Want to make some awesome Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Wings for your next party or get together but don't want to fill your house with that obnoxious deep fryer smell? These breaded chicken wings give you all the wonderful flavor of an extra crispy chicken wing without any of the deep-frying!
When it comes to cooking appetizers and party foods with ease, the Air Fryer reigns supreme. It makes finger foods just a crispy as a deep fryer without soaking your food in fattening oils! Equally important, the Air Fryer won't fill your house with an overbearing deep-fried oil smell. the Air Fryer won't fill your house with an overbearing deep fried oil smell.
My Air Fryer Chicken Wings recipe is perfect for your next sports event, party, Netflix binge session or even as a full-on meal! It's a great comfort food that is made healthier and easier with your Air Fryer.These breaded chicken wings are ready to eat in less than half an hour and are dairy free, egg free and high in protein.
What is the coating on Air Fryer Chicken Wings?
The blend I use to make the flour mixture for these chicken wings is a combination of flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.
The smoked paprika gives it such a great flavor paired with the garlic and makes an awesome base for added sauces later.
You can also use lemon pepper seasoning instead, or really any other dry rub that you like.
Note that if you use garlic salt and not garlic powder, adjust the salt accordingly.
How do you make these Air Fried Breaded Chicken Wings?
- Place chicken wings in a large bowl. Pour in the oil and then toss to coat the wings well.
- In a separate bowl, add dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
- One at a time, place oiled wings in the dry mixture and coat with breading, then place each wing on in the air fryer basket.
- Set your air fryer to 400F and cook for 20 minutes flipping half way through.
- Use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken wings have reached an internal temperature of 165F, and the breading is brown and crunchy before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Flipping the wings halfway through the cooking cycle will ensure you get lovely, extra crispy chicken wings. Remember that the inside of the Air Fryer will be hot so use tongs or a fork to flip the wings halfway through.
If you do this as directed, you will get such crispy wings, you won't believe they weren't deep-fried wings.
It's best to keep your Air Fryer Chicken Wings in a single layer while cooking them. The way the Air Fryer works means it will need space to circulate the air inside the appliance. So if all the wings are stacked, they won't get crispy.
If you need to, cook the wings in two batches.
One of my favorite things to do when cooking chicken in an Air Fryer is to toss it in hot sauce. But here's the thing to know..
Take the crispy chicken wings after they are almost all the way cooked, straight from the air fryer, and toss the wings in your sauce of choice, and then put them back into the air fryer to allow the sauce to glaze over them.
Do NOT cook the raw wings with hot sauce or on them. You need them dry, so you get crispy chicken wings.
Here are some serving options to consider for your air fried chicken wings.
You can use your favorite wing sauce.
you can make the sauce I use for my Korean Chicken Wings.
You can also use the buffalo wing sauce that I used for my spicy cauliflower recipe.
Use plain hot sauce with some ranch dressing.
Use a blue cheese dip or just use chunks of blue cheese smashed into some sour cream or ranch dressing
Use Barbecue sauce for an easy dipping sauce.
What Not To Do!
Here are a few things I can tell you that you will NOT need to get the best air fryer chicken wings--and I know this because I tried all of them.
I found it entirely useless to use baking powder, baking soda, or corn starch. Air frying dries the wings just fine without them. Similarly, there is zero need for olive oil or any kind of cooking spray. Chicken wings have more than enough fat without all that.
This chicken recipe is perfect to serve as an appetizer with a dip. You can also serve them as a main course along with my rosemary roasted potatoes, apple zucchini salad or with a side of cauliflower rice.
Can I cook Frozen Wings in the air fryer?
Can you? Yes. Are they as good as unfrozen wings? No. Are they still spectacular? Yes actually they are
Here's the small issue I found. To get the crispiest, fried chicken texture, you need the wings to be as dry as possible.
With frozen wings, they have so much moisture from the ice crystals, that by the time you've dried off the moisture, your wings are a teeny bit overcooked.
Of course, frozen wings won't take any type of breading or dry rub at all, so there's also that.
But one of the advantages of air fryer wings is that the moisture dissipates faster than in the oven, due to the hot air circulating. So it's not the worst thing in the world--and it's a lot better than no chicken wings!
Getting Crispy Wings from Frozen
Here are a few things to try.
- Let the frozen chicken wings defrost as much as you can. Then, use a paper towel to thoroughly dry them, and then proceed as directed.
- If you have the time and the patience, put the frozen wings in a ziptop bag. Add a few paper towels to soak up moisture. Place the bag in some warm (but NOT hot) water. This way, the wings stay dry, but defrost a little faster.
- You can also defrost them in the microwave but I had very uneven results when I did this, with some hot and cold spots.
- Defrost in the fridge overnight.
- Use an air fryer and don't worry about it 🙂 As I said above, air fryer chicken wings are pretty spectacular anyway.
