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
I made these tonight in my Instant Vortex rotating basket. They turned out soooo good. Cooked them about 25 min to get them crispy. And the Avocado Ranch dip was delicious.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I have a air fryer that doesn’t have the temp setting available on it just timers. Suggestions on how long to cook the wings.
Hi Mary, I’m not sure how to advise on that type of air fryer. You might check the manual on it to see what the temperature settings correspond to in terms of degrees.
Way too salty for us. I reduced the garlic salt by half and they came out perfect !
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I use Gaelic powder. Salting can be done at the table if needed.
Finally a perfect recipe for my new air fryer. Sheesh I’ve been trying everything and this is the best and the easiest too. Now I need to conquer potato and sweet potato fries for my hypo allergic daughter and also apple chips. Any ideas about how to do those. So far all the recipes I’ve tried aren’t coming out crispy enough. Love your website and will continue to try all your recipes over time, also love your humor cuz thats the best cure for mistakes and everything else. Thank you for the Wings now I an be an angel too, albeit an old one at 80 + years.
Hi Judy! I’m so happy you tried this recipe! I haven’t tried it with that so I cannot advise but thank you for that awesome suggestion. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I wanted to like them 🙁
They were crispy but I guess the flavour didn’t wow me.
Thank you for that feedback Bex. Since there is no marinating required, be sure to adequately season with the garlic salt and also use lemon pepper rather than plain pepper for more flavor.
How many carbs
Hi Rhonda, we have nutritional information posted towards the bottom of the printable recipe.
Do you have to use lemon? What else can you use?
Hi Barbara, the lemon pepper adds really great flavor but you could just use pepper although the flavor wouldn’t be the same.
Can chicken drumsticks be used instead of wings?
Hi Maria, I haven’t tested that with drumsticks but it sounds like a great experiment! I imagine the cook time will need to be adjusted.
Thank you… I used this recipe with drumsticks & extended the cooking time. Delicious… the whole family loved them! 😊
That’s so great! Thank you for sharing that feedback with me Maria! I’m so happy you all enjoyed that!
I love all of your recipes. Thank You.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me Donald!
Is your model of air fryer stainless steel inside and the trays. I do not like buying products with non stick coatings
Hi Elisabeth, The basket does not appear to be coated with anything and they don’t claim that the baking pan (that I use as the drip pan) is non-stick or coated with anything. Although they do say the interior of the machine (the walls) is non-stick for easy cleaning. You might contact the manufacturer to be sure.
What about if the wings are frozen?
Can I use the frozen wings.I have a new fryer and love the receipes
Hi Barbara, I haven’t tested this with frozen wings but I have read it is possible! If you experiment please let me know how you like that with this recipe!
Hey Natasha, I have done frozen wings, just put them in the basket frozen and i cooked them at 160 c for 30 mins came out perfect
That’s so great! Thank you for sharing that Ann!
Thanks for a recipe for the air fryer! I love to use mine for things like french fries, but don’t have a lot of recipes for meals. Please continue to provide more!
I am on it!! Keep checking back. I’m completely smitten with my air fryer 🙂
Hi
I may buy one someday, could you tell me if my clay baker would fit in one of these? It is 7 inches tall, and 14 inches long, and about 9 inches wide. Love all your recipes, thanks so much,
Sheri
Hi Sheri, the rack is 10.5×10.5 and the height clearance is only about 4″ so it would not fit into this model.
Do you leave the skin on the wings? This recipe seems so simple. I hope it turns out well. Thank you!
Hi Mrs Ali, yes we left the skin on
The perfect amount of crispy! Yum!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that Taylor!
These are perfect! Love how easy and delicious they turn out.
So delicious! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Love how crispy that get on the outside in the air fryer!
The perfect amount of crisp! Thank you Suzy!
I got an Air Fryer for Christmas, this is the first recipe I made….the wings were perfect…it did take longer time than stated to crisp up, but were perfect when taken out.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
How easy and delicious! I seriously love the Air Fryer because regular frying is too messy!
Yes! Exactly! Thank you for sharing your awesome review with me Trang!
I bought 4 lbs of wings and usually I just multiply all the ingredients. But 8 tsp of garlic salt seemed excessive, so I only did 5 tsp. It was over salted. Like…a lot. Otherwise was great. I did in the oven and didn’t marinate. Will definitely do in future with less salt.
So I always think that garlic salt is overly salty also. I cut my garlic salt with garlic powder. It cuts the salt in half and amps up the garlic flavor.
Wings are the best!! Love them! I love how easy these look to make as well! I’ll have to try them in the air fryer!
So easy to make! I hope you love this recipe!
Have my Cuisinart for over a year! Perfect wings! Thank you. Hope to see more conversions for air frying!
I have some delicious air fryer recipes in the works! I’d also love to hear YOUR favorite things to make in the air fryer!
I haven’t purchased an air fryer yet, though I have been considering it. I just haven’t justified getting yet another appliance for only a couple recipes. As others have said, I’m also looking forward to more recipes. Thanks!
You’re so welcome Liz!
I have a Cuisinart and followed this recipe….my wings weren’t even almost done after the 16 minutes. Nor were they done after another 15 minutes. I eventually had to put them on the oven setting to finish them off. I don’t understand what happened and reading everyone’s reviews, I’m even more confused.
Hi Stephanie, is your Cuisinart an air fryer or a toaster oven? If it is only a toaster oven, you would have to use the regular baking instructions. If you have it set to the “Air Fryer” Mode, the air frying instructions should work as directed unless you are using much larger wings.
I have the same air fryer. Would love to see more of your air fryer recipes!
That’s so great! I’m excited to create more recipes with this air fryer!
My new stove has a convection oven and an air fryer feature. I have not used it yet. Could I use this recipe?
Hello Natasha, I am considering getting an airfrier, but also would need it to be a toaster, may I ask why you chose this air frier instead of the one by Breville? … that one looks more high tech and the dimensions are larger? … thanks for advice,
Olga
Hi Olga, it was mostly a “yes, they have an air fryer at Costco” decision. The Breville one is definitely more spendy but has great reviews. If you have a larger family, I would go with a larger one.