Air Fryer Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings are a tasty appetizer and perfect for game day.
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Chicken wings are just about the perfect fun-time food. Whether you are watching the big game with the family or just enjoying a few beers with friends, you can’t do better than fried wings as a please-all snack. And if you happen to have an air fryer at home, you are all set to cook up some fabulous air fryer chicken wings at home. Air fryer chicken is just as good as traditional deep-fried wings with a whole less fat. If you love sweet and spicy food, and you happen to have an air fryer, you need to try this air fryer wings recipe!
Preparing the Chicken Wings
You can buy chicken wings already cut into wingettes and drumettes, but it will cost you more for the convenience. Instead, purchase full wings and cut them up yourself.
Stretch out the chicken wing on a cutting board so that part of the wing sticks up towards you. You can see three separate sections: the winglet (the part sticking up), the drumette (the middle portion), and the wingtip (at the top). Use your fingers to feel where each section connects to the next. You should be able to find where the end of bones connects. Use the tip of a sharp knife to cut between these bones carefully. Keep the drumettes and winglets to make the air fryer chicken wings, discard the wingtips, or save them making chicken stock.
How to Use an Air Fryer for Cooking Crispy Chicken Wings
Each air fryer is slightly different, so be sure to refer to the owner’s manual for your model for the best results. However, most of these suggestions will work for all air fryers.
Use a paper towel with cooking oil on it to grease the air fryer basket lightly. Make sure you get a good coating of oil, especially around the holes of the basket. Use a neutral oil that has a high smoke point, like canola oil. Set the basket aside as you prepare the chicken.
The enemy of crispy chicken is moisture, so make sure your chicken wings are bone dry before coating them in the dry spice mixture and laying them out on a cooling rack. Wait 30 minutes to allow the spice to flavor the inside of the wing.
Before placing the chicken wings into the frying basket, give the chicken a good shake to knock off any excess spice mixture and give a light spray of cooking oil. The little extra cooking oil will help the chicken develop a deep golden color and crispy skin. Remember not to stack the chicken wings on top of each other in the basket. If your basket is on the small side, you may need to cook in several batches. The total air fryer chicken wings cook time is 30 minutes.
Tips For Preparing Sweet and Spicy Air Fryer Wings
- Don’t oversauce your wings. The goal is only to coat the wings with sweet and sour sauce. You don’t want them to be dripping with sauce. If you wish, you can serve with extra sauce on the side.
- Be careful when flipping the wings. Use tongs or chopsticks to avoid burning yourself.
Are you new to air frying? Watch us make other favorite foods in our air fryer on YouTube!
Ingredients
What you need for the sweet and spicy wings:
- Chicken wings
- Chili powder
- Cumin powder
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Salt
- Ground pepper
What you need for the sweet and spicy wing sauce:
- Honey
- Lime juice
- Cornstarch
- Hot sauce
- Butter
- Worcestershire sauce
- Garlic powder
- Salt
Recommended Equipment
You need an air fryer, but which one? There are so many models out there.
If you are cooking for just 1 to 2 people I really like the Phillips Air Fryer because it doesn’t take up a lot of counter space, and it is a workhorse. I have heated up slices of pizza, egg rolls, made grilled cheese sandwiches in here and so much more.
If you have a larger family, or a larger budget the Breville Smart Oven can air fry, bake, proof bread, and so much more. Its capacity is very large. You can make food for 4 to 6 people in his model.
How to Make Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings in an Air Fryer
- Wash and use a paper towel to pat dry the chicken wings.
- Spray the bottom of the air fryer basket with cooking spray.
- Mix together the chili powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
- Add chicken wings into the spice mix and toss to coat well.
- Marinate for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Place the marinated chicken wings in the air-fryer basket.
- Air-fry at 380 degrees for 24 minutes, flipping wings halfway through cooking time.
- After 24 minutes, increase the air fryer temperature to 400 degrees and air-fry for 6 minutes.
- While the wings are air frying, prepare the sweet and spicy sauce.
- Place honey, lime juice, cornstarch, hot sauce, butter, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and salt in a small microwave-safe bowl.
- Microwave sauce ingredients for 2 minutes. Stir or whisk to thoroughly combine.
- Once the chicken wings are air-fried, transfer them to a large bowl along with some of the wing sauce.
- Toss to coat wings well with the sauce.
- Serve with the wing sauce and ranch or blue cheese dressing.
Love chicken wings? Try these recipes!
- Boneless Wings
- Garlic Buffalo Wings
- Grilled Buffalo Chicken Wings
- Habanero Wings
- Hooters Wings
- Hooters Wing Sauce
- Lemon Pepper Wingstop
- Parmesan Chicken Wings
- Pluckers Wings
Favorite Air Fryer Recipes
Be sure to check out more of my easy chicken wing recipes and the best air fryer recipes here on CopyKat.com!
Air Fryer Sweet and Spicy Wings
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken wings
Dry rub for wings
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Asian Sweet and Spicy Sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce Tobasco or sriricha
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Spray the bottom of the air fryer basket with cooking spray and set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients such as chili powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the pat dried chicken wings into the dry spice mix and coat well. Let it marinate for 20-30 minutes.
- Place the marinated chicken wings in the air-fryer basket and air-fry at 380*F for 24 minutes, flipping through halfway.
- After 24 minutes, increase the temperature of air-fryer to 400*F and again air-fry for 6 minutes, so that the outer layer of wings turns crispy.
- Meanwhile prepare the sweet & spicy hot sauce. Add all the ingredients given for sweet & spicy hot sauce in a small microwave safe bowl and heat for 2 minutes. Whisk well to mix.
- Once the chicken wings are air-fried, transfer it to a large bowl along with few teaspoons of prepared sweet & spicy hot sauce. Toss to coat well. Serve with ranch dressing, garlic aioli, or blue cheese dressing.
Barbara
You forgot to say how much onion powder to use. I’m going to use 1/2 tsp. I’m making them for tonight’s dinner. Looking forward to eating them.
Stephanie Manley
This needed 1/2 teaspoon onion powder. I hope you enjoyed the recipe.
Jardel
The wings were crispy, and had just the right amount of heat!
Ruwani
These wings are delicious and very easy to make too.
Peli
These wings were amazing. I served them with your garlic green beans. Yum!