Looking for the ultimate air fryer chicken wings recipe that promises tender, juicy meat and irresistibly crispy, golden skin? You’ve found it! This foolproof recipe delivers mouthwatering chicken wings with ease, making it the go-to choice for anyone who loves a tasty and hassle-free meal.
With an easy list of ingredients, many of which you may already have on hand, you can whip up air fryer chicken wings that are packed with taste and impossible to resist. Yes, they’re genuinely that amazing!
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Why I Love This Recipe
Developing this recipe was so much fun. The simple fact is – I LOVE chicken wings. And I knew I could use my air fryer to make awesome wings. I just never expected them to come out THIS awesome! They are so crispy, so savory, so perfectly seasoned… I’m making myself hungry again just writing this. This has been one of my most satisfying air fryer recipes and I’m beyond excited to share it.
Use Fresh Chicken Wings for Crispy Results
To get the very best results, use fresh chicken wings, not frozen. If you only have frozen wings, we recommend thawing them first. Air frying uses rapidly circulating hot air to crisp the food and this result is best achieved with fresh wings.
Simple Ingredients
We use a very simple dry rub seasoning that so perfectly accentuates the natural flavor of the chicken. This savory combination of herbs and spices, when air fried, gives us unbelievably flavorful and crispy wings. Each bite has that crispy crunch and burst of flavor that you will fall in love with. Our ingredients include:
- Oregano
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Salt
- Pepper
- Mustard powder
- Paprika
Preparation
Our recipe uses chicken wing drumettes and flats. Many supermarkets sell wings that are already cut. But if you only have whole chicken wings that’s fine too, we’ll just need to cut them. Use a good, sharp butcher’s knife or kitchen scissors and cut right at the joint that joins the drum and flat. Then, cut the wing tips from the flat right at that joint. Discard the tips or save them to make chicken stock later.
Pat the Wing Sections Dry
Once we have our wing drumettes and flats, use a paper towel and pat them all as dry as possible. This is very important for crisping the skin during the air fryer process. If there is any excess moisture, they will steam on not crisp.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a small dish. Add the wings to a large mixing bowl and toss with the oil until all the wings are well coated. Add the seasonings and toss again until all the wings are well coated with the seasonings.
That’s it! See? Told ya this was easy!
Air Fry at 390°(F) for 20-24 Minutes
The wings are now ready to go into a preheated air fryer. Make sure not to stack the wings on top of each other. They need to be in a single layer in the air fryer basket or tray, depending on the type of appliance you have. Use the air fry setting at 390°(F) for 20-24 minutes. The wings are done when the internal temperature should be at least 165°(F). You’ll probably find that the wings are closer to 180°-200°(F) internally, which is totally fine. In fact, it just makes the meat inside more tender. Wings hold up great with higher internal temperature.
When the wings are done, we toss them with the drippings from the bottom of the basket for an extra juicy flavor boost. That’s it!
How to Serve
The serving possibilities for chicken wings are endless. These wings go great with just about any dipping sauce. My favorite dipping sauce includes:
- Ranch dressing. Add some coarse-ground black pepper to the ranch for an additional flavor boost.
- Blue Cheese Dressing
- BBQ Sauce
- Honey Garlic Sauce
- If you are looking for some spice, any hot sauce or buffalo sauce will fit the bill
Wings naturally partner with fresh celery sticks and carrot sticks. Also, since these are herb-seasoned wings, side dishes of potato salad or coleslaw are excellent choices for making them a meal.
To make more than the 18 wings this recipe calls for, simply double the number of ingredients for the seasoning mix. However, we recommend air frying doing 2 batches or more. For air frying to effectively crisp and cook the food, the circulating air needs to easily reach all sides of the chicken wings. We do not want to crown the basket or tray or stack the wings on top of each other, a single layer works best. It’s ok if the batch fits snuggly, there will be some shrinkage during cooking. But we definitely don’t want to crowd or stack the wings.
These wings do not contain any ingredients which are considered hot. The flavor profile is extremely savory. But if you want to add a little heat, simply add ¼tsp of cayenne pepper to the seasoning mix. Or, use ½ – 1 teaspoon of crushed red peppers.
We do not recommend using regular prepared mustard in place of ground mustard. We want to keep all of the ingredients dry to be able to get the crispiness. If you do not have ground mustard, simply leave it out. (However, ground mustard is an awesome ingredient in many recipes and it’s very affordable. Pick some up on your next trip to the supermarket).
Reheating cooked wings in the air fryer is easy. 380°(F), 5-8 minutes of cooking time will yield the best results.
