Air fryer hot wings are the best appetizer ever. Extra crispy skin with tender meat inside, these are a cheap and delicious finger food dinner idea that my family loves.
Make a few or a bunch to serve a crowd, either way these bites lathered in sauce are always a hit! We usually whip me up for the holidays or for a Super Bowl party, but really air fryer recipes are my favorite for a dinner for one too! (affiliate links present)
Frozen Air Fryer Hot Wings
You can use our air fryer frozen chicken wings instructions if you had a mommy moment and forgot to defrost them ahead of time. If not the timing below will be just perfect. Of course there is a slight variation to how large they are. I like them medium and not oversized personally. Then sauce when done and enjoy!
I buy meat in bulk that is organic so that’s what I have on hand. You can see them below, there is a mixture of both the wingette and drumettes which we love. For whole chicken wings you just add a few minutes to cook to a safe 165 degrees inside.
Ingredient Notes
You want to start with a tray of chicken wings that are defrosted seasoned with salt and pepper. If yours are frozen there is a link above to handle the different timing for those. If you want to make spicy air fryer turkey wings use this timing
You will want a bit of flour to thicken the sauce if you’re making it homemade, cornstarch or a gluten free variation will work too.
Fresh peppers and roasted jalapenos is the best way to add a fresh heat to your coating. There are packed ways like with dry Sriracha, chili powder or red pepper flakes that can intensify it as well.
Vinegar and a bit of white sugar will help to tone down the heat and add a bit of sweetness like in our sriracha chicken wings recipe.
Garlic minced right out of the jar or diced from fresh cloves is a nice add in, and a bit of broth or water will thin it out to your liking.
Variations
When it comes to the sauce there are tons of options. You can make your own homemade hot sauce or just buy bottled and get it done quicker. If you have a favorite mixture then I would go with that. I typically make my own chicken wing dips and sauce below but occasionally I’ll use the ready made Buffalo Wild Wings one listed above.
with Boneless Wings
For air fryer boneless wings use these instructions until crispy as you would like. For any style you will throw them into a large bowl and drizzle your sauce of choice over the top. Toss together so each one is nicely coated well. Then serve them up!
without Sauce
If you didn’t want these messy you could add red pepper flakes or dry Sriracha to the seasoning instead. You would essentially follow our dry rub air fryer wings recipe but add the heat in a dry form to coat the outside skin instead.
Hot Wings in Air Fryer Recipe
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 24 chicken wings, approximately depending on size, defrosted
- salt and pepper
Chicken Wing Hot Sauce
- 2 sweet peppers, diced
- 1 jalapeno, or hot pepper of choice, seeded
- 1 tsp Sriracha
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup water, or broth
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp all purpose flour
Instructions
- Place wings on paper towels to remove moisture from outsides. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over and place into preheated air fryer at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
- Shake half way through at minute 10. Remove once crispy as you'd like and set aside.
- While they're cooking make hot sauce in a saucepan on the stove. Add all ingredients except flour and hot peppers.
- Half hot peppers and remove seeds, then put into saucepan once bubbling and cook for 10 minutes stirring intermittently, cool for 10 minutes.
- Use immersion blender to make smooth or pour into blender and then return to the pot.
- Heat again and whisk in flour to thicken sauce.
- Toss with cooked wings and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Air Frying Tips
In order to cook the wings to super crispy you need a few paper towels to press them down and eliminate all the moisture off the skin. Spray air fryer basket with non stick cooking spray or olive oil so the seasonings don’t pull off.
Cooking time is about 20 minutes. You want to toss the wings for the ideal crisp. During that time you can make your own sauce if you choose to add that step to the evening. The plus to this is that you can really adjust the heat to your liking. Once you find just the right balance you may want to make a double or triple batch and save it for later too!
Use immersion blender to make smooth or pour into blender and then return to the pot. Heat again and whisk in flour to thicken sauce to your liking.
FAQ
Yes and no. You don’t HAVE to in order for them to cook all the way through but if you want to get a more even and really crispy skin on the outside it is suggested you do so yes.
You don’t want them overlapping but typically they’re going to a little bit. If you flip them those edges that are touching will still get crunchy.
If you want the skin to be super crispy you will want to toss with your sauce of choice after they are done! Any moisture on the outside will not allow the outside to get crisp so hold off until you reach that point, then toss in a bowl until coated and serve.
Best Chicken Wing Sauces
While they’re cooking make dipping sauce for chicken wings in a saucepan on the stove. Add all ingredients except flour and set hot peppers aside. Blue cheese and ranch are a given. Buffalo wing hot sauce right out of the jar is easy. Bang bang shrimp sauce is probably a new one and oh so good. We love fry sauce. My kids love bbq sauce where my husband and I love a thick teriyaki
Is it safe to reheat chicken wings?
I mean I don’t know what would be dangerous about it, unless you didn’t refrigerate them beforehand. Allow leftovers to reach room temperature and then store in a sealed container or freezer bag. It is best to save them without the sauce on it, that way you can reheat in the air fryer again and toss with the sauce after that.
You can preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 15 minutes flipping halfway through. BUT this is how to reheat chicken wings in air fryer. I personally like this best where I can just throw them back into my Cosori for about 4 and they are done much faster.
Looking for other yummy air fryer appetizer recipes done under 30 minutes? We have a bunch but will share just a few of our favorites here. If you want to use this same sauce later on veggies, try these air fryer cauliflower wings.
Hopefully we have answered that question for you here. If you have any other head scratchers just leave them below in the comments and I will do my best to answer them for you. Have fun with it! Use all sorts of different sauces when you toss them at the very end, that way you can mix it up and enjoy over and over and over again.
Ninja Foodi Option
If you have this multi function machine with two lids you are going to use the one that is attached to crisp. Use the insert with the holes on the bottom to lay them in in a single layer. That is the only difference with Ninja foodi recipes really.
I mean you’re going to want to make these Ninja Foodi chicken wings over and over again so mind as well skip the sauce step next time.
I’m confused. I understand about preheating the air fryer itself. Are you saying one should preheat the air fryer basket, too? Then remove it, spray it, and fill with the chicken wings? Thanks. Haven’t used my air fryer oven yet. This looks good.
Yes I would preheat beforehand. You don’t have to remove the basket you just spray it before adding your food so it doesn’t stick.