Frozen Chicken Wings in Air Fryer

Frozen chicken wings in the air fryer actually turn out great! Tender meat on the inside with a crispy skin and smothered in sauce. You can use your Cosori, Ninja Foodi or any other brand. It’s the way to go when you forgot to defrost dinner! 

Are you forgetful like me? Or are there occasions when you need a quick appetizer? This recipe is just for these occasions! It’s one of our favorite air fryer recipes here on The Typical Mom blog. I bet your family will love it as much.

We’ve made tender pressure cooker frozen chicken wings before, but these are even better! I mean yes you want them cooked thru but crispy chicken skin is where it is at right? Especially when it comes to wings for sure. I’m sure you will agree with me. There are so many ways to serve them but it all starts with the texture before they go out for guests to enjoy them.

We shared how to bake frozen chicken wings in the oven not too far back, this is faster with better crisp too! Before you move on any further, you can look up and LIKE our easy air fryer recipes page to get new ideas for meals and snack ideas like this one daily too!

Tips

Before you had to cook them, then pop them under your broiler. Not anymore! With a hot air fryer you can make crispy chicken skin on the outsides too! That means you can make anything and everything faster and more efficiently. I am all about that with 3 kids and working full time.

How long does it take to cook frozen wings in air fryer?

Yes!! Frozen meat can take a long time to cook when normally, however thanks to air fryer technology you can now cook a variety of frozen meat products in no time at all! If you have never done this before it is a guaranteed game changer for us all. And you have to try it like right now….. When they’re done you’ll never know they were rock hard when you first put them in.

There’s NO prep work for these babies! That means when I’m having a blonde moment and totally forgot to defrost my meat for dinner, I can still save the evening. Don’t worry about the lack of flavor because when they get warmed and moist on the outside you can add dry rub on the outside if you want.

Or just go for dipping sauces in the end and sprinkle the skin with salt and pepper just to liven them up. Once we got the hang of this we went on to create a whole lot of other frozen meat in air an fryer. Air fryer frozen fish comes out amazing too.

Now if you do remember it is a bit better in my opinion. BUT it’s great to have this and how to cook frozen chicken in the Instant Pot on hand too.

Ingredient Notes

You are going to use a bag of frozen chicken wings. They will be sold in the frozen meat section and already separated into drumettes and wingettes. If you wanted to cook Whole Chicken Wings in Air Fryer they will take a bit longer.

Whether you want simple seasonings for naked wings or sauced you will want a bit of salt and pepper just to add some flavor. You could use anything really including garlic powder, Old Bay, red pepper flakes for spicy, the list goes on and on.

Olive oil spray is necessary to keep the outsides moist and at the end to spray on the top to crisp up the skin too.

with Dry Rub

Now if you have defrosted meat or if you wanted to sprinkle on half way thru you could use the same seasonings as with our air fryer wings recipe. It is a sweet savory blend and explained here in our dry rub for chicken wings recipe.

with Sauce

Buffalo sauce is what was used to toss them in here once they were done and crispy. Whether you use fry sauce or with teriyaki sauce you will want to wait until done. Add into a bowl with a drizzle of sauce you prefer. Gently flip bowl and toss gently until coated, then serve.

Tips for Cooking Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Wings

Always put a single layer of air fried chicken wings in your air fryer basket, you do not want them to overlap. Close drawer or lid and set to 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Then flip them over and continue cooking the wings for another 10 minutes. Flip again, spray with olive oil spray and continue for 5 more minutes. Flipping them a few times is really important to getting them as crispy as possible and the middle tender at the same time.

You could enjoy them at this time but if you want perfectly cooked crispier skins flip the wings again. Spray with olive oil and add another 3-5 minutes at a time.

Remove when your frozen air fryer chicken wings are as crispy as you’d like. Put on paper towels when done, sauce and enjoy! Total cooking time will be about 30 minutes per batch.

Can you defrost wings in an air fryer?

The beauty of the air fryer is that you don’t need to defrost frozen foods before cooking them. Take these air fryer frozen tater tots. They work just like if you were to cook them in the oven. Just throw them in rock solid and they’ll come out tender, but crispy on the outside. Actually, crispier than if you put them into the oven.

Love deep fried wings but want a healthier version ? This is it!!  If you want to decide whether naked wings in the oven, or these are better, follow our how to bake crispy chicken wings recipe here.

You use a bit of baking powder on the outside to get that CRISPY skin. That’s what we did before we got this nifty machine.

How to serve

I mean side dishes are very personal so choose whatever you like! Since these are packed with protein you can just pair them with some easy dinner rolls and air fryer vegetables and serve. Or make: French fries, with Air fryer zucchini chips, A salad is my go to on really busy days, with crunchy air fryer frozen corn dogs or some pasta salad

The list goes on and on I tell you. Since they are so high in protein you get filled quite quickly really. If you just serve them with a side of carrot sticks, celery and some ranch dressing the kids will think you’re a dinner hero. And that is so easy you can totally do that!

How do you make leftover wings crispy?

I personally prefer reheat chicken wings in air fryer though. Just a few minutes in a preheated air fryer at 400 F. usually does the trick. Of course fresh is always best but don’t throw anything away for sure! Leftovers can be resurrected.

Ninja Foodi Option

I love using my Foodi for all the things because I can cook them two different ways. For this you’d use the air crisp function and the lid that is attached, not the other one. This is what you’ll need for air fryer frozen chicken