Keep the cooked chicken wings in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Starting with defrosted wing sections (wingettes) which are patted dry is key. If the wings are too moist, they will steam more than they will crisp. Have some paper towels handy and pat those wings as dry as possible before adding the oil or seasonings!
Also, make sure not to overcrowd your air fryer with a batch of wings that are too large. For the air frying to be effective, the wings need room. Make sure they’re in a single layer, not stacked on top of each other, and that each wing has a little bit of room around it. This will allow the hot air to properly circulate and get those wings nice and crispy.
Goes Well With…
Aside from the above serving suggestions, I love the good crunch of coleslaw with chicken wings. Our Country Creamy Coleslaw is a winner for sure and a great partner for our chicken wings.
Do you know what else I love with chicken wings? Macaroni and cheese. Yep, the two go together so well. Our Best Damn Instant Pot Mac and Cheese is so creamy and delicious and loaded with flavor.
PrintRecipe
Best Damn Air Fryer Chicken Wings
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 18 wings
Description
These mouthwatering, crispy chicken wings are herb-crusted and cooked to perfection in your air fryer in under 25 minutes. Perfect for a weeknight meal or game-time.
Ingredients
- 2lbs chicken wings (fresh, flats and drumettes, about 18 pieces)
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp thyme, dried
- 2 tsp rosemary, dried
- 2 tsp oregano, dried
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Mix all dry ingredients. Set aside.
- Add chicken wings to a large bowl or zip-top bag and toss with vegetable oil. Add seasoning mix and toss to coat all the chicken well.
- Preheat air fryer for 5 minutes at 390°(F).
- Add chicken wings to tray or basket of air fryer. Air fry at 390°(F) for 20-24 minutes. Shake basket/turn wings 2-3 times during cooking for even crisping.
- When done, remove wings to a large bowl and toss with and drippings from bottom of air fryer basket or drip tray.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 22min
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
PB says
I Made these today and was very pleased with my wings. They were indeed crispy on the outside and juicy inside. I did not use thyme, rosemary or oregano. I did use the dry mustard, powdered onion, powdered garlic, paprika and salt. Loved how they came out.
Carol Gornto says
ABSOLUTELY the Best Damn Air Fryer Chicken Wings!!! Didn’t have the rosemary, so I substituted Herbs d’ Provence for most of the listing of herbs, since it contains most of them. Also added garlic powder, as we would put garlic on Cheerios, given the opportunity! LOVED these chicken wings……….tasty, juicy, done in 40 minutes, no frying in oil………what more could you ask for?
Adam vonNieda says
This recipe is a winner!! This was my first time making air fried wings, and they were a hit!! Thanks, I’ll be checking out your other recipes for sure!
Roberta says
Made this recipe in my brand new Chefman air fryer, I couldn’t have picked a better recipe. These were so flavorful and crispy. Cooking them in two batches may have helped the perfect crunch. My only regret is that I just now read the note about tossing them in the leftover cooked juices. Next time for sure.
Dawn says
I will NEVER EVER order wings out again!! I am brand new to air frying and this is the best recipe I have tried yet!! I think I might have talked my daughter into buying one just from sending her pictures of how wonderful these wings were!
Roy Ainsworth says
This was my first attempt to use an air fryer. I followed the directions to the “T” except for using the Thyme. I am not a fan of it. I used Beau Monde, which used to be known as Bon Apetite. Will make more of them. Looking forwarded to making more of your recipes.
Lynne Adams says
I was convinced I had to fry my wings in hot crisco oil for them to be crisp and juicy. Been fry for over 50 years. I tried this recipe and was really satisfied with how they came out
Rita Bubien says
this recipe for chicken wings looks delicious, can you use this recipe in a deep fat fryer instead of an air fryer?
AnneMarie George says
Delicious. My kids bought me an air fryer about 6 months ago. Played with it a bit, but didn’t fall in love like my kids. Seemed like a lot of extra work. Tried this tonight. Followed it exactly except used chicken drumsticks, 4 drumsticks for 2 of us. All other ingredients used as recipe. To me, a bit salty, but I normally use very little salt, so this seemed overwhelming, but it was delicious. Sent the recipe to my kids
Tina says
Loved this recipe, a winner! Easy to make and they were fabulous! I adapted it for whole chicken wings and of course my son wanted me to air fry three of the wings with flour on them.
The wings were very good I used this recipe’s blend of spices for all of the 16 wings but for three of them I also coated with flour and I must say they were all great, but I personally like the low carb no flour ones best because there were little or no carbs without the flour. My picky chicken wing loving husband loved these both ways.
Also I had never fried chicken of any kind before. I have baked chicken and done oven baked “fried chicken” But never fried chicken in any way before so this was so easy!!!!