The BEST ever SUPER CRISPY chicken wings cooked in the air-fryer (NO OIL!) 3 ways (Buffalo, Honey BBQ, & Garlic Parmesan) in just 30 Minutes! Air Frying has made eating healthy and fast possible without compromising flavor or texture. One of my favorite things (other than fries) to make in the air fryer is chicken wings. Air frying chicken wings make the most crispy wings with NO OIL required. The only ingredients you will need are chicken wings, baking powder, and salt & pepper. You can eat the wings as is without a sauce toss them in your favorite wing sauce. Today I will be sharing 3 quick wing sauces that you can make while the wings are cooking in the air fryer. To get started, cut and dry your wings (with a paper towel if needed) completely. Dry wings will yield a crispy texture. After the wings are dried. Toss them in baking powder along with a dash of salt and pepper. You can get creative here if you’d like and season the chicken with your favorite spice blend.
Next, place in the air fryer (preferably on a rack) and air fryer until crispy (refer to recipe box below for more details). As you can see, the wings are SUPER crispy and mouth-watering. At this point, you can simply serve the wings as is or toss them in a wing sauce. Now to the fun part, the sauces! The first is buffalo sauce, the 2nd option is a honey bbq sauce and the 3rd is a garlic parmesan coating. if making things from scratch is not your thing, simply toss the wings in a store-bought wings sauce!
How to Make Super Crispy Wings in the Air Fryer
Use Baking Powder: I learned this trick years ago and it has been my favorite way to get crispy skin-on chicken wings. This Magic Ingredient raises the PH level in the chicken wings and makes them SUPER crispy. Just be sure the baking powder you are using is aluminum-free.
Pat the chicken dry: Be sure the wings are completely dried through. This will help the baking powder stick to the skin and result in a super crispy texture
No Oil Needed: This is my absolute favorite part about air frying chicken wings. That’s right, no oil needed. The oil from the chicken wings will break down and when combined with the salt and baking powder, will form a crunchy crust that is to die for.
Air-frying Method: The wings are first air-fried on medium heat to cook the interior and then the heat is turned up to 400F+ to acrisp up the skin. The result is chicken wings that are soft and tender on the inside and super crispy on the outside.
Don’t over-lap: Spread the wings out so they don’t overlap. Giving the wings enough room will allow them to cook evenly and crispy all around. Using a large air-fryer will allow you to achieve the best results in just 1 round. This is our favorite air-fryer for large batches.
Super Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings (3 Ways!)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Chicken wings
- 1 tbs baking powder
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Garlic Parmesan Wings
- ¼ cup butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese, freshly grated or pre-grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley leaves
Honey Bbq Wings
- 1 cup bbq sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 2 tsp sriracha or hot sauce optional
Instructions
- Remove tips of chicken wings and split at the joint. Pat the chicken wings dry with a paper towel. In a large bowl, toss chicken wings with 1 tablespoon baking powder and a dash of salt and pepper. Transfer to air-fryer basket and place in the air fryer.
- Cook at 375F for 25 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through cooking time. Increase the temperature to 420F or highest setting and bake for another 5 minutes or until the skin is crispy and brown. Remove from air fryer and immediately toss in wing sauce of choice.
To Make Garlic Parmesan Wings
- Cook garlic in butter then turn off the heat and pour it into a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients along with the wings to the bowl and toss.
To Make Buffalo Wings
- Cook butter with garlic for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and pour into a large bowl. Add hot sauce and salt. Stir in wings.
To Make Honey bbq wings
- Simmer all ingredients in a small pot or pan. Transfer to a bowl and toss in wings.
These were fantastic. I was making 4lbs so I pulled them out in batches & laid them on a cookie sheet. I did the last 5 minutes at the 420 in a large batch! Still very crispy. Also 15 to 20 minutes was enough for mine to cook. The garlic sauce was amazing, but I skipped the red pepper due to Grandkids were eating with us. Granddaughter couldn’t get enough!
Hi. My store had zero wangs the first time I tried this recipe so I had to use young chicken legs. Came out so good! I also used the buffalo sauce as well as the garlic parm sauce. I had keto peeps over so I substituted sugar with monkfruit and it was a hit! I do have a question about the buffalo sauce. The recipe doesn’t call for garlic but the instructions say to cook butter with garlic. I didn’t use garlic the first time around but I’m making some tonight and I just wonder how much garlic was meant to be used for this recipe.
Yum, drumsticks sound delicious! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
We just got an air fryer for christmas and this is the first recipe we tried. Excellent! They came out nice and crispy and the sauces were delicious! Thank you!