Oven-Baked Chicken Wings
If you don't have an air fryer, you can still get very nice baked chicken wings. What you really need to do though, is take the almost cooked wings, and then broil them to get them crisp.
Chicken Wing Tips and Tricks
- Place the chicken wings in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Fry them in two batches if needed.
- Be sure to flip the wings during cooking.
- You can reheat leftover wings in the air fryer. Cook them at 360°F for 4 minutes. Turn the heat to 400°F and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Want to make these crispy chicken wings into hot wings? Simply remove from the air fryer, and toss with your favorite hot sauce.
Want more Air Fryer recipes?
- Korean Chicken Wings - these are incredible when cooked in the air fryer, and Keto-friendly too.
- Beef Bulgogi Burgers - burgers are incredible in the air fryer! This is my twist on Beef Bulgogi, and you will love the mayo on these!
- Salt & Pepper Shrimp - simple and drool-worthy! These shrimp are so crispy and perfect!
- Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Chicken: chicken, bacon, and a delightful cheesy spinach filling!
- Philly Cheesesteak - Made fast and easy in your air fryer!
- Keto Basil Pesto Chicken - Creamy, delicious, and simple.
- Low carb Buffalo Chicken Casserole is as deliciously filling casserole with just the right amount of kick.
Equipment You May Need To Make This Dish
Whether you choose to toss these Air Fried Chicken Wings in sauce, or eat them plain, you're going to fall in love. You'll never eat deep-fried chicken pieces again once you make these crispy chicken wings! If you enjoy this recipe, share it with your friends on Facebook or Pin it to make again later.
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below! Just click on the stars in the recipe card to rate. Don't forget to pin this recipe for later!
Ingredients
- 1 pound (453.59 g) chicken wings
- 3 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 cup (62.5 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Garlic Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) freshly crushed peppercorn
Instructions
- Place chicken wings in a large bowl. Pour in the oil and then toss to coat the wings well.
- In a separate bowl, add dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
- One at a time, place oiled wings in the dry mixture and coat with breading, then place each wing on in the air fryer basket.
- Set your airfryer to 400F and cook for 20 minutes flipping half way through.
- Use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken wings have reached an internal temperature of 145F, and the breading is brown and crunchy before serving.
- Place the chicken wings in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Fry them in two batches if needed.
- Be sure to flip the wings during cooking.
- You can reheat leftover wings in the air fryer. Cook them at 360°F for 4 minutes. Turn the heat to 400°F and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Want to make these crispy chicken wings into hot wings? Simply remove from the air fryer, and toss with your favorite hot sauce.
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Nutrition
Originally published on July 27, 2018, at 8:00 AM.
And don't forget to check out my air fryer cookbooks! Every day easy air fryer, and Air Fryer Revolution.
Takira
My mom loved them.
LB
So easy, so yummy. Made it 2 nights ago and making more tonight. Easy prepare, easy clean up.
Kelly Lindman
My husband and I both agree that these are the BEST wings we’ve ever had. Beats restaurant wings for sure. We cooked them at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes on each side until the internal temperature was 185 degrees. The breading was so flavorful, this recipe is a keeper!
URVASHI PITRE
Yay!! Be sure to try the gochujang chicken wings from my recipes as well. That is a huge favorite.
Keith
Did not like this recipe at all. All I got was a mouth feel of flour particles. Won’t use this one again.
Don Gage
Hi, your wings are great! Quick question, how would I modify the recipe if the wings are frozen? I forgot to take them out of the freezer. Thanks! Don
URVASHI PITRE
Hi Don you’ll get a faster response in my Facebook group If your question is time sensitive. But the breading won’t stick to frozen wings
Wryker
I'm confused - in no place do you mention "breading" until once in the preparation section. So do you add breading/breadcrumbs to these wings? I thought just the 'dry' goods were used?
URVASHI PITRE
Breading can refer to two things. Either the coating on wings or the process of breading like a verb. So when you dip in flour egg etc you’re creating breading or you are breading the wings. Does that make sense? Not sure if I answered your question.
Wryker
Wow! You replied before I posted again! I get it - so the 'breading' is your term for how it comes out using the dry ingredients. I got an air fryer/convection/bake/broil/toaster and I'm experimenting and loving how chicken wings, breasts and fries come out so I'm going to try 1/2 batch of wings w/flour (I'm going to use a scrambled egg vs oil) and 1/2 with Baking Powder and both mixed with the other dry ingredients in your list. I'll be trying this on Friday so we'll see how it goes. So far, in my air fryer, I need more than 20 minutes for thawed wings. I have the Oster Model TSSTTVMAF1. Thank you for responding!!
Wryker
I stand corrected. You mean breaded in 2 other areas but don't list it as an ingredient?
Debbie Shapiro Gehlken
Which air fryer do you use, please?