Air Fryer Buffalo Wings

Crisp wings without a pot of oil is the thing the air fryer was practically invented for. A dry rub, two batches and a butter-and-hot-sauce toss at the very end is the whole method.

Dry skin, dry rub

Crispy chicken skin is really just skin that's lost its water. Anything you can do to remove moisture before cooking helps, so pat them dry, properly, until the paper towel stops getting damp. The rub is all dry spices on purpose. No oil, no sauce, nothing wet to steam through.

The ten-minute rest after seasoning lets the rub settle onto the skin and takes a little of the fridge chill off, so they cook more evenly.

Heads up

Two batches, not one crowded one. Wings piled on each other steam where they touch and come out rubbery on one side.

Sauce at the end

Sauced wings don't crisp. Toss them after cooking, in a big clean bowl with room to move. The butter mellows the vinegar in the hot sauce and helps it cling. Keep the heat moderate while you melt it; a hard boil breaks the sauce.

Try this

Double the sauce and use half on a batch of Air Fryer Chicken Tenders for the boneless crowd.

For the same Buffalo flavor in a lower-effort format, there are the Buffalo Chicken Zucchini Skins, and on a cold night the Buffalo Chicken Soup takes it somewhere else entirely.