Air Fryer Chicken Wings

If you have an air fryer, you will always be looking for more recipes to make using this amazing kitchen gadget: these air fryer chicken wings are just such a dish. Easy to make and ready in less than 30 minutes, they are packed with flavor and have that classic crispy skin everybody loves.

I’m so vocal about loving my air fryer that I sound like an infomercial. Ask my family! I wax poetic about it without any embarrassment because I know it can make super delicious air fryer recipes like these air fried chicken wings.

That delights me.

When I air fry wings, I don’t like to coat them with a flour mixture. I like the chicken skin to be crispy and coated with nothing more than my delicious mixture of spices and herbs.

My family think these are the best air fryer chicken wings they’ve ever had and I happen to agree. 🙂

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Helpful tips

• My air fryer is the Instant Vortex Pro, which has two trays inside the oven that offer a lot of capacity. However, this recipe will also work in basket air fryers. Depending on your model and how many pounds of wings you do, you may have to cook the chicken in batches.
• Even though there are only two of us in our house, I make a big batch of wings (over three pounds) because they keep for at least a week in the fridge and reheat beautifully so we can enjoy them as leftovers.
• You can also freeze any leftover wings you’ve cooked. Just place them in an airtight container and when you’re ready, take them out to reheat for a quick and delicious dinner.
• The advice now from experts is don’t wash your wings before cooking because it creates a higher risk of spreading bacteria around the sink, on the counters, and even on your hands. What I do is carefully remove the chicken from the packaging, pat it down with paper towels, and then discard the towels after.
• Even though these chicken wings are scrumptious just the way they are, you could also drape some buffalo sauce on them, or dip them in either ranch dressing, or blue cheese dressing.

Ingredients and substitutions

• Chicken wings – I buy mine at Whole Foods. They are organic and free range chicken parts and air chilled. I usually don’t buy whole chicken wings as I prefer them to be cut up already.
• Chipotle powder – optional – Use as much or as little as you like. I use a few shakes because hubby can’t take a lot of spice. (Woe is me.)
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Tarragon – dried – if you don’t have this herb, you can substitute it with extra dried parsley.
• Cumin – ground.
• Parsley – dried.
• Smoked paprika – This gives it a nice smokey flavor.
• Kosher salt – this is my preferred salt. You can use another salt, like sea salt, but use half the amount.

How to make air fryer chicken wings

Pre-step

Get out your air fryer, a mixing bowl, and a rubber spatula.

Step one

After you’ve patted down the chicken wings to remove moisture, place them in the mixing bowl. (A)

Step two

Gather the herbs and spices – onion powder, garlic powder, tarragon, cumin, parsley, smoked paprika, and kosher salt. (B)

Step three

Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the chicken wings so the herbs and spices have something to stick to. (C)

This is where I sprinkle in the little bit of chipotle powder hubby can eat. You can add yours now or add it with the rest of the mixture pictured below.

Step four

Add the rest of the herbs and spices. You don’t have to mix them beforehand. (D)

Step five

Take a large rubber spatula and toss the ingredients together with the chicken until all the wings are covered. This is where your herbs and spices are blended.

Step six

Remove the oven trays if you have that type of air fryer. If you have the basket type, leave the basket in the fryer. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and set the timer to 18 – 20 minutes. 18 minutes for small wings and 20 minutes for larger meaty wings.

I bake mine for 20 minutes.

Step seven

Line the chicken wings on the tray in a single layer while the oven is heating up. (With the basket type, wait until the oven heats up and then add the wings to the air fryer basket once it beeps that it has come to temperature.) Try not to have the wings touch each other or overlap. (E)

Step nine

After 10 minutes, carefully switch the bottom tray to the top and the top to the bottom. You don’t have to flip the wings. (If you have the basket type of air fryer, you will have to flip the wings midway through cooking). (F)

Remove the crispy wings and place them on a serving platter.

Oh my, don’t they look delicious?

I couldn’t even wait to place a few on a plate. I had to pick one of the crispy chicken wings up.

So moist and tasty that you don’t even need a sauce. But if you LOVE sauce, you can warm some up and add it now, though I don’t know why you’d want to. 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this air fryer chicken wings recipe! We make these wings here in our house at least 2 times a month, if not more.

Thankfully Christopher loves them or I’d be eating a lot of these all by my onesies!

Favorite air fryer recipes

• Pickles
• Thighs
• French toast
• Drumsticks
• Cornish hens
• Salmon

And as always, may all your dishes be delish!

If you’ve tried this recipe, I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!