These Air Fryer Chicken Wings have crisp, salty skin with plenty of garlic and lemon pepper flavor in every bite. These are seasoned to perfection and cook so fast with no marinating required!
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We love crispy chicken like my Chicken Schnitzel, Popcorn Chicken or General Tso’s Chicken, but the air fryer is our new best friend for chicken wings because it’s so much faster, requires less oil, and is memorably crispy!
Air Fryer Chicken Wings Recipe
Cooking Chicken wings in the air fryer is brilliant and you will make chicken way more often if you try them in the air fryer. The forced circulating hot air makes the skin super crisp, which is difficult to achieve in a conventional oven, and the center is perfectly cooked, tender, and juicy.
The cook time for air-fried chicken wings is just 16 minutes. It’s three times faster than our Baked Buffalo Wings or Lemon Pepper Wings when cooked in a traditional oven! P.S. Yes, you can totally make those variations in the air fryer and toss them with lemon pepper sauce or buffalo sauce!
Also, there’s no need to preheat an air fryer, which saves you prep time and makes this the fastest crispy chicken wings recipe. All you need is your favorite wing sauce for dipping (more on that below).
Ingredients for Air Fryer Chicken Wings
The rub for these chicken wings is simple with our go-to spices for baked, sautéed or air-fried chicken. All you need is 3 ingredients: oil, garlic salt and lemon pepper.
How to Cut Chicken Wings
If your chicken wings are sold whole (and they are less expensive this way), you will need to cut them for even crisping. To cut a chicken wing, locate the joint between the wing tip, the middle section (drumette), and the end section (the flat). Use a sharp knife to cut into the joint between these sections to create three pieces. Trim off any excess skin.
You’ll use the drumettes and flats. You can save the wing tips for stock or discard them.
How to Make Crispy Air Fryer Wings
- Pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel and set into a large bowl.
- Drizzle with oil, sprinkle on the seasonings, and then toss to combine.
- Air Fry – Arrange the wings in the air fryer basket in a single layer, and you can bake right away – you can let them marinate if you prefer, but there’s no need to pre-marinate chicken wings. Air Fry at 400˚F for 8 minutes, then shake the basket to flip and air fry for another 8 minutes. They should be crispy and golden brown when ready.
Can I Double the Recipe?
For all-around crispy chicken wings, it’s best to keep the wings in a single layer, so if you are using a smaller basket-style air fryer, you may need to air fry in 2 batches.
If you have a larger air toaster oven-style air fryer, you can double everything. When doubling, air fry for 18-22 minutes or until the skin is crisp, flipping the wings halfway. Bake time will vary based on the surface area of your air fryer basket.
Can I Bake These in a Traditional Oven?
It takes significantly longer to achieve crispy chicken wings in the oven. To bake these chicken wings in a conventional oven, preheat oven to 400˚F and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until crispy, flipping the wings after 30 minutes.
What to Serve with Air Fried Chicken Wings
I love serving this restaurant style. My husband used to work at a Chilis restaurant and they served their wings with fresh celery and blue cheese dressing – classic! They also pair really well with these dips and sides:
- Ranch Dressing or Avocado Ranch
- Veggie Dip
- Potato Wedges
- Air Fryer French Fries
- Coleslaw
- Corn on the Cob
These Air Fryer Chicken Wings have a crisp, salty skin with a tender, flavorful center. Let the snacking begin!
Storing and Reheating Chicken Wings
Once the chicken wings are cooled to room temperature, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days. You can re-crisp them in the air fryer at 400˚F for 4 to 5 minutes.
More Air Fryer Recipes
If you’re looking for quick and simple meal ideas, you’ll love these air fryer recipes:
- Air Fryer Salmon
- Crispy Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes
- Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries
- Easy Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
- Air Fried Pork Chops
- Crispy Air Fryer Bacon (my fave method!)
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken wings, split into flats and drummettes
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic salt, or add to taste*
- 1 tsp lemon pepper
Instructions
- Thoroughly pat dry chicken wings with paper towels and place in a mixing bowl.
- Coat in 1 Tbsp oil then sprinkle on 2 tsp garlic salt and 1 tsp lemon pepper. Toss to evenly coat with seasoning.
- Place on air frying basket, spacing evenly and air fry at 400˚F for 8 minutes, then flip and air fry another 8 minutes for a total of 16 minutes, or until chicken wings are crisp and golden brown on the outside.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Question and perhaps I missed it. Preheat or not necessary? Did not or totally missed in instructions. Thank you!
Hi Robynne! I do not, but it depends on the air fryer model. Some automatically preheat when turned on and tell you when to add the food. If yours does not, then likely you don’t need to manually preheat it.
Quick, simple and tasty! I bought your recipe book as a result!
Had a little trouble. We are new to air frying, so I used the wire rack, like it shows. But there was so much smoke. What do you suggest?
Hi Delores? A few things I would check, make sure your air fryer and basket is clean. If there is any residue prior cooking in there, it will burn. I would also make sure there is a tray to catch any drippings underneath the basket. If you need to lower the temperature and increasing the baking time to help, you can do that too.
So so simple! Had a bit more than 2x the chicken. Tastes excellent. Could use another 2minutes to the 22. A keeper!
Thank you Natasha ! sprinkling a little Love on your post
These turned out great! We agreed that we liked the naked wings with your seasoning combination better than the ones we sauced! Natasha, I can always depend on your recipes; thank you!
Do you recommend using baking powder. Noticed that in many of the recipes
Hi Pat! You can, like we do in our Buffalo wings recipe.
It came out perfectly!!! I’m 62 but I still learned so much from this blog!
Can this be done with frozen wings or do they need to be thawed?
HI Stephanie, it’s best to thaw the wings first.
I didn’t have lemon pepper, substituted it with lemon juice, lemon zest, and black pepper, instead, and baked it in the oven. It turned out better than what I expected! Pretty tasty, yet minimal and simple to make.
Thank you for sharing that with us.
przepyszne danie, moi domownicy pochłonęli w mgnieniu oka
TRANSLATION: A delicious dish, my household devoured it in the blink of an eye.
I’m so glad your family enjoyed the recipe! Thank you.
Delicious! The best part about your recipes is that besides being delicious, they’re so easy! This one was too easy, much appreciated!