Sweet Chilli Chicken Wings, Air Fryer
Crisp wings without deep frying, tossed in a sweet chilli glaze sharpened with lime and ginger. Twenty-five minutes from fridge to plate, and the glaze goes on at the very end so it never burns.
About this dish
Wings were a butcher's afterthought until Buffalo, New York made them a bar snack in the 1960s, and the world has been arguing about the sauce ever since. The air fryer changed the arithmetic at home: it is a small convection oven that moves enough hot air to crisp skin without a litre of frying oil, which is why wings became a weeknight thing rather than a party one.
- Gluten-free
- Lactose-free
- Not vegetarian because of Chicken wings
Ingredients
- 1000gChicken wings
- 120mlSweet chilli sauce
- 2tbspHoney
- 2tbspTamari (gluten-free soy sauce)
- 3clovesGarlic cloves
- 15gFresh ginger
- 2tbspLime juice
- 1tbspSesame seeds
- 10gFresh coriander
- 1tspFine sea salt
- 1tspGround black pepper
Instructions
Pat the wings thoroughly dry with kitchen paper and season with salt and pepper. Leave them uncovered on a rack for 10 minutes while the air fryer heats to 200 °C.
10 minTip: Dry skin is the whole trick. Any moisture on the surface steams first, and the wing comes out pale and slack no matter how long it cooks.
Whisk the sweet chilli sauce with the honey, tamari, crushed garlic, grated ginger and half the lime juice. Set it aside — this is a finishing glaze, not a marinade.
5 minTip: Sugar burns long before chicken cooks through. Glazing at the start would give you a black wing that is raw at the bone.
Arrange the wings in a single layer with space between them and cook for 18 minutes at 200 °C, turning once halfway.
18 minTip: A crowded basket steams. Cook in two batches rather than stacking — the second batch takes the same time and both come out crisp.
Tip the wings into a large bowl, pour over two-thirds of the glaze and toss to coat. Return them to the air fryer for 4–5 minutes, until the glaze is sticky and blistered.
5 minTip: That last short blast sets the glaze onto the skin. Skip it and the sauce slides off onto the plate instead of clinging.
Toss with the remaining glaze, the rest of the lime juice, the sesame seeds and torn coriander. Serve at once.
2 minTip: The raw glaze added off the heat keeps the chilli bright; the cooked one gives the stickiness. Using both is what makes them taste like more than sauce out of a bottle.