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.
Video
Equipment
Notes
This is absolutely crispy and delicious! The sauces are awesome! I never thought that I could make this, easy and tasty. Love it! I have a question what kind of paper is the one on the picture, is parchment paper? I want to serve it exactly like that! 😁
Yes, it’s brown parchment paper sheets from amazon!
So easy and delicious. I made the garlic Parmesan and bbq wings for football Sunday, and each are yummy. Can’t wait to make them again!
I made the Garlic Parmesan wings. They were delicious. I will be making them regularly. I will also try the other 2 flavors. They look good too. Thanks for such an easy dinner recipe.
Cooked as instructed. The skin was crispy and tasty. I made only two of the three sauces: honey bbq and Parmesan. We liked both of them. Adding hot sauce to the honey bbq recipe really helped to keep it from being too sweet.
I will make again. Thank you.
What about using frozen wings? Should I defrost them and then pat dry and dip in baking powder? Thanks.
Yes, that’s the best way to go about it!
I have not tried my air dryer cooker yet. These chicken recipes will be my first cooking .I am anxious to try any one of these chicken recipes . Thank you.
This hands down imo is the best way to make wings! Even over frying. I always do the garlic parm for one half and Buffalo for the other. I added about a tsp of gochugaru Korean chili flakes and two dashes of worsechestire sauce. I didn’t have baking powder so I used potato starch as a substitute and it worked fine. Wings were very crispy out of the air fryer. I did 23 mins at 370 then 3 minutes at 400 (as high as mine would go). I didn’t want to dry the wings out so I recommend watching the last few minutes and test how crispy the skin is. Oh also use this same recipe for cubed breast (boneless wings) and it works just as well, cooked them for 15 minutes.
Anyone ever try these with chicken tenders instead of wings??
The 2lbs of chicken wings, once cooked are they split between the three sauces, or is it 2lbs per batch of sauce. Sorry it is not clear in the instructions. Thank you
Each sauce is enough for about 2 pounds of wings. If you would like to split, make about 1/3 of each sauce.
Can’t understand if I have to cook the wings in the Recep ie sauce or just dip them in after
Do I just start with plain cooked wings whatever Recep ie we choose
You cook them first and toss them after you done.
Personally, I make as many of each flavor as each person wants. And he leftovers I have can be stored in the fridge for up to a week …. OR…. Just hear me out…. I save a couple wings each and make one batch of what I call “everything”! All of the sauces mixed together. It’s actually really awesome and a great way to use up any leftover sauce you have. I’m not the author but this is the recipe I use and I am a chef!
Wow so happy to hear that!!
I have had my toaster oven style air fryer for just a few weeks and have been experimenting with various recipes I found on the internet. For most I have had to increase the temperature or the time or both to get sufficient browning, and my “crispy air fryer chicken thighs” turned out juicy and delicious, but nothing resembling crispy. Well, I took a leap of faith and followed this recipe as written, (with the addition of some garlic powder) and it certainly paid off! The wings were crispy and delicious, even without any sauce. I’m not sure if the magic is in the baking powder, the chicken skin, or the combination of the two, but this worked great and my husband was in heaven eating these… Although not so much when it came to cleaning the air fryer oven … LOL
I have made these wings SO many times and they always turn out delicious!! Thank you for the amazing recipe! I want to make this for super bowl but I dont have a lot of time to make so many batches (my air fryer isn’t as big as i’d like). Have you tried this in the oven? And if so what temp and how long? Thank you!!
The recipe works great. All those who had issues didn’t follow as instructed and would have an issue with a boiled water recipe.
Don’t mess up and use baking soda instead of baking powder. LOL. I did this time. I could taste it a little on the wings without sauce and ended up giving the uncooked ones a rinse before I fried them up. But they crisped up great just like they do with the baking powder. These are so good and great for game days.
Best wings ever. Only different ting I did was cook for 20 min and then put sauce on. Cooked at 425 for 5 min. Other thing Idid wasuseSweet Baby Ray’s Mild Buffalo Sauce.
I used flour instead of baking powder and they came out great. Only cooked it for 10mins on each side then 4 mins on the higher sitting..Came out great..Just ate them plain.
Trying to figure out why my house filled up with smoke?!?!?! Followed the directions….then when I turned the temperature up…within 5 min house full of stinky smoke. Transfered to regular oven.
Looks like this maybe be an air fryer issue. Was there something in the air fryer?
My air fryer is a TFal there is only 1 setting off or on???
Followed instructions exactly. No aluminum in my baking powder. Wings are done and edible but blond and nowhere near as crispy-looking or -tasting as the photo.
Did you shake off the excess flour and brush the chicken with oil?
Your recipe says no oil needed why would they be brushed with oil?
I am not sure what the previous answer was referring to! I have used this recipe hundreds of times, I am a chef and it is the only recipe I use for wings! Unfortunately, I do not know the solution to your problem. The only thing I can think would be overcrowding. But my wings always work perfectly touching side to side. I usually put about 10 wings in at a time but I have a large fryer. Maybe your air fryer is going out? I hope you found a solution because this recipe is incredible. I hope you get my response and respond back to me.
I believe it should be baking powder rather than soda. You would be correct that the baking soda would give them a terrible taste.
I love these wings! How do you think chicken tender’s would turnout using this recipe?
The recipe says baking powder NOT baking soda!
Made these without baking powder still turned out great. One question though, this recipe references the IP air fryer. Are you using the bake setting or fry for these. It does make a difference in my opinion
These are hands down the best wings I have ever had! I would take just a few minute off cook time but that may just be my air fryer. Also loved the bbq and garlic parm sauce (family doesn’t like spice so hot sauce was out). So good!