Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Want perfectly crispy Chicken Wings with your air fryer? You’ve got to make this recipe! These lip-smacking honey sriracha chicken wings and drumettes are so full of flavor you will go back for more! Made with honey, molasses, Sriracha sauce, and a killer rub!
The Best Air Fryer Chicken Wings
We’ve covered how to Baked Chicken Wings, but air frying them is just as easy and QUICKER if you already have the equipment! These are perfect for the BIG GAME, holiday parties, and lazy Sundays at home!
An air fryer is basically a condensed convection oven and it yields the perfect blend of baking and frying! Oftentimes, the food is much healthier than if it had been deep-fried because you can omit most of the oil.
Because the air is circulating around the wings, you’re going to get crispier wings than you would in a traditional oven AND you’re going to cut the baking time down by about half!
Rebecca’s Recipe Review
Taste: They have an intense flavor thanks to a combination of a homemade dry rub and a sweet and spicy sauce!
Texture: Tender meat coating in sticky sauce.
Ease: 4/10
Pros: Only 5 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook!
Cons: Don’t look at the list of ingredients and get scared off, there are basically just 4 simple steps to this recipe.
Would I Make This Again? Yes!
Ingredients For Air Fryer Chicken Wings
These wings have three different components: the wings, the rub, and the sauce.
Wings: The wings are pretty straightforward. I recommend getting them fresh, not frozen, and already broken down to save on time. But feel free to break them down yourself.
Rub: Made with a delicious blend of spices like paprika, chili powder, cumin, onion, garlic, celery seed, salt, and pepper, this rub will season the skin prior to cooking and your tastebuds are going to LOVE it! The rub also has baking powder in it which will help pull moisture from the skin and make it extra crispy!
Sauce: What are wings without a sauce, amirite? Sure, these wings would still be delicious with just the dry rub, but layering on the flavor with a sticky sweet and spicy sauce made with honey, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, sriracha, and butter will take these wings from good to mouthwateringly incredible! It’s better than buffalo sauce, trust me!
How To Make Chicken Wings In An Air Fryer
1. Prep the Chicken: Pat the wings with a paper towel to remove as much excess water as possible. This will help them get crispy in the air fryer.
2. Make the Rub: Combine all of the rub ingredients in a large Ziploc bag and add in the chicken and shake to coat. I highly recommend using this handy dandy bag holder if you don’t have an extra set of hands to help you.
3. Fry ’em Up: Put those wings in the air fryer and get cooking! You’ll need to shake them every 6 minutes and flip them about halfway through (12 minutes). Don’t forget to bump up the temperature a little bit towards the end so they turn out nice and crispy!
4. Sauce ’em: While the wings are cooking, mix up your sauce. Once the chicken wings have cooked, pop them in a large bowl and toss the wings in the hot sauce to coat! Then these wings are ready for your enjoyment!
Oh my! This is the BEST chicken wings I’ve ever made. Thank you so much for the recipe!
– Jona
Rebecca’s Tips
– Frozen chicken wings can be used. However, I don’t recommend it, personally because I don’t think they turn out as good. Because they are frozen they will expel water and may take a little more time to bake and may not turn out quite as crispy.
– When you cook the wings at a lower temperature to start, it allows the fat under the skin to slowly break apart and be nice and juicy. The last 5 to 8 minutes at a higher temperature will crisp up the skin.
– Place enough wings on the bottom of the air fryer basket to be one single layer. A little overlapping is fine. We were about to fit about 18 per batch in our air fryer. But depending on the size of your air fryer, you might be able to do more or less.
How To Reheat Wings In The Air Fryer
We don’t normally have leftovers, but in the case that you do, you can reheat the chicken wings at 380°F for 5 minutes, shake in the basket then increase the temperature to 400°F and cook for 3-5 more minutes until reheated and crispy.
More Delicious Appetizer Recipes!
- Healthy Chicken Nuggets – Crispy and delicious!
- Ham and Cheese Sliders – A family favorite for game days and dinner!
- Fish Stick Wonton Tacos – Kids will love these!
- Cheeseburger Dip – Highly addictive!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let leave a review in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos, or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there.
Air Fryer Chicken Wings with Sweet and Spicy Sauce
Equipment
- PowerXL Vortex Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chicken wings1,2
Rub:
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- 1 tablespoon baking powder3
Sauce:
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
- 4 tablespoons salted butter melted
Instructions
- Spray bottom of air fryer pan with olive oil or non-stick spray.
- Pat the chicken wings with a paper towel to dry off excess water.4
- Combine the rub ingredients together in a gallon-size Ziploc bag and add the chicken wings. Shake until wings are coated.
- Place the chicken wings into the air fryer pan in a single layer. A few can go on top but don’t overcrowd the basket or they won’t get crisp. Spray chicken lightly with olive oil spray for crispness.
- Bake at 380°F for 12 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through at 6 minutes.
- Then flip the wings over, spray lightly with olive oil and bake for 12 more minutes. Shaking them halfway through, As before.
- Then turn the Air fryer up to 400°F and bake for an additional 6 minutes or until wings have reached desired crispness.5
- While the wings are cooking, whisk together the sauce ingredients in a large bowl, adding the melted butter in last and mix until fully combined. When the wings are done baking, add them to the bowl with the sauce and toss to coat.6
- Serve with Ranch dressing or Blue cheese dressing.
Video
Notes
- On average, 1lb of wings contains 4 full wings. This is before they are broken down into flats and drums. So each pound really has what we think of as 8 individual wings.
- You can use frozen wings, however, I don’t recommend it, personally because I don’t think they turn out as good. Because they are frozen they will expel water and may take a little more time to bake and may not turn out quite as crispy.
- Make sure you use aluminum-free baking powder or it could alter the taste.
- You want to get as much moisture out of the chicken as possible prior to cooking. The excess water will create steam which will cause the wings to get soggy instead of crispy.
- When you cook the wings at a lower temperature to start, it allows the fat under the skin to slowly break apart and be nice and juicy. The last 5 to 8 minutes at a higher temperature will crisp up the skin.
- You can add more or less sriracha sauce depending on how hot you like them.
- How To Reheat: We don’t normally have leftovers, but in the case that you do, you can reheat the chicken wings at 380°F for 5 minutes, shake in the basket then increase the temperature to 400°F and cook for 3-5 more minutes until reheated and crispy.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Share your thoughts!
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Very good flavor not salty and a nice crunch. The sauce compliments it well.
I used drumettes so I needed a little bit more cooking time.
Delish! Finger licking, plate licking clean good.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I don’t have an air fryer, is there another way to make this recipe.
My husband LOVES these wings!! I used a variety of other sauces with the rub. Looking forward to making the sauce next time.
Perfect! I accidentally added 1 T. salt and they still turned out wonderful (but we had closer to 5-6 lbs of wings). We only had frozen wings, so we just added time at the 400° temp bake. We had enough sauce for the extra wings (I did warm everything on the stove before tossing). They were still crispy!
Tossed in the sauce! I have been eating a dry rub wing for awhile. Needed to switch it up. So happy I did with this recipe! Just enough kick and very crispy! I can’t wait to make these again. The honey is the missing puzzle piece!
Note: I didn’t have molasses and they were BOMB!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Pam!
Great crispy wings and so easy to bake
Thanks
Oh my! This is the BEST chicken wings I’ve ever made. Thank you so much for the recipe 😊😊.
Found on pintrest and so glad i did! Easy and delicious!
The seasonings were quite nice, even balance. I followed the recipe to a T accept the fact that I ended up having to add time because they were larger than expected.
I’m so glad you loved them!