These Air Fryer Chicken Wings have crisp salty skin with a hint of garlic and lemon pepper in every bite. These are seasoned to perfection and cook so fast with no marinating required!
We love crispy baked chicken like my Mom’s famous Chicken Drumsticks these Garlic Dijon Baked Chicken Legs or baked Honey Glazed Chicken but the air fryer is our new best friend for chicken because it’s so much faster and memorably crispy!
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Air Fryer Chicken Wings Recipe:
Chicken wings in the air fryer is brilliant and you will be making 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.
Air fried chicken wings cook time is just 16 minutes (3 times faster than a traditional oven). There’s no need to preheat an air fryer which makes this the fastest crispy chicken wings recipe.
Can I Double the Recipe?
For all-around crispy chicken wings, it’s best to keep the wings in a single layer. If you have a larger air fryer like our Cuisinart model, you can double everything. When doubling, air fry for 18-22 minutes, or until the skin is crisp, flipping the wings half way. Bake time will vary based on the surface area of your air fryer basket.
What is the Best Air Fryer?
There are 2 very different styles of air fryers. The first type is a toaster oven style with a little oven door like this Cuisinart model that we have, this Cosori model that my sister has, or this fancy one by Breville.
The second type is a slide-in drawer/basket type like the Phillips air fryer, Gourmia or Nuwave brands. We prefer the Cuisinart toaster oven style air fryer because it can accommodate more food and serves a variety of functions. It replaced our old toaster oven because it air fries, bakes, broils and toasts.
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.
How to Make Air Fryer Chicken Wings:
The dry rub for these chicken wings is so simple with our go-to spices for baked, sautéed or air fried chicken. All you need is garlic salt and lemon pepper.
Toss the wings in a little oil and the 2 seasonings, arrange them on the basket and bake right away. You can let them marinate if you prefer but there’s no need to pre-marinate.
These Air Fried Chicken Wings have a crisp salty skin with a tender center. Pair them with fresh celery and avocado ranch to dip and let the snacking begin!
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken wings, split into flats and drummettes
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp garlic salt
- 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 per side, or a total of 16 minutes, or until chicken wings are crisp and golden brown on the outside.
Notes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
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.