You can’t go wrong when you use your air fryer to cook wings. What could be better than fast, crispy, and mess-free food? Gochujang sauce and toasted sesame mayonnaise take these chicken wings from good to great in the air fryer.
Do you own an air fryer? Construct some wing-like structures! You’re going to be quite pleased with the outcome. It’s a lot easier and cleaner than oven roasting and much quicker than deep frying. What’s more, we have a secret trick that will make the crispiest, most irresistible wings you’ve ever tasted. Ready? Soaring to new heights is our mission, so let’s get going! So, let’s say we’re going to have to take off.
These wings are drenched in a salty-spicy gochujang sauce, and instead of celery and blue cheese dip, we serve them with refreshing cucumbers and radishes topped with toasted sesame mayonnaise.
Keep reading, since you can apply this method of air frying wings with any sauce you prefer if that particular combination isn’t your style.
Chicken wings cooked in an air fryer, dipped in a sauce made with gochujang and served with a mayonnaise flavoured with sesame and topped with scallions and sesame seeds.
Table of Contents
Recipe for Air Fryer Chicken Wings
The air fryer makes delicious wings in no time.
Perhaps you already know this, but air fryers don’t actually fry food. They are essentially high-powered convection ovens that circulate hot air to ensure that every last crumb of your food is perfectly browned and crunchy. When compared to a traditional oven, an air fryer’s ability to reach high temperatures quickly is a major benefit. Simply plug it in and flip the switch to start turbo-cooking those wings.
Due to the large amount of skin on chicken wings, they naturally baste themselves with fat while they cook in an air fryer. Air fryers have a built-in rack for the wings to rest on while the fat drains away, and after half an hour, you have crispy, delicious wings that aren’t at all greasy.
Try out an air fryer if you haven’t before! Read this helpful guide if you’re thinking of purchasing an air fryer for the first time.
Disassembling Chicken Wings
Regarding the wings themselves, a word or two. These wings come in a convenient, jumbo-sized bag, and have already been cut into drumettes and flats (the party bits) but not the tiny tips.
On the other hand, I’ve discovered that the quality of fresh, whole chicken wings is significantly higher. There’s more meat on them, and their skin is more pliable.
The following chopping is required to get them ready for use: The thicker drumette and the flatter… err… flat part of the wing can be easily separated by slicing through two joints with a strong, sturdy knife (also known as a plank).
For additional facts and photographs read our step by step article How to Break Down Chicken Wings.
The tips are so small that they would be burned in a hot wing treatment, but otherwise the stock is fantastic. Make a delicious pot of Chicken Wing Ramen with the extra wings and the rest of the ingredients.
Chicken wings cooked in an air fryer and served with a Gochujang sauce, radishes, scallions, and white bowls with a sesame sauce and a soy sauce dip are depicted.
How to Make the Perfect Wings
Every good thing has a hidden cost. Avoid wasting time and energy by overcrowding the air fryer drawer when preparing this dish.
If you stuff in too many wings, they’ll start to steam. They won’t taste great, but at least you won’t have to learn the hard way that steaming wings is not a thing.
My 4.5-quart air fryer is the perfect size for cooking a pound and a half of wings at a time. I simultaneously process two batches at once. Because of this, the recipe is not great for large events but is ideal for intimate get-togethers with close friends and family. or a romantic evening of hot wings in your own house. (What!? Surely you’re not already doing that! It’s go time!) After you’ve eaten through the first batch, the second will be ready.
Use baking powder if you want your wings to be EXTRA crispy. Baking powder, that’s what you need. A long back, J. Kenji López-Alt of Serious Eats developed a technique for oven-fried hot wings by sprinkling them with a little baking powder 8 hours before cooking.
While the addition of baking powder may sound counterintuitive, it really aids in browning the skin and giving it a bubbly-crackly texture close to that of deep-frying. You’ll have to put in a little bit of extra work in advance, but it’ll be well worth it. Try it out!
The Gochujang Sauce: What’s the Deal?
