These chicken wings are as simple as they get. No deep-frying means no scary hot oil splashes, and no dredging means less cleanup.
What makes these better than oven-baked wings? While air fryers and traditional convection ovens use similar technology, air fryers boast faster hot air circulation, requiring no pre-heating and resulting in crispier skin. Coat your air-fried wings in an addicting, spicy-sweet soy-gochujang glaze, and they’re sure to replace your usual chicken wings order.
How do you get extra crispy skin?
As it turns out, baking powder is good for more than just baking. By dehydrating the chicken skin while raising its pH level, it creates a chemical reaction that makes your chicken wings extra crispy when air-fried!
Additional tip: Place the chicken wings skin side down for the first half of the air frying process so they can finish cooking skin side up. For the first half, the oils and juices of the wings collect at the bottom of the air fryer. Once flipped, the chicken skin is covered in oil and exposed to the hot air until they’re finished cooking, leaving you with blistering, extra-crispy chicken skin.
What kind of air fryer do I need?
This recipe works with any air fryer, but depending on its size, you may need to cook in batches. Basket-style air fryers, while the most common type, are also the smallest. If you’re worried about your wings getting cold while finishing the rest, place them in a toaster oven at the lowest temperature setting.
Ingredients
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
- 1 kg chicken wings, separated into flats and drumsticks
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cayenne powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
Soy-Gochujang Glaze
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp gochujang
- 3 tbsp honey
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup mirin
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- sesame seeds, for garnish
Season wings: Place chicken wings on a sheet pan or cutting board and pat dry with paper towels, making sure both sides are dry. Transfer to a bowl and add salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne powder, and baking powder. Mix with hands until wings are evenly coated.
Air fry wings: Place wings skin down in the air fryer, spacing evenly, and air fry at 180˚C for about 9 minutes. Flip wings with tongs and air fry for another 9 minutes. Remove wings from air fryer and let rest on a baking sheet or wire rack until ready to glaze.
Make glaze: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add gochujang and honey. Whisk to incorporate. Add soy sauce, mirin, and rice vinegar. Whisk again until fully combined. Increase heat to medium and continue cooking, whisking from time to time, until the glaze thickens, about 3-5 minutes.
Coat chicken wings: Add cooked chicken wings to a large mixing bowl. Add as much glaze as desired in ¼ cup increments. Toss until wings are fully and evenly coated.
Serve: Transfer chicken wings to a serving dish. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top to garnish. Serve hot.
Notes
Some basket-style air fryers have no temperature adjustment, usually set at only 200˚C. That high heat means this recipe will still yield crispy chicken wings, though a little less juicy.
For plain chicken wings, omit garlic powder and cayenne powder. Serve hot without glaze.
