Today we’re talking Air Fryer Wings, otherwise known as the most irresistible game-day snack you can get your hands on. I actually had no idea you could cook chicken wings in an air fryer until Ben started “frying” these bad boys up. One bite and I was hooked — or I guess I should say WE were hooked.
My entire family, including my kids, LOVE these wings!
Watch How to Make Them!
My air fryer chicken wings recipe delivers impossibly crispy, perfectly juicy wings, and there’s no deep fat frying required—nor do you need to coat the wings with baking powder or cornstarch or whatever you supposedly have to do when baking them.
All you need for this irresistible appetizer recipe is chicken wings, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, and lemon pepper seasoning. Yes! No need for a special dry rub – lemon pepper wings are where it’s AT. The flavor is so, so good.
(If you love chicken wing recipes as much as we do, be sure to check out my Smoked Chicken Wings too!)
How Long Do You Cook Wings in an Air Fryer?
Two pounds of chicken wings take 23-24 minutes to cook in a large air fryer. I start cooking them at 360ºF to render the fat and skin, then finish the wings at 390ºF to ensure they’re tender on the inside, and crispy and sizzling on the outside.
Can You Put Raw Chicken in an Air Fryer?
Yes! Although we usually use our Air Fryer to heat frozen foods like chicken nuggets or french fries, or to cook fresh vegetables, you absolutely can cook raw chicken in an air fryer. Chicken breasts also cook fabulously in an air fryer. Just think of it as a mini oven or grill.
Ingredients Needed
For as impressive as Air Fryer Wings taste, they are made with just a handful of everyday, simple ingredients. Truly they’re one of the more easy air fryer recipes. Here’s what you’ll need:
For the air fryer wings:
- Chicken wings – I recommend purchasing chicken wings that are already broken down into drumettes and wingettes. That said, you can also buy whole chicken wings, which are a little less expensive, and break them down yourself.
- Lemon pepper seasoning – This may seem out of left field for air fryer wings, but trust and believe: it is perfection. I use Tone’s Lemon Pepper Seasoning Blend.
- Extra virgin olive oil – A drizzle of olive oil is how you get audibly crispy chicken wings. The oil helps the chicken skin start to crisp up faster than it would on its own.
- Salt – An extra pinch of salt ensures the chicken wings are perfectly seasoned when they come out of the Air Fryer.
For tossing and dipping:
- Buffalo wing sauce – You can’t go wrong with a classic. Use store-bought, or make your own with hot sauce, butter, and garlic powder.
- Thai sweet chili sauce – A great choice if you want to give your air fryer wings Asian-inspired flair.
- Ranch or blue cheese dressing – More classic dippers that I can’t get enough of!
- BBQ sauce – Another classic pairing, and great for kids.
- Hot honey – This is a relatively new sauce for me personally, but I think it’d be terrific drizzled over these wings.
How to Make Crispy Air Fryer Wings
Who’s ready to make some crispy restaurant-style wings at home! Ok I see your hand in the air. PERFECT. Here’s what you’ll need to do.
Step 1: Prepare.
Start by preheating your air fryer to 360ºF. If you don’t have the exact model I do, set the temperature to as close as 360 as possible.
Step 2: Season the Chicken Wings
Place the chicken wings into a gallon-size Ziplock bag – no need to pat off excess moisture with paper towels first – then drizzle with roughly a Tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, lemon pepper seasoning, and salt, then seal the bag, keeping the air inside. Give the bag a good shake-shake-shake to evenly coat the wings.
Alternatively you could season the chicken wings in a large bowl.
Step 3: Air Fry the Wings
Add the wings to the air fryer basket sprayed with nonstick cooking spray then arrange in a single layer so they’re not overlapping – touching is fine.
Air fry the wings for 18 minutes, shaking the basket every 6 minutes, or until the chicken wings are golden brown. No need to flip as the shaking will ensure the wings cook evenly.
Increase the heat to 390ºF then cook for another 5 to 6 minutes, shaking the basket every 2 minutes, until the wings are brown and crispy.
That’s it! Serve with the dippers of your choice and don’t forget the carrots and celery sticks. ;)
Why are my Air Fryer Wings Not Crispy?
Sad, soggy wings? Say it isn’t so! Here are my best tips for getting sizzling, crispy Air Fryer wings, every time:
- Don’t overlap the wings. Air fryers make foods crispy by circulating air around them, so if there’s no room for air to circulate, the wings aren’t going to crisp up. That said, you may need to Air Fry in two batches. If some of the wings are bigger than others I like to group them by size so they’re done at the same time.
- Be flexible with the cooking time. Speaking of chicken wing sizes, wings come in various sizes so if your 2 pounds of chicken wings contains less than 20 wings (meaning they’re quite large), you might need to increase cooking time at 360ºF to render the fat and cook the wings all the way through. Similarly, if they’re smaller, you may need less time at 360ºF.
- To sauce or not. I know a lot of people like their wings tossed in sauce, particularly buffalo sauce, prior to serving, but for the crispiest skin ever – dunk your wings in the sauce of your choice vs tossing them in sauce in a bowl.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
You can store any leftover air fryer wings in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. I recommend reheating in the Air Fryer at 360 degrees.
More Snacks and Apps You’ll Love
- Loaded Deviled Eggs
- Gluten Free Pizza Breadsticks
- Herb & Garlic Marinated Olives
- Fig & Prosciutto Goat Cheese Dip
- Bacon and Goat Cheese Stuffed Sweet Pepper Poppers
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Air Fryer Wings
Description
Air Fryer Wings are crispy, juicy, seasoned to perfection, and totally addicting—they'll fly off the plate! This method makes the best chicken wings EVER.
Ingredients
- 2lbs chicken wings (~24) broken down into wingettes and drummies/drummettes
- extra virgin olive oil
- 2 scant Tablespoons Lemon Pepper Seasoning
- pinch salt
- Recommended Dipping/Tossing Sauces:
- Buffalo Wing Sauce
- Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
- Ranch Dressing
- 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. ~1 Tablespoon or so. Add lemon pepper seasoning and salt then seal the bag, keeping the air inside, and shake to evenly coat.
- Arrange wings in the basket of the preheated Air Fryer - wings can be touching but not overlapping - you may need to cook in 2 batches.
- Air Fry 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 >
- Chicken wings can come in various sizes! If your 2lbs of chicken wings contain less then 20 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.
Great will do again
Did you start with frozen or thawed wings?
Thawed. :)
Wings look awesome, can’t wait to try!!!
Before attempting wings at home for the first time in the air fryer (InstantPot Vortex Pro), I read many recipes. Ultimately, I went with this one based on cooking time and temperature, believing it to be a good combination to get my desired level of crispy. I did use Poultry Magic seasoning instead, and made my own buffalo sauce (still playing with that formula). Tonight was my second batch following this recipe. Twice now, this made amazingly crispy, juicy wings with little effort. While I long for the day when I can go to a local pub to enjoy wings, a beer & some live music, I do not see the need to ever order wings out again! Thank you!
Loved this ! Great dinner for a hot day.
What dip is in the photo with the wings?
Just tried your wing recipe in my air fryer! Great!!!
So glad you loved it, Robert! Thank you for your recipe review and rating!!
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!
[…] Air Fryer Chicken Wings […]
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!
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!
Can you add me. To your e mail lynn
[…] AIR FRYER CHICKEN WINGS […]
[…] 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 […]
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.
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!
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. :)
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! :)
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!
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. :)