Add trimmed chicken wings to a gallon-size Ziplock bag or large bowl then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil - maybe a Tablespoon or so. Add salt plus lemon pepper seasoning then seal the bag, keeping the air inside, and shake or stir to evenly coat.
- Pour wings into preheated Air Fryer basket then shake to evenly arrange - some chicken wings will be stacked on top of each other and that’s ok. Cook for 18 minutes, shaking the basket vigorously every 6 minutes, or until the chicken wings are golden brown. Turn heat up to 390 degrees then cook for another 5-6 minutes, shaking the basket every 2 minutes, until wings are brown and crispy. Serve or toss with sauces.
Notes
- This is the Air Fryer I have >
- If you have an Air Fryer that is smaller then 3.5 quarts, decrease the amount of chicken wings you cook at one time, and/or adjust cooking times.
- Cchicken wings can come in various sizes! If your 2lbs of chicken wings contain less then 17 or 18 wings (directions here are for 24 wings,) you might need to increase cooking time at 360 degrees to render the fat and cook the wings all the way through.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
10 Gluten-Free Game-Day Recipes:
Hungry for more? Here are 10 of my very favorite gluten-free game-day recipes!
Caprese Skewers with Balsamic Drizzle >
Best Ever Southwestern Black Bean Dip >
Signature Spicy, Smoky, Sweet Chili >
Crock Pot Sausage and Peppers >
Cheddar Brat Meatballs + 3 Dipping Sauces >
Gluten-Free Mozzarella Bites >
Secret Ingredient Restaurant Style Salsa >
Caesar Spinach Artichoke Dip >
The wings look delicious. What dipping sauce is in your post?
Thanks Judy! The first is Tessemae’s Ranch, and the second is Stubb’s BBQ Sauce. :)
These look delicious! I have been so resistant about getting an air fryer because I don’t have the room. I was the same way about an instant pot but I eventually caved and it’s been life-changing! I have a feeling I’ll be giving into an air fryer purchase as well 🤷♀️
I don’t think I would have ever bought it for myself (I’m on a self-imposed 1 in 1 out kitchen appliance rule) but my husband bought it for me and I’m so glad that he did!
thank you for all of these recipes, so many to choose from, nice to have at least a few g. free recipes to offer
You bet, Sabrina! Just so you know, all recipes published after February 2014 are gluten-free. Any gluten-free free recipe will have an orange “GF” icon in the recipe card! :)
What’s the clean up like for an air fryer? It looks like it would be a great tool!
I let the baskets cool then pour the fat from the bottom into a can and discard. Soak in dish soap then send it through the dishwasher. :)
We made these yesterday for some game day snacking! We used our Phillips AirFryer (not the same model as yours), which we got this past Christmas and still discovering all the ways to use it! The wings had great flavor, however, ours did not get crispy. We still ate them all, and we’ll try again sometime to see if we can get them crispy. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh shoot, I’m sorry to hear that, Kristine! We made these last night using a brand we haven’t used before and the wings were a bit bigger. That said, they took a little bit longer at 360 before we turned the heat up to 390 to crisp the skin. I’ll make a note of this in the recipe. I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor and hope you might try again cooking longer at 360 degrees!
We made these on Sunday and used our new Ninja combo air fryer/pressure cooker. They were so easy to make and delicious! They didn’t even need dipping sauce. We did use the air fryer for a longer time to get them nice and crispy. Another winner, thank you.
[…] ever even HEARD of the LA Rams?!” but that didn’t stop of us from scarfing 4lbs of Air Fryer Chicken Wings and downing two Kombucha Mules a piece. Hey, when in Rome slash your living […]
[…] AIR FRYER CHICKEN WINGS […]
Can you add me. To your e mail lynn
I bought an air fryer yesterday and made this recipe. Out of fear of undercooking the wings, I cooked them for an additional 3 minutes at 360. In the end they were overcooked because I didn’t follow your directions. They were still super good and I will definitely be making them again but following your original cooking times! You should add more recipes for the air fryer!
These are great! Made these tonight with my new Ninja air fryer. Followed the recipe exactly. Thanks!
Yeah!! So glad to hear it, Kathy! Thanks for letting us know how the recipe works using a different brand of Air Fryer. I appreciate it!
[…] Air Fryer Chicken Wings […]
The air fryer is a game changer for wings! I’m so glad I saw this recipe. We used our own BBQ sauce instead of the lemon pepper, but the directions to air fry the wings was spot on!
Just tried your wing recipe in my air fryer! Great!!!
So glad you loved it, Robert! Thank you for your recipe review and rating!!