Even though you may use this air fryer method to cook hot wings with any sauce you like, we couldn’t help but post this sauce because we’re currently obsessed with gochujang, the earthy-spicy Korean fermented chile and soybean paste.
Gochujang has just the right amount of sour, salty, hot, and faintly sweet flavours.
Gochujang can be used in place of chilli paste or sriracha in many dishes. When used as a salad dressing, especially for Korean-style salads, it is one of my favourites. You can slowly eat away at a tub of it in the fridge for months.
Substitute your preferred chicken wing sauce for the gochujang if you can’t locate it, then continue cooking the wings in the air fryer.
How to Complement Air Fryer Wings
Try this recipe with fresh cucumber spears and radish slices in place of celery sticks and blue cheese dressing. If you’re looking for an alternative to traditional wing sauce, try my version, which replaces mayonnaise with a dash of sesame oil for an extra savoury bite. Heaven!
Tips for Preparing Chicken Wings in Advance
You may easily prepare parts of this dish ahead of time. Make the sauce (minus the melted butter) and the sesame mayo at the same time you prepare the wings.
Take them out of the fridge while the wings are cooking, and they’ll be nice and warm when you’re ready to dive in.
To make the wings, you’ll need:
- The equivalent of 3 pounds of chicken wings, including drumettes and flats
- Three Tablespoons is enough of Baking Powder
- Salt, kosher, 2 tablespoons
For the condiments:
- Gochujang, approximately about 2 tablespoons
- Soy sauce, about 2 tablespoons
- 1 tbsp. of vinegar made from rice
- two teaspoons of sesame oil
- Sugar, 1 Teaspoon
- Three tablespoons of butter, melted and held at a low temperature
- Prepare the dipping sauce by combining the following ingredients:
- one cup of mayonnaise
- a tbsp of toasted sesame oil
- 14 of a teaspoon of sugar
- The equivalent of one-eighth of a teaspoon of Sriracha
Use these items as a garnish:
- As a garnish, scallion slices
- Finished with toasted sesame seeds
- Slender cucumber spears
- Radishes, sliced very thinly
Method
Seasoned and Rested Wings
The wings should be seasoned and rested, at which point they should be patted dry. Toss the wings with the baking powder and salt in a large bowl until they are well coated.
Refrigerate the wings, uncovered, for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours, spreading them out in a single layer around the bowl.
Baking soda-dusted chicken wings in a white bowl on a striped tablecloth.
Cooking chicken wings in an air fryer:
Pre Heat the air fryer to maximum 380 degrees Fahrenheit. Slide in as many wings as you can without them touching (for my 4.4-quart air fryer, this was 1-1/2 pounds of wings, or half the batch). Please put the drawer back shut. Shake the drawer every 5 minutes for the first 20 minutes to reorganise the wings and continue cooking for the last 5 minutes.
While the wings are cooking, you can start preparing the sauce. To make the sauce, combine the gochujang, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until combined. Put aside for the moment.
Gochujang Sauce for Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Produce the sesame mayonnaise by:
Whisk the mayonnaise, sesame oil, sugar, and sriracha in a small bowl until smooth. Put aside for the moment.
Boost the air fryer’s heat: After 25 minutes, turn the temperature up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for the wings to finish cooking. Make sure to add another 5 minutes of cooking time to the wing dish. This makes them brown and extra-crispy.
For the sauce, combine the melted butter with the sauce and then toss in the wings (it might solidify a bit, but the heat of the wings will re-melt it). Throw the wings into a big bowl and pour half the sauce over them. Toss to coat.
Crispy chicken wings marinated in Gochujang sauce, cooked in an air fryer and served in a bowl.
Prepare and enjoy:
Put on a dish and garnish with scallions and sesame seeds if desired. Serve right away with a side of sliced cucumbers, radishes, and a bowl of savoury sesame mayonnaise.
Preparing the remaining wings:
Bring the air fryer’s temperature down to 380 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s Steps 2 and 4 over and over again. Cover them with the remaining sauce and toss.
You can also try Airfood recipe.
