Air Fryer Chicken Wings

Easy, crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings made with just 6 basic ingredients! These quick, mouth-wateringly tender yet crispy wings come together lightning fast and are so fun to share with friends and family.

We all know crispy, tender chicken wings are arguably the most mouth-watering of all the appetizers…but have you made them in the air fryer??

It’s the most amazing experience! We’re talking restaurant-quality wings with home cooked wholesomeness wrapped up in a perfect little package of flavor.

Dip them in a cool creamy ranch or bleu cheese dressing? Forgetaboutit, I’ll eat a plate of them for dinner!

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I only very recently purchased an air fryer. I tend to be late to all trends, as my modus operandi is to sit back and observe before formulating any hard decisions. 

Counter and pantry space is valuable, you know?!

Well I couldn’t be more pleased with my Ninja Air Fryer so far. I purchased it based on a friend’s recommendation (she has tried three different brands), and the thousands of reviews. 

While I don’t have a basis for comparison since this is my first air fryer, I can say it’s well worth the pantry space 🙂

My first foray into air fryer sweet potato fries was a bust, but we’ll call it a work in progress. 

But these wings? Absolutely incredible.

If I were to recommend one thing all air fryer owners must make immediately, it’s these wings!

While I’m all about classic buffalo wings, I wanted my first go at chicken wings to be simple and sauce-less with just some delicious seasonings.

The seasoning gives the wings an amazing crust to ramp up their crispiness and you’ll be amazed at how much flavor they pack!

Let’s chat about the ingredients!:

Ingredients for Air Fryer Chicken Wings:

Chicken Party Wings and Drummettes: Pick up 2 to 3 pounds of bone-in chicken wings and drummettes. If you can’t find any fresh in the meat section of the grocery store, you can find them in the freezer section. My preference is using fresh chicken wings and drummettes because it eliminates the extra step of thawing the wings.

Avocado Oil: Although we’re air frying, a little bit of avocado oil helps the seasonings stick to the chicken for optimal flavor and also helps generate that amazing crispy skin. Don’t skip it! I use avocado oil because it is a high-temperature cooking oil, so it won’t burn in the air fryer.

Paprika, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Dried Oregano, Sea Salt: This combination of seasonings makes an amazing dry rub for the wings. For the best result, you can marinate the wings in the oil and dry rub for an hour or two ahead of time, but this step isn’t mandatory.

If you have a favorite seasoning, you can easily add it in! Lemon pepper, ground cumin, chili powder, and Cajun seasoning are all great options.

How Does An Air Fryer Work?:

A fan circulates air around the drawer (or cooking chamber) in a circular fashion, allowing the air to reach the full surface of the food. This not only ensures even cooking, it is what allows the food to crisp up for that mouth-watering mock fried texture.

Does an air fryer actually fry the food? No. The mechanism for cooking is air instead of oil

While the food does have a crispy fried-like texture, it isn’t technically deep-fried and therefore won’t taste identical to its deep-fried counterpart.

Does this mean you need zero oil for air frying? In my opinion, no. You can certainly use less oil that you otherwise would if you were searing, baking, or sautéing, but for the most flavorful result, there is no way around the deliciousness of fat.

In the case of chicken wings, the air fryer cooks the chicken to perfection while leaving you with the crispiest, most delicious skin. Trust me, they most definitely turn out with superior texture over oven-baked chicken wings.

How to Make Air Fryer Chicken Wings:

Shake all the ingredients up in a zip lock bag.

Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees F (I use the ‘Bake’ setting for this).

Place the wings in the air fryer in a single layer such that they aren’t touching. Select “Air Fry,” and adjust the time to 10 minutes (and be sure the temperature is 400). 

After the 10 minutes are up, flip the wings and air fry for another 8 minutes. Repeat the process for all of the wings.

Serve with choice of ranch dressing, hot buffalo sauce, blue cheese, etc.

And that’s it! Just season up some wings, air fry them to a perfect crisp, and enjoy!

If you love classic hot wings with hot buffalo sauce, stay tuned! I’ll have a recipe for hot wings coming a few weeks from now 🙂

More Delicious Appetizer Recipes:

• Animal Style Fries
• Lemon Garlic Foil Packet Shrimp
• Guacamole and Black Bean Loaded Sweet Potatoes
• Hummus Flatbread with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Spinach, and Pesto
• Crispy Baked Avocado Fries (With Air Fryer Option)

Air fry ‘em up!