Crispy air fryer chicken wings are made so tender and juicy from the inside, and crunchy on the outside without deep-frying! Toss with homemade buffalo wing sauce for the best ever Air Fryer buffalo wings, and serve with fresh celery sticks and blue cheese dip! Ready in 30 minutes using just 1 teaspoon of oil!
Whether you’re making these buffalo chicken wings for Superbowl, or just craving delicious buffalo wings but don’t want to create a mess in the kitchen with deep frying.
This Air Fryer recipe is perfect to make healthier crispy home-cooked chicken wings! The result is super crispy chicken wings that are tossed in delicious homemade buffalo wing sauce, no one will believe that these aren’t deep-fried!
How to Buy Chicken Wings
I prefer buying chicken wings that are already broken down into flats and drumettes. If you can’t find them, you can buy whole wings and break them down yourself just remember to remove the tip as it tends to dry out and there isn’t any meat there.
Chicken wings are either air-chilled or water chilled. For crispier wings, always go for air-chilled if possible. If the package does not say anything, then the chicken has been water-chilled and absorbed excess water during the process.
Air chilling is a method to chill chicken while processing (it’s more expensive compared to water chilling), and results in crispier chicken as it loses some moisture during the process rather than absorbing water during water chilling.
How to Make Super Crispy Chicken Wings in the Air Fryer
- Preheat the air fryer to 400°F/200°. Pat the chicken wings dry with paper towels.
- In a large bowl, drizzle the wings with oil and season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
- Place the chicken wings in the Air Fryer basket (do not overcrowd, work in batches if needed).
- Air fry for 20-25 minutes shaking the basket every 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the buffalo sauce by combining the hot sauce with butter and honey. Find the full buffalo wing sauce recipe here.
- When the chicken wings are brown and crispy, remove them from the air fryer basket and toss them in buffalo sauce to coat them evenly.
Serve with celery sticks and blue cheese dip, or if you’re a fan of ranch then serve with a homemade ranch dip.
Tip!
You can cook these chicken wings from frozen and they will still turn out crispy and delicious! Check out my Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Wings recipe for the details.
How to Make a Bigger Batch
The problem with overcrowding the Air Fryer basket is preventing the hot air from circulating, and that leads to uneven cooking. I always recommend arranging the chicken wings in a single layer in the Air Fryer basket (the number of wings you can fit depends on the size of your Air Fryer basket).
As you work in batches, keep the crispy wings in the oven at a low temperature so they stay warm and crispy as you air fry the second or third batch.
You might also like to try making chicken wings in the oven!
What to Serve With Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings
- Celery sticks, blue cheese dip, and beer!
- Ranch dip.
- Oven-baked fries, or rutabaga fries for a low-carb option.
- Onion rings.
- Creamy coleslaw.
- Mac and cheese.
- Macaroni salad.
Need more Buffalo-style recipes? Try my Buffalo Chicken Pizza, Buffalo Chicken Pasta, or Buffalo Chicken Sliders next!
Recipe FAQs
Yes! You can add more flavor to the chicken wings by seasoning them with dry rub before air frying.
Yes, but drumsticks take longer to cook in the Air Fryer so I recommend increasing the cooking time to 25 minutes.
Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
I always recommend the Cosori Air Fryer, as I love its large square basket, and it’s quite powerful with a great design.
More Air Fryer Chicken Recipes
- Crispy Air Fryer chicken breast
- Air Fryer chicken fajitas
- Air Fryer whole chicken
- Air Fryer chicken drumsticks
- Crispy Air Fryer chicken tenders
- Air Fryer chicken and potatoes
- Air Fryer chicken and broccoli
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 3 pounds (1.4 kilograms) chicken wings split into flats and drummettes
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 recipe buffalo wing sauce
For the Buffalo wing sauce
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup (120 ml) Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) honey
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400°F/200°C. Pat the chicken wings dry with paper towels.
- In a large bowl, drizzle the chicken wings with oil and season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
- Place the chicken wings in the Air Fryer basket (do not overcrowd, work in batches if needed).
- Air fry for 20-25 minutes shaking the basket every 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the buffalo sauce by combining the hot sauce with melted butter and honey.
- When the chicken wings are brown and crispy, remove from the Air Fryer basket and toss in buffalo sauce to coat evenly.
- Serve with celery sticks and blue cheese dip.
Notes:
- These chicken wings can be made from frozen, but they won’t be super crispy and you’ll have to add 5-7 minutes to the total cooking time. Or just thaw before cooking so you’ll have the opportunity to pat dry the wings before air frying.
- If using super large chicken wings, you might need to cook them for longer. Just keep an eye on the wings and cook until they’re crispy. The internal temperature of the chicken must be at least 165°F/74°C.
- Make sure not to overcrowd the Air Fryer basket, work in batches.
- Store the leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
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