I’ve always been a big fan of chicken wings, but I rarely make them for myself. Most recipes involve either deep-frying or oven-roasting, and to be honest, they never seemed worth the effort.
However, when I came across a recipe on the food blog Smile Sandwich for air-fried wings that are ”super crispy and golden brown” without any “messy oil involved,” I knew I had to try it.
The blogger was right — I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make these Buffalo-barbecue wings at home and how delicious they turned out.
The recipe doesn’t waste time with marinades or thawing
This recipe is so easy. For one, it doesn’t require you to make a marinade or dry rub for the chicken.
Plus, you don’t have to wait for anything to thaw — if your wings are frozen, you can easily keep them in the air fryer longer.
With an air fryer, you also don’t need to worry about hot oil or greasy pans. It’s as simple as tossing the wings in to cook.
My air fryer evenly cooked the wings with ease
Air fryers are like small convection ovens where the heat is constantly circulating around the food inside. The less crowded the baskets are, the quicker the food cooks.
I preheated my air fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and sprayed the baskets and wings with cooking oil.
The key to making good wings is to shake the basket every five minutes or so and finish them at high heat.
The wings were almost done cooking after 25 minutes, so I finished them off with five minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit to get them crispy.
The sauce for these wings is a combination of barbecue and Buffalo
This recipe uses a combo of barbecue and Buffalo to create a tangy sauce, but you can really use any type of sauce you’d like.
Making a sauce from scratch takes extra time, so buying premade sauces to mix makes the recipe even quicker and easier to execute.
For this recipe, I combined a premade barbecue sauce with a bottled Buffalo sauce. I coated the wings in the mixture while they were still hot from the air fryer.
This recipe was everything it promised to be — I won’t use another method for cooking wings again
These chicken wings were juicy and had a slightly crispy texture from the air fryer.
The barbecue-Buffalo sauce combination was sweet, tangy, and had a little kick. I’m a big Buffalo fan, so this tasty combo was a winner in my book.
It’s easy to use a different sauce, too, especially if you’re cooking for a party or group. You can even just cook the chicken wings, then set aside a few sauce options so guests can choose their own.
Lastly, I loved that I didn’t have to clean a bunch of baking sheets or oily pans after I finished eating.
This story was originally published on August 29, 2022, and most recently updated on May 8, 2026.
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