The Ultimate Air Fryer Chicken Wings Recipe

Ever since I purchased an air fryer, chicken wings have been pretty much a weekly occurrence. Before I discovered this recipe, I was a bit of a KFC addict, but once I realised I could make an entire kilo of chicken wings for less than the price of 4 KFC wings – I never looked back. This recipe isn’t just cheaper than the fast-food alternative, it’s healthier and much, much tastier too!

The “Secret” Spice Blend 

Ok, it’s not secret, although the marjoram gives this recipe a distinctly KFC-style flavour as it’s a rarely used herb but one which features prominently in KFC’s own “secret” blend. You should be able to find it in most large supermarkets. 

If you can’t find a particular spice mentioned in this recipe or don’t like one of them, don’t worry! Everyone’s perfect spice blend is different. The one in this recipe took me dozens of tries to get right and I now know it so well I can do all the “measurements” by eye. But yours might well be different. Some people like to make extra spicy wings with cayenne or hot chilli powder in their mix. Others have issues with MSG and so they’ll want to leave that out. That’s all fine. In truth, I’ve made these wings with just flour, salt, and pepper, and they were still better than 90% of chicken I’ve ever had in a restaurant. 

All of this is to say, I encourage everyone to experiment and find the right spice mix for them. 

Do You Need To Use MSG For Fried Chicken? 

A quick note on the MSG. Don’t be scared! MSG increases the savoury flavours of food it’s added to, it makes beef dishes taste beefier, tomato dishes taste more tomatoey etc. A lot of people seem to have the idea that MSG is unhealthy or that it causes headaches and other maladies. There is no research to back this up. Lots of packaged food like Pringles contain MSG and so does some fresh produce like tomatoes. 

Try using MSG in your cooking. It’s what gives this recipe and many other chicken dishes that “finger lickin” quality. That said, it is by no means essential and if you’re really uncomfortable using it, feel free to leave it out. 

Do You Have To Brine and Marinade Chicken Wings? 

In short, no, you don’t “need” to brine or marinade chicken wings before you cook them, but if you do, you’ll realise the moment you taste them why that extra effort is worth it. While the brine and marinade take time (16-24 hours), almost all this time is spent leaving them to sit in the fridge. The whole prep process only takes about 10 minutes of hands-on time. Just do it the night before.

Without the brine or the marinade, it’s really hard to get flavour inside the chicken. If you just dunk some wings into the spice mix and then put them in the air fryer, they’ll still taste nice, but you’ll probably notice that all the flavour is on the outside of the wing and that the meat underneath the skin is quite bland. As well as making the meat more succulent, the brine and marinade also help to get salty, sweet, and spicy flavours into the actual flesh of the chicken. 

For the hot sauce in the marinade, use whichever one is your favourite as you’ll be the best judge of your own spice tolerance. Even with a VERY hot sauce, it shouldn’t be too overpowering once it’s diluted in the yogurt. If you want to make these extra special, you can make your own hot sauce. It’s easy enough and you’ll have plenty of time to do it while your chicken in soaking in brine overnight.

Ingredients:

Chicken: 

• 1 kg of chicken wings 
• Sunflower oil spray 

For the brine: 

• 800ml water 
• 2 tablespoons of table salt 
• 2 tablespoons of sugar 
• 1 onion 
• 4 cloves of garlic 
• 1 handful of fresh thyme (or 1 tablespoon dried thyme) 
• 1 handful of fresh parsley (or 1 tablespoon dried parsley 

For the marinade: 

• 150 ml yogurt 
• 4 tablespoons of your favourite hot sauce 

For the breading mix: 

• 6 tablespoons of flour 
• 1 tablespoon of ground white pepper 
• 1 tablespoon of ground black pepper 
• ½ tablespoon of smoked paprika 
• ½ tablespoon of dried thyme 
• ½ tablespoon of dried marjoram 
• ½ teaspoon of MSG 

Method: 

Score the chicken wings:

– with a sharp knife, cut each chicken wing 2-3 times, cut all the way down to the bone 

 Make the brine: 

– cut the onion in to quarters 
– roughly bash the garlic cloves 
– don’t worry about the removing the skin for the garlic or onion 
– boil 400ml of water in a kettle 
– add the boiled water to the pan 
– stir in the salt and sugar until dissolved 
– add the thyme and parsley 
– simmer for 2 minutes 
– remove from the heat  
– add the remaining 400ml of cold water 
– leave to cool to room temperature 
– once cool, pour over the chicken wings in a container until covered 
– leave for 12-20 hours in the fridge 

Marinade the chicken: 

– combine the yogurt and hot sauce in a bowl 
– remove the chicken and pour away the brine. (The chicken should have absorbed a fair amount of the liquid and the wings should be noticeably plumper than they were when you put them in) 
– in a container, pour the yogurt and hot sauce mixture over the chicken, massage it slightly so that all the crevices and cuts are covered in the marinade 
– leave for 4-8 hours in the fridge 

The spice + flour mix: 

– combine the spices and flour in a zip lock sandwich bag 
– after the chicken has marinaded, remove the wings one by one, place each wing in the ziplock bag and shake 
– remove the wing from the bag and shake off any excess flour, place on a plate 
– repeat this process for each wing until all of them are coated 

Prep the wings for frying: 

– using the spray bottle, generously spray the wings with sunflower oil 
– turn them over and do the same thing on the other side 
– cover with cling film and put back in the fridge for 30 minutes 

Air fry the chicken: 

– if you are cooking a whole kilo of wings you will most likely need to do this in batches 
– pre-heat your air fryer to 180°C (355°F) 
– place the wings skin side up in the air fryer basket in a single layer 
– cook for 12 minutes 
– using tongs, carefully flip the wings over 
– cook for a further 12 minutes 
– flip the wings again 
– turn the air fryer up to 205°C (400°F) 
– remove the wings from the air fryer and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes 
 
Your wings are now ready to enjoy. They’re perfectly delicious on their own, but extra hot sauce, or a cooling blue cheese sauce also go really well with them.