Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings are great as an appetizer or a main course. Healthier then deep frying, these wings are so crispy and delicious.
Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings
These Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings have just become my favorite chicken wings of all time. They look deep fried, but they are not.
I know I told you that my favorite wings are my Better Than Hot Wings Cafe, Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings. They have been my favorite for years. This recipe is the combined effort of my husband and me.
Potato Starch is Key!
He created and made the sauce. I had the idea for the wings, with the timing and he executed this whole recipe.
Potato Starch is the secret ingredient.
Don’t be tempted to use flour instead of Potato Starch. You won’t get the same effect or taste. Do you remember years ago, sitting down at a Chinese restaurant and perusing the menu?
The waitress or waiter would bring each guest an eggroll, a fried shrimp and a cup of soup. Remember the crunch of that shrimp? It was light, but crackly and crunchy and delicious?
That is the texture and feeling you will get with these Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings.
Oh, and if you love that shrimp, you must try my Bang Bang Shrimp (Bonefish Grill) recipe. It is heaven in your mouth.
Lots and lots of garlic infused in butter with sweet honey, make these wings so delicious. There are only a few ingredients and you may be thinking, yeah right, how can this be as good as This Old Gal says.
Keep reading and watching. They are not your everyday Honey Garlic Chicken Wings….they are not!
You are all invited to join my Air Fryer Recipe Facebook Group! Don’t forget to Like me on Facebook! After clicking on “Like,” make sure to click on “See First,” so that all new recipes will get delivered to your Facebook page. 🙂
Coat the Wings with Potato Starch
Make sure your wings have been patted dry. Set them aside for now. For timing purposes, start making the sauce first. While the sauce is cooking, place dried Chicken Wings into a large mixing bowl. Dump the Potato Starch on top of the raw Chicken Wings.
Completely Coat the Wings with Potato Starch
Use tongs so that the Potato Starch does not stick to your fingers. Completely coat the wings with the Potato Starch. No, you may not use flour! 🙂 No, No, No!!!!!
Trust me, you’re going to thank me if you use Potato Starch.
Use Silicone Tongs, not your fingers to handle the wings. You want to make sure that the Potato Starch does not gunk up and get sticky. You also don’t want to scratch your Air Fryer.
Properly Seasoned Air Fryer Basket
Shake Off Any Extra Potato Starch
Using Silicone Coated Tongs, shake off any excess Potato Starch and place the Wings into the Air Fryer.
Gently Place them in the Air Fryer
This recipe is for 16 chicken wing parts, so I used my smaller Ultrean 8.5 Quart Air Fryer.
Generally we use our Ultrean 8.5 Quart Air Fryer, but I wanted to show you that this Ultrean 8.5 Quart Air Fryer works wonders!
Allow the Chicken Wings to cook for 25 minutes, shaking them every five minutes or so.
Melt the Butter
Using a small saucepan, heat it on low heat. Add the butter after the pan is hot. Adding a fat to a hot pan, makes the pan non stick!
Add Minced Garlic
Add the minced garlic to the saucepan. Allow the garlic to infuse into the butter on low heat for 5 minutes.
You don’t want to sauté or burn the garlic, so be careful to watch the heat. Whisk the butter mixture about every couple of minutes.
Pour in Honey
At this point, the butter will be nicely infused with garlic and the aroma will be delightful.
Add the honey to the Saucepan and Whisk to incorporate into the butter. Continue Whisking every so often for about 20 minutes. You don’t need to stir constantly, just make sure nothing burns.
The mixture should be at a very, very low simmer.
Shake the Wings at the Half Way Point
Shake the wings at the half way point. When the Buzzer sounds, give the wings another shake. Raise the temperature and put them back into the Air Fryer. You can see how nice and puffy and delicious the Wings look, even before the Sauce is added.
Gorgeous Caramel Color
The sauce will turn a gorgeous caramel color. That is how you know it is just about ready. It will become syrupy.
Thickened Sauce
It now looks like a caramel sauce. Turn off the heat on the stove. The wings are almost ready.
They are ready after just 8 more minutes
Look how crispy they look. They are so crunchy and crispy and not oily at all. Don’t they look wonderful? The Potato Starch really allows the wings to crisp up beautifully.
Make sure each wing is dry and crisp. If there are any soft parts, let them cook a bit longer. If you need to shake more for your particular brand of air fryer, do. There is nothing worse than soggy wing skin!
Place the Chicken Wings into a Large Bowl
Place the Air Fryer Chicken Wings into a Large Serving/Mixing Bowl and pour on the hot Honey Garlic Sauce. There will just be enough syrup (sauce) to coat the wings.
Toss the wings to coat completely. There won’t be any sauce left over for dipping as all the sauce should stick to the wings.
These Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings are not a saucy type of wing. They will be a syrupy, sticky nature.
Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings
Enjoy the Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings with Air Fryer Seasoned French Fries or Thai Triple Coconut Rice and a green vegetable. For another delicious flavor, try my Air Fryer Crispy Old Bay Chicken Wings with Warm Lemon Butter or my Air Fryer Chinese Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings, which are amazing!
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Ultrean 8.5 Quart Air Fryer
- J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Rösle Stainless Steel Flat Whisk– a MUST have, probably my most used utensil
- Rösle Silicone Flat Whisk
- Cilio Olivewood Spatula
- Porcelain & Bamboo Salt Box with Spoon
- Bellemain Porcelain Ramekins
- My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
- Kuhn Rikon Kitchen Shears
- Corelle Large Serving Bowl
- Silicone Coated Tongs
- Potato Starch
- Stainless Steel Saucepan
Caring is sharing! If you would like to support This Old Gal, please share this recipe on Social Media, so that I can continue to bring you more wonderful recipes!
Here is the handy printable recipe:
Ingredients
- 16 Pieces Chicken Wings
- 3/4 cup Potato Starch
- 1/4 cup Clover Honey
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 4 Tablespoons Fresh Garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/8 cup Fresh Water (or more as needed)
Instructions
- See my article on How to Prepare and Properly Season Your Air Fryer Basket.
- Rinse and dry chicken wings. Add Potato Starch to bowl and coat chicken wings. Add coated chicken wings to Air Fryer.
- Cook at 380 degrees for 25 minutes, shaking the basket every five minutes.
- When Timer sounds, cook at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes. All skin on all wings should be very dry and crisp.
- Heat a small stainless steel saucepan on low heat. Melt butter and then add garlic. Sauté the garlic for 5 minutes.
- Add honey and salt and simmer on low for about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes, just so the sauce does not burn. Add a few drops of water after 15 minutes to keep Sauce from hardening.
- Remove chicken wings from Air Fryer and pour over the sauce.
Notes
PIN this Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings!
Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings
This looks good and I want to try it but I don’t understand the past where you used one fryer instead of another, but they seem to both be 8.5 quart fryers.
“Generally we use our Ultrean 8.5 Quart Air Fryer, but I wanted to show you that this Ultrean 8.5 Quart Air Fryer works wonders!”
So what size do I need for this number of wing pieces?
Any one you like. Jill
First time using my Foodie XL deluxe airfrying wings and they turned out great!! Thx for a super easy receipe!
Thank you, Antonietta. Jill
The author that wrote this recipe is spot on. Potato starch and air frying exactly as instructed for delish all, super crisp wings! Thank you! We made these a few times now. This is our go to!
Thank you very much, Tiffany. I am so glad you enjoy my recipe. Jill
This was great. Thank you.
Hello I was gonna try making those honey garlic wings can I replace potato starch for baking powder and replace the honey with a honey substitute because I’m low carb thanks
hi, how was it with baking powder?
These were amazing. So crispy and delicious. I’ll definitely be making them again and again?
Thanks, Brittany. I am glad you enjoyed this recipe. Jill
Absolutely trusted you and potato starch was the way to go. Great recipe, Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much, Tre. I am glad you enjoyed this recipe. Jill
How would you do this in the instant pot air fryer lid? This sounds so good and I want to try it out!
Hi, Jill. Love the idea of using potato starch for my wings. I prefer dry wings with a dry rub and no sauce. Just curious if you think I should add the spice rub before the starch or after the wings come out of the fryer. Thanks!
Can I use corn starch instead of potato starch to coat?
Will these turn out crispy if you remove the skin?
Absolutely delicious, both the wings and the sauce. I’m a big fan of potato starch. How do you think these would heat up, for a party, if I store the cooked wings a couple of days? I’d like to get all the messy stuff done ahead of time.
You would want to crisp up the wings first. Jill
Omigod these are the best ever! Absolutely loved these and will be using potato starch more for air frying. Could sweat they were deep fried. Loved the way the garlic cartelized in the sauce! Thank you for such a fantastic recipe!
Thank you, Jan. I am thrilled you enjoyed this recipe. It is one of our favorites. Jill
Jill, these look amazing
Would there be a time and temp difference using the Mealthy CrispLid?
Hi Anne. Everything should be the same. Crisp to your desired texture. Jill
Will try for sure,thanks Jill
Thanks, Stella. Jill
Crispy, golden brown and the sauce is spectacular. We make these about once a month! Yum!
Thank you so much, Marg. I am glad you enjoy my recipe. Jill
Great recipe.potatoe starch great have a family member with gluten issues these were great!!!? Looking forward to more air fryer recipes.thