Air Fryer Honey Hot Wings are crispy chicken wings made easy with a sweet honey buffalo hot wing sauce. Sweet and spicy chicken wings are crowd-loved and a game day must!
Everyone loves chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday or any day! Buffalo wings are even better in my book. But air fryer, sweet and spicy honey wings leave me speechless, especially when dunked in extra sauce and ranch dressing.
This is the best hot wings recipe for a crowd. Cooks love the simplicity and guests love how the honey buffalo sauce isn't crazy hot. The butter tones down the heat and the honey brings the sweet. No joke, honey butter hot sauce is legit plate-licking material.
Honey hot wings recipe ingredients
Ingredient amounts are included in the printable recipe below.
- chicken wings - also called "party wings" and commonly sold as retail-packed fresh or frozen chicken wings. They're referred to as wingettes and drumettes.
- olive oil - or avocado oil. Cooking oil spray works great too.
- sea salt and pepper - Kosher salt works great too.
- paprika - use smoked or classic Hungarian paprika, or any seasonings you like!
- hot sauce - I use a hot sauce like Frank's or similar (not to be confused with Frank's packaged buffalo sauce).
- honey - a key ingredient for honey hot sauce, but maple syrup would work.
- butter - I use real butter, but you're welcome to experiment with a butter substitute.
How to make honey hot wings in the air fryer
It takes only 5 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to air fry these delightful honey chicken wings. Full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe below.
The skin is patted dry to remove excess moisture which helps make crispy wings. The wings are coated in olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika. You can add other seasonings, if desired.
The wings are cooked in the air fryer 10 minutes at 360°F, removed to flip, and cooked another 5 minutes, or longer if you want them extra crispy.
Meanwhile, the delectable hot wing sauce gets made by whisking together hot sauce, butter, and honey.
Half of the sauce gets tossed with the crispy chicken wings. The other half gets saved for dipping sauce. Brush any excess sauce on the wings.
Then a final cook in the air fryer at 380°F seals the deal on the finger licking goodness of these glazed honey hot wings.
Serve them with dipping sauce and watch them disappear!
The best dipping sauce for honey hot wings
The buffalo sauce for this recipe makes enough to cook the wings and serve additional hot sauce as a dipping sauce. Trust me, you'll want it for both.
There's something about honey and hot sauce, especially when served alongside a classic buttermilk ranch or Greek yogurt ranch dressing. It's where sweet and spicy meet up with savory and creamy, and taste buds go wild.
Recipe tips and variations
Air fryer size - One pound of chicken wings fits perfect in the Cosori 5.8 quart air fryer basket. This is about 12 wings when arranged in the basket without touching. I hope this helps you gauge how many wings fit in your air fryer.
Cooking temperature - I use a starting temperature of 360°F to air fry chicken wings because it prevents them from cooking them too quickly and drying out, yet they still get perfectly crispy skin. The wings are finished at 380°F, which glazes the honey hot wing sauce and locks in the juices.
Avoid cross contamination - Once the raw chicken wings are cooking in the air fryer, swap out the tongs for a clean pair before handling cooked chicken wings.
When transferring cooked wings out of the air fryer basket, I recommend transferring the wings with tongs, as opposed to dumping them out, to prevent spilling the rendered fat onto your serving platter.
More game day favorites
- Southwest Baked Chicken Wings
- Totchos Tater Tot Nachos
- Pico de Gallo
- Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip
- BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders
Air Fryer Honey Hot Wings
Ingredients
Chicken Wing Ingredients
- 1 lb. Chicken Wings (Party Wings), about 12 wings
- 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
- ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Paprika
Honey Buffalo Sauce Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Hot Sauce, such as Frank's
- 2 tablespoons Honey
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
Equipment
- mixing bowls
Instructions
- Pat the CHICKEN WINGS dry to remove excess moisture.
- In a mixing bowl, toss the wings in OLIVE OIL to coat. Season with SALT and PEPPER, then PAPRIKA. Toss to coat.
- Arrange seasoned wings in a single layer of the air fryer basket and avoid overlapping.
- Set the air fryer to 360°F and cook the wings for 10 minutes.
- Remove the air fryer basket, flip the wings over with tongs, and cook another 5 minutes, or up to 10 minutes for crispier skin.
- Meanwhile, make the honey buffalo sauce by whisking together HOT SAUCE, HONEY, and MELTED BUTTER in a clean mixing bowl until smooth. Transfer half of the sauce to a ramekin for serving and dipping.
- Transfer the chicken wings to the mixing bowl with the remaining sauce and toss to coat.
- Arrange wings in the air fryer basket, increase the temperature to 380°F, and cook 5 minutes until glazed.
- Serve warm with the remaining honey buffalo sauce and Ranch dressing.
Traci's Recipe Tips
- Party wings are the most common retail-packed wings and are referred to as wingettes and drumettes.
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1 lb. party wings fits perfect in the Cosori 5.8 quart air fryer basket.
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During the air fryer cycle, swap out the tongs for a clean pair to avoid cross contamination.
-
When transferring wings out of the air fryer basket, always use tongs instead of dumping the wings out because the rendered fat will spill onto your serving platter. Ask me how I know 😉
Nutrition
Nutrition data provided as courtesy estimates using unbranded ingredients from a nutrition database. Please consult preferred resource for precise data.
Jeff says
These are restaurant quality wings! Your honey hot wing sauce is so simple and just so good! And I like how you have dialed in the temperature so they're always juicy and never dry. These are going on the Super Bowl food menu, forever LOL. Thanks for a great recipe!
R Tomas says
You are right, this honey hot sauce is drinkable and these wings are perfectly cooked. I may never eat plain hot wings again LOL. Thanks for this great recipe!