One of my favorite foods to chow down on for all occasions are chicken wings! I love going to restaurants known for their wings and trying all the flavors. However, I can not tolerate it when my wings are soggy! Am I alone?? Keep reading to find out how to make the world’s best and easiest crispy air fried chicken wings!
For Christmas a few years ago, my husband bought me a NuWave Air Fryer. We have used it like CRAZY ever since. One of the – hands down – best things to cook in the air fryer is wings. I love them because they are crispy and delicious – they truly taste JUST like they came out of a deep fryer… without all of the bad that comes with deep frying!
I am -INTERRUPTING THIS POST- to bring you the latest update to my air frying wing experience! We recently got a NEW air fryer. It’s the Instant Vortex Plus. The best part? It has a rotating basket! That means, you don’t have to stop it every 10 minutes and shake! Here’s a link to the newly recommended air fryer:
When we got an air fryer a couple of years back, I started experimenting with making wings in it. After trying many different methods… I finally found THE WAY that makes the world’s best crispy air fried wings – and it’s SO EASY. My husband now requests air fried wings for dinner weekly!
First, thaw your chicken wings out with hot water and salt!
This part is super simple. Just put your frozen wings in a bowl and add some salt. Let them sit there for about 20 minutes or so! If you’re using fresh chicken wings you still don’t want to skip this step – the salt soak really adds to the flavor of the wings!
Next, drain your wings!
Grab a strainer and drain all of the water out of your wings. I experimented with physically drying the wings off and just letting them sit in the strainer for a while and it didn’t make any difference which method I used! So, I say, take the easy way and just let them sit in the strainer for a while! (By a while, I mean like 10 minutes)
At this point, go ahead and turn your air fryer on and get it preheating. I cook my wings at 380 degrees!
Then, season your wings!
I keep this part SUPER SIMPLE. I prefer to coat my wings after they are cooked… so I make sure to keep them very plain during the cooking process. Also, my husband loves to eat his wings plain without any seasoning or sauce at all.
Simply throw some olive oil on the wings (about 2 TBSP) and sprinkle salt to taste. Mix them up to be sure all of the oil and salt has covered all of the wings.
The brand of olive oil truly doesn’t matter. In the picture above you’ll see the one that we’ve been using for a while – we got it in Israel and it’s AMAZING.
Then, cook your wings!
Throw 10-12 wings in your air fryer basket and cook for 40 minutes. Be sure to go and “shake” your wings every 10 minutes to be sure they aren’t sticking to the basket.
After the crispy air fried wings are finished…
You can eat them plain, add a dry rub (like lemon pepper), or toss in your favorite sauce! I’m adding an affiliate link below to a set of my favorite sauces!
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Ingredients
- Frozen chicken wings
- Salt
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
- Put your frozen wings into a bowl and run hot water on them.
- Add salt to the bowl and let sit for 20 minutes.
- Drain the wings and let sit for 10 additional minutes.
- Now would be a great time to preheat your air fryer to 380 degrees.
- Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt to the wings in the strainer and mix it up to be sure all of the wings are coated.
- Add the wings to the air fryer basket and cook for 40 minutes. You need to shake the wings every 10 minutes to make sure they are not sticking to the bottom of the basket.
- When the wings are done, take them out and coat with your favorite flavor! OR, leave it plain and enjoy!
Notes
- If you're making more than 12 wings, I suggest cooking the wings in batches. If you overfill your air fryer, they will not get as crispy.
- If you're doing more than one batch, preheat your conventional oven to 250 degrees. Throw the cooked wings in a casserole pan and let them stay heated in the oven while the other wings cook.
