Buffalo Chicken Wings are SO easy to make in your air fryer and they turn out perfectly crispy. They make the best appetizer or even dinner on game days.
Air Fried Buffalo Wings
You know I’m a big fan of buffalo flavored things. It started with my buffalo cauliflower, then I moved to buffalo ranch chicken wraps and buffalo chicken dip, and now air fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings.
However, the older I get, the more often I experience heartburn. When I was in my early 20s, I remember talking to an older coworker about her avoiding foods due to heartburn and I couldn’t relate to her at all because I didn’t know what frequent heartburn was.
Well. Now I do.
But I persevere because buffalo everything is delicious lol
How to cook chicken wings in the air fryer
This section shows you how to make this recipe, with process photos showing the steps to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
Jump- STEP ONE: Start by soaking your wings in salt water for at least an hour.
- STEP TWO: Pat the wings dry and season. I like to use onion powder, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and lemon pepper. Use your favorite seasonings.
- STEP THREE: Line your air fryer basket with a parchment paper liner and give it a light spray of olive oil. Then, place the seasoned wings in a single layer into the basket.
- STEP FOUR: Set the air fryer to 360 & fry for 12 minutes, use tongs to flip, and then fry for another 12 minutes at 360 degrees.
- STEP FIVE: Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl, pour in the buffalo wing sauce, and stir. Use a pastry brush to brush each wing with the sauce, and then turn the air fryer heat up to 390 degrees and fry for another 5 minutes (or until your favorite level of crisp). When poked with a fork, juices should run clear to let you know they’re done.
How long to cook chicken wings in the air fryer
Start to finish, it takes about 30 minutes to make crispy buffalo wings in the air fryer. So much faster than baking them!
Helpful Tools
- Air Fryer – I have and recommend the 5.8 qt. (or larger)
- Tongs – Super helpful for flipping hot wings.
- Pastry Brush – I like a silicone pastry brush for brushing on buffalo sauce because it’s easier to clean.
- Air Fryer Liners – Make for an easier clean up.
Baking instructions
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can follow the same recipe and bake these wings, they will just take longer to get crisp. Bake for 40-50 minutes, brushing on the sauce in the last five minutes, or until your favorite level of crisp is achieved and the internal temp hits 165°F.
Can I use frozen wings?
Yes, you can grab a bag of frozen “party wings” to make this recipe if you don’t have fresh ones. I prefer to safely thaw them before use, but you can air fry from frozen.
If you’re starting with frozen wings, cook them at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, flip with tongs, cook another 15 minutes, then brush on sauce & do another 5 minutes or until crisp. I also like to use a meat thermometer to ensure the internal temp has hit 165°F (just make sure you don’t hit the bone with the probe.
Frozen wings give off excess water, so they take slightly longer to crisp, but it works.
More delicious buffalo recipes:
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Buffalo Chicken Bread
Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls
Air Fried Buffalo Wings Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings or wing dings
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon your favorite chicken seasoning
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- ½ cup your favorite wing sauce
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- olive oil spray
Instructions
- Place the wings in a large bowl of salted water, cover, and refrigerate for an hour.2 pounds chicken wings, 1 teaspoon salt
- Drain the water from the bowl and pat the wings dry with paper towel.
- Sprinkle seasonings on both sides of the wings.1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon your favorite chicken seasoning, 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- Line the air fryer basket with a parchment paper liner (optional) and lightly spray with olive oil. Place the wings in a single layer in the basket. Cook at 360 degrees F for 12 minutes, use tongs to flip the wings, then cook another 12 minutes.olive oil spray
- While the wings are cooking, to a small microwave safe bowl, melt the butter then pour in the wing sauce and stir.4 Tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup your favorite wing sauce
- Once the wings are done, use a pastry brush to brush the wings with the sauce then turn the air fryer up to 390 degrees and cook another 5 minutes or until your favorite level of crispy.
- Repeat as necessary for additional batches of wings.
- Serve with ranch, bleu cheese, or additional wing sauce for dipping.
Notes
- Use your favorite seasonings – switch it up to change the flavors. Blackened seasoning is very good.
- If you start with frozen wings, increase temperature to 400 degrees for 15 minutes, flip, then do another 15 minutes before adding seasonings & sauce.
- If baking the wings, you can follow the same recipe but bake at 375 degrees F in a single layer for 40-50 minutes or until crisp and the internal temperature of 165°F.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag me on Instagram @melissa_pplates so I can see!This post was originally sponsored by Mirum, but all opinions expressed are my own.
