Sweet Baby Rays Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Wings

Air fryer bbq chicken wings are to die for! Crispy air fryer wings cooked as an appetizer or dinner that is cheap and protein packed. You can adjust the heat to make these as spicy or mild as you might like, then enjoy together!

You can make air fryer bbq chicken wings in under 30 minutes. Crispy chicken skin lathered with your favorite barbecue sauce. Make it sweet or spicy, these will be a hit served at your next party. Just one of many easy air fryer recipes on our site, let us know what you think! (affiliate links present, originally published 2/22)

Frozen Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Wings

You can use fresh or follow our frozen chicken wings in air fryer timing if you forgot to defrost your meat. Then brush on your favorite sauce and done! The timing below is for fresh. Both turn out amazingly well though. You can make them as crunchy and crispy as you want, or leave on the softer side of things.

No matter what chicken wing sauces you love, these are made the same way. The wingettes and drummettes air fry first with just some olive oil and seasonings. Then you’ll add your favorite sauce on the top to coat.

Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Wings Crispy

Let’s talk about the meat first. I usually have a bag of frozen in the freezer, but will buy a fresh tray if I am meal planning ahead of time. I do prefer defrosting them first, that doesn’t always happen but that is ideal.

Is it better to use fresh or frozen chicken wings in air fryer?

The biggest difference the two is that when they start out rock hard the skin doesn’t get quite as crispy. They are far better than making Instant Pot frozen chicken wings though. I like having both methods available depending on what is going on. Sometimes we have such a busy day, rather than buying takeout, I can pull out the bag in the freezer.

Use seasonings you love to coat the outside before cooking. Those will stick on really nicely with a bit of olive oil. Garlic powder, salt, pepper, cayenne, and Old Bay are great choices.

Extra crispy chicken wings

Tips on getting the outside SUPER crunchy;

1. After removing from the package lay them all in a single layer on a few paper towels.
2. Fold it over the top and gently press down to absorb all the moisture on the outside of the skin.
3. Drizzle with olive oil in a bowl.
4. Sprinkle with seasonings of choice
   1. you could just use our dry rub wings recipe with smoked paprika, brown sugar and salts if you don’t want to add sauce at all
5. When you air fry wings make sure they are NOT overlapping so the hot air can circulate around each one properly.

Ninja Foodi BBQ Chicken Wings

You can make these in a number of different small kitchen appliances. What you see here is the Ninja Foodi grill, you can use a regular Foodi, Cosori, Airwave or other brand. They all basically work the same.

Since we are talking about bbq specifically, let me say that this is my favorite sauce of all time. We use it when making air fryer bbq chicken breasts too.

Air Fryer Honey BBQ Chicken Wings

There are TONS of choices as far as sauces go. Love spicy? Toss with our Asian chicken wing sauce for some HEAT!

If you like a more sticky sweet honey barbecue sauce this is killer too. No matter which you choose you’re going to follow the temp and. cook time for your particular air fryer basket. Toss cooked fresh or frozen wings that have been cooked to a golden brown with your sauce in a large bowl. Can just brush some on for a lighter coat.

Lay on a pretty tray or just line a baking sheet with foil and ramekins with different sauces for game day. They’re a quick and easy finger food that everyone of all ages love.

You could use whole chicken wings instead of the two pieces being broken apart. I think when they are separated they’re easier to eat but to each their own.

BBQ Chicken Wings in Air Fryer

Complete printable recipe is below for you but here is a quick step by step to peek at first:

• You always want to preheat your air fryer to 390 degrees F for 5 minutes. Lay wings on paper towels and press down to absorb moisture on the outside of skin as much as possible.
• Put into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, toss to coat. Sprinkle on seasonings you want, toss to coat. Spray air fryer basket with non stick spray and lay in a single layer.
• Cook air fryer chicken wings for 20 to 25 minutes flipping over half way thru cook time. Time will depend on how crispy you want them + how large your pieces are. 
• Put into bowl and toss with favorite bbq sauce. Enjoy immediately for best results.

If you do have leftovers you’ll want to let them cool to room temperature first. Then store them in a freezer bag (un-sauced). Suck all of the air out so they don’t get soggy. Set them in your fridge for up to 2 days. When you reheat chicken wings in air fryer just preheat to 400 and then cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side.

This is by far the best way to enjoy them the next day. It is important when keeping leftovers to store them without the sauce on the outside if you can. This will allow the texture on the outside to remain somewhat crunchy and not get a weird mushy feel.

Then after reheating, toss or brush on your bbq or homemade teriyaki sauce of choice. Enjoy in between meals or as a quick lunch with carrots and celery sticks of course. If you added Sriracha to the mix you might want to have some ranch dressing on hand to tame it a bit…unless you like HEAT.