My air fryer has become a staple in my kitchen. It started as a way for me to make food like frozen chicken strips and french fries for the kids. Now I love making main dishes and side dishes in it! Air Fryer Chicken Wings have become a hit in our house for both weekly meals and entertaining appetizers. They’re perfect for weeknight dinner with the family and for get-togethers like game day!
Full recipe details for air fryer wings can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. Details and tips are shared in the post.
AIR FRYER CHICKEN WINGS
I was never a huge fan of making chicken wings at home. Take me out to eat and I’m all about some wings (usually more on the sweet side than the spicy side), but at home, it always seemed too much of a chore to make.
Honestly, I’m not sure what I was thinking. But my air fryer has opened my eyes in many ways! Plus, I’ve been working to make more food at home, despite our busy schedule.
HOW DO YOU MAKE WINGS IN AN AIR FRYER?
Making wings in the air fryer is pretty simple. All I do is season the wings, cook them, and then sauce them. Just three easy steps! I recommend adding your sauce after you fry them. But I do like to add some sort of seasoning before they cook.
For these BBQ Chicken Wings I use a BBQ seasoning mix you can pick up in the seasonings aisle. You can also use seasoned salt, onion salt, garlic salt, or just plain salt and pepper.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO COOK WINGS IN AN AIR FRYER?
It takes less than 30 minutes to prep and cook fresh chicken wings in the air fryer!! You get tender chicken with crisp skin that is just delicious!
When people ask me how long to fry chicken wings I tell them that it generally takes about 25 minutes. I like to turn or toss mine every 5 minutes or so to make sure they all get well cooked.
CAN YOU STACK CHICKEN WINGS IN AN AIR FRYER?
Technically you can stack chicken wings in the air fryer, but I don’t recommend it. If you’re using wings that are on the smaller size and you shake the basket a few times, you should be fine.
I prefer to make sure I don’t crowd the wings when I put them in the basket. I want the air to be able to circulate well so the chicken gets nice and crispy. The crisp skin is one of my favorite things about air-fried wings.
For wings, they can touch in the basket but you don’t really want them piled high to the top of the basket or anything like that.
I avoid stacking even when I make Air Fryer Chicken Thighs or Chicken Drumsticks too.
CAN YOU COOK FROZEN WINGS IN AIR FRYER?
You can definitely cook frozen wings in an air fryer. Cooking frozen food in the air fryer is where a lot of people start and it’s still one of my favorite ways to use ours.
You don’t need to thaw frozen food before you use the air fryer, you may just need to add some extra cook time.
If you have frozen chicken wings, you’ll want to cook them a bit longer than fresh wings. I usually add about 5 minutes to the cooking time for a total time of 30 minutes. If you want to make sure the frozen wings get that crispy skin, increase the temperature for the last few minutes.
HOW TO REHEAT CHICKEN WINGS
To reheat chicken wings you’ve made, pop them back into the air fryer basket and cooking them at 400°F for about 5 minutes. Reheating food in the air fryer is one of my favorite ways to use it! If you haven’t done it, you need to try it!
HOW TO AIR FRY CHICKEN WINGS
To make these BBQ air fryer wings you need a few basic ingredients in addition to your raw chicken wings. You’ll need olive oil and whatever seasoning you want to use. I used a BBQ seasoning mix I got in the baking aisle. If you want to add sauce to your wings, you’ll need that as well.
We love BBQ here, but you can use this recipe to make air fryer buffalo wings by changing up the sauce. This recipe works for any kind of air fryer hot wings based on your sauce and even your seasonings. The process is the same which makes it very versatile.
This recipe makes 12 wings and serves 4. The prep time is about 5 minutes and the air fryer chicken wings cook time is about 25 minutes.
To prepare the chicken wings, put them in a bowl with the olive oil and seasoning. Coat the chicken by using your hands.
Put the wings into the air fryer basket. I recommend using an air fryer liner to help make cleaning up easier.
When you put the wings in the basket, you want them to have room for the air to circulate. Try to put them in so they don’t touch. As I mentioned earlier, I avoid stacking them. I’d rather make multiple batches.
Cook the wings at 400°F for about 22 minutes. Flip or toss the wings at least once about halfway through the cooking time. Once you reach the end of the cooking time, check the chicken to see if it’s done. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 360°F. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes if needed.
Remove the chicken wings from the basket so they don’t continue to cook. Toss them in sauce and let them sit for 5 minutes to rest before serving.
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 chicken wings
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp BBQ seasoning mix
- BBQ sauce (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken wings, olive oil, and BBQ seasoning. Use your hands to massage the seasoning into the chicken wings.
- Place an air fryer liner or rack inside the air fryer basket, if needed. Place the chicken wings in the basket in a single layer. Leave space for the air to circulate around the wings.
- Set the air fryer to cook at 400°F for 22 minutes.
- Cook the wings, flipping halfway through. Check for doneness at the end of cook time and increase time if needed, up to 25 minutes. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Allow wings to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serve tossed in BBQ sauce, if desired.
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