Dry Rub Air Fryer Wings Recipe

The best air fryer wings recipe covered with a dry rub for chicken that is amazing! If you’re looking for healthy fried chicken, these naked chicken wings in your Ninja Foodi are the answer. Simple and flavorful without using any oil to cook them.

I’m serious when I say these will knock your socks off using our sweet and savory rub.

Ninja Foodi Wings

Yes, you can use any brand you have. We have a Foodi which is a pressure cooker and air fryer but a Cosori is our second favorite.

Air fryer chicken wings dry rub

Air frying vs frying is a much healthier way to get food crispy but without any oil needed! Just rub your spices on your wings.

Throw them in the basket and in no time at all you have delicious crispy chicken wings without any oil splatters.

No heavy feeling you get when you eat fried foods anymore. Are you obsessed with air fryer appetizers too?? 

Here are a few details on the machine I usually use.

• This is the Ninja Cooking system we have, as well as this electric air fryer
• You can grab a free recipe book here.
• You’ll find more Ninja Foodi air fryer recipes here too.

Yes you can just sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss with bbq sauce when done but these naked wings are so much better.

Air fryer wings

This is what you’ll need to make our famous rub, beyond that you just need defrosted chicken wings.

1. Cayenne pepper – Will give these a bit of a kick. I will say that I describe my heat desire as mild so if you want med. or spicy add more.
2. Pepper – Is kinda’ a given along with salt in just about any dry rub.
3. Paprika – This may be something you only put on top of deviled eggs but it’s great for so much more!

Garlic powder – Is something I add to just about everything. In minced, salt and powder form I just can’t get enough garlic!

Dry Rub Wings

1. Chili powder – Adds a little heat as well along with great flavor as well though. As with the cayenne adjust as desired according to whether you want it spicy or not.
2. Salt – I mean you need this when it comes to seasonings….
3. Cinnamon is optional

If you’re new to this method of cooking it’s like eating deep fried chicken but is as healthy as baked chicken.

The best of both worlds I tell you. Before we got this nifty kitchen appliance we used baking powder to make really crispy chicken wings in the oven.

Now we can skip heating the whole house up and make these air fry chicken wings in about 30 minutes flat!

What does dry rubbed mean?

It just means that it isn’t a sauce. Using dry spices without any liquid is a great way to really pack on a lot of flavor without being goopy and messy. We use this flavoring method a lot when making most of our smoker recipes.

• Believe me, dry rubbed chicken wings are the bomb!!
• Of course you can omit or decrease the spice level if you wish but this comes out mild/medium.

To make things easier I just blend them all together, throw them into a gallon ziploc bag and shake!

• Adding about half at a time is best so that the outsides get a nice thick and even coat.

How many wings can you cook in an air fryer?

Well, that depends on what machine you have. If I am using my Foodi I can add 6-7 at a time without overlapping them. That is important if you really want the chicken skin to be quite crispy.

Another tip is to spray the inside of your air fryer basket with non stick spray before adding your chicken pieces. That will help with cleanup.

Wings in Ninja Foodi

I also have the Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven (special thanks goes out to them for the gift). We had a toaster oven forever and got rid of our toaster years ago.

Having both in one kitchen appliance was a huge benefit because I don’t have a lot of counter space.

• This one has a rack as well as an air fryer pan with holes on the bottom that holds about the same number of wings.
• I would say that about 6 at a time is pretty common. Just coat and then cook in batches. 

Most air fryers work very similarly. They just look different and may have a variety of options but the directions to cook remain the same.

If you enjoy sauce on your wings feel free to add some after they are cooked but this dry rub is plenty and extremely flavorful so it’s really not needed.

Many of you might have a traditional air fryer that looks like this. The basket is more like a bucket.

No matter which style you use the main rule of thumb for cooking chicken wings is you want to put them in a single layer or the seasonings will stick and come off.

More importantly they won’t get that really crispy chicken skin you want.

• Another tip is you want to flip the wings halfway through the cooking time. 

How do you make wings in the air fryer?

Remove and enjoy immediately (put in another batch if desired immediately)

It doesn’t matter what brand you have. Phillips works the same as Cosori really. The biggest difference is the size of the air fryer basket. That is why I like my newer one (not shown here).

It has a square basket where I can fit almost double. Something to think about when you’re deciding which model you want.

• When you’re making football party food you always want a lot! Yet if there are just 2 of you at home you can get away with a tiny machine, I get it. Get what works best for you.

If you’re looking for the best air fryer chicken wings recipe here ya’ go!

• Total cook time for one batch is about 20 minutes including the preheating time.
• Of course time will vary slightly depending on how large your pieces are.
• Range for us has been 16-18 minutes total per batch.

Ninja Foodi chicken wings

What can I put on wings?

1. Fry sauce is the bomb!
2. Ranch dressing is a given
3. Blue cheese dressing
4. Soy sauce
5. Buffalo wing sauce
   1. homemade recipe here

You can decide when they’re done if you think they need sauce or dip, we think they’re amazing as is. If you’re having a party though it might be fun to create a dip bar!

Grab some cute dip bowls and platters you can put all your food on. Have a spoon inside each one and paper plates at the end. Allow guests to load up and try them all. A great party idea for sure that will be a conversation starter.

• For us they are perfection as is and a great healthy way to get super crispy wings.

How do you cook frozen wings in an air fryer?

My preferred method is to pressure cook them first to get them nice and tender using my pressure cooker frozen chicken wings recipe.

Then throw them into my air fryer or Ninja Foodi. I have made Ninja Foodi chicken wings many times this way.

Alternatively:

• You can preheat your machine to 360 degrees for 5 minutes
• Put them into your basket in one layer
• Cook for 6 minutes, flip and then 6 minutes again

Negative to this route is they will be plain, dry rub will not stick beforehand. BUT if this is all you have then just use a sauce to coat them at the end and enjoy!

They will also be crispier if they are not frozen. Keep that in mind, but it is always handy to have information for both methods handy in case you forgot to thaw out what’s needed for dinner that evening.

If you’re looking for other great chicken and wing recipes here are a few other favorites

• Slow cooker teriyaki chicken wings and lemon pepper wings air fryer style are great.
• Sriracha baked wings have an amazing sauce
• Here’s how to grill chicken wings
  • If heating up the grill we have these other bbq food ideas to make too.

Our air fryer chicken thighs are pretty amazing too. You can use this same rub for them.