When a friend told me that everything tasted better in an air fryer, I didn’t believe her. I wanted to believe that a convection oven did just as good of a job as an air fryer. Of course, my opinion changed once I got an air fryer! These Air Fryer Chicken Wings were one of the first things we tried out on an air fryer. The air fryer definitely made the wings crispier… like real fried wings.
We tested out chicken wings two ways. The first is the lazy way. Just season the chicken wings and throw them in the air fryer. The second way is just as easy but requires an extra step of parboiling the wings. Once parboiled, the wings are thrown in the air fryer. The picture below shows the non-parboiled wings on the left and the parboiled wings on the right.
Which was crispier? My husband said hands down, the parboiled chicken was crispier. You can see that the parboiled ones have crispier, browned skin. Both ways taste good but a side by side comparison really showed the differences! Parboiling gets rid of the extra fat and oil from the chicken and allows it to crisp up more easily in the air fryer.
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can bake these in a conventional oven, on a rack on top of a baking tray. The results won’t be as crispy as in an air fryer, but should be crispier than without parboiling.
These air fryer chicken wings can be served with ranch dressing or bbq sauce. They can be seasoned with just salt and pepper or spiced up with lemon pepper seasoning. So many combinations and variations to try for the future!
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Equipment
- air fryer (or regular oven)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken wings
- 1/4 C salt
- 5 C water
- lemon pepper seasoning optional
- BBQ sauce optional
- ranch dressing optional
- teriyaki sauce optional
Instructions
- Mix the salt and water in a pot and bring to a boil.
- Add the chicken wings and boil for 8 minutes.
- Remove the wings from the boiling water and let dry on a rack for 10-15 minutes. If you're in a rush or don't feel like waiting for the wings to dry, pat dry the wings with paper towel.
For Air Fryer
- Preheat the air fryer to 375F. Add seasoning/sauce to the wings, if desired, and place them on the air fryer rack. (You may need to air fry in batches, depending on the size of your air fryer).
- Air fry for 8 minutes. Flip the wings and air fry for another 8 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the chicken sit for 5 minutes. Dig in and enjoy!
Conventional Oven
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking tray with foil. Put a baking rack on top of the tray. Add seasoning/sauce to the wings, if desired, and place the wings on the rack.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Flip the wings and bake for another 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the chicken sit for 5 minutes. Dig in and enjoy!
Thank you for this recipe! So easy and exactly what we were looking for!
I had heard of parboiling wings first but then wondered how long to air fry and needed a recipe.
The parboiling helps to crisp the wings when they are air fried.
Finally, wings the way we love them!
Thank again!
Your husband was right! I’ve been making air fryer wings for a couple of years now and parboiling definitely puts them over the top! I can’t wait for my husband to try these! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes and ideas. 🙂