Made it twice – Garlic Parm & Honey BBQ, Delicious and easy. May have to buy a bigger air fryer !
OMG this was AMAZING!!!
I served this after everybody ate and said they were too full to eat anything else. It was so good there was NONE left. I don’t usually write food reviews but this was the best chicken wings I have had in a LOOOOOOOOOONG time. Thank you!
Thanks for taking the time to leave a review <3
Fabulous. Don’t need sauce. Loved them. This is a keeper. Will try on chicken legs next. I cannot lie, sprayed with a bit of olive oil.
I used this recipe on legs. It was yummy!
I dont have a rack. Are the results the same
Does your air fryer come with a basket or mesh?
Soooo good!!! Thanks for all of the tips – they really add up to great wings!!
This recipe is a plus, delicious! I made without the sauce and was perfect. I’ll try the sauces next time. Loved it!
Thank you.
These are the bomb! I’ve tried other air fryer wing recipes but these are the best! I only made the honey bbq sauce and it was great! I’ll be trying the others. Thank you!
I’m a tad confused on the buffalo recipe. Ingredients call for hot sauce, butter, and honey or brown sugar. However in the recipe details it says to “heat garlic and butter in a sauce pan and then stir in hot sauce” you’ve added garlic that was not mentioned and then omitted the honey or brown sugar from the recipe details. Could you please update the recipe?
Couldn’t find your response to the person who noted that “the recipe says to “heat garlic and butter in a sauce pan and then stir in hot sauce” you’ve added garlic that was not mentioned and then omitted the honey or brown sugar from the recipe details.” I added garlic and left out honey & brown sugar and the wings were fabulous. Could they be even better with brown guar and honey!!
Ingredients for hot sauce included garlic but the instructions made no mention. Is there garlic in the buffalo sauce?
Layla! These came out perfect! I chose the garlic Parmesan and all 3 lbs got eaten with just 4 people!Thank you for this quick, si,mple to follow recipe!
So happy you enjoyed the wings!
Would have been amazing had I not used BAKING SODA like a nitwit. Trying again tonight – won’t drink as much wine while I prep 🙂
Made the honey bbq wings today. Very good.. My first time air frying wings. Question the recipe calls for 2 lbs of wings. If I only want less than a lb for a snack do I reduce the cooking time. The outside was crispy as I like but the insides were a little over cooked. Sauce was good.
I would just keep an eye out on the wings and remove them when the desired crispness is achieved.
Agree with the poster on the ads. I wanted to delve into these recipes… the ads are over the top. Not worth it.
Sorry about the ads. We have ads in order to pay our employees and keep this content free <3
You didn’t say anything about using garlic for the Buffalo Wings sauce…You said use that for the Garlic Parmesan Wings.
Why aluminum free baking powder?
😅😅😅
I’ve made the garlic parmesan wings three times already! I love them.
Thank you for the tips. I made these and it’s crispy and delish
Made it for the first time . Successful with baking powder. Real crispy and wonderful.
Can I add everything bagel spice with the baking powder. Can any spice be addes
Made these for dinner tonight. The recipe was perfect! Great instructions!!! Whole family loved them! Thanks so much!
Please update the instructions so they don’t say baking powder.
I mean baking soda – sorry! Everyone don’t use baking soda 🙂
I’m glad I checked the comments. We were out of baking powder, so I used corn starch like suggested and they came out amazing! Added a little paprika when I put in the salt and pepper as well. My mom said they were better than take out wings because they weren’t greasy at all. Will plan to make this again.
Can I use flour instead of baking powder? I ended up buying baking powder with aluminum and I see everyone saying it leaves an after taste
Yes, you can also replace it with cornstarch if you’d like!
let’s just get one thing straight, baking soda does not contain aluminum. Regardless of whether it says aluminum-free or not on the packaging. Even good old Arm & Hammer, with their otherwise questionable products, does not contain aluminum.
You shouldn’t be using baking soda. The recipe calls for baking POWDER. Baking powder and baking soda are not the same thing.
I used cornstarch instead of baking powder and it worked fine so probably a light flour coating would work as well.
These are the best!!! Made them several times now and always super delish😋… thanks!
These were amazing! We have a smaller AF so I did 2 batches, it was perfect! One with bbq honey and the other hot wing sauce. Both fantastic. This is the only way I’ll do wings now, not greasy at all.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you! Just received my air fryer, kids and hubby did not believe the chicken wings would be as good as deep fried. This is my first attempt at air frying and your recipe amazed us all! Awesome tip w the baking powder, taste and texture are perfect! Thanks for this recipe!
Do you think corn starch would work in place of the baking powder?
Yes, it should work 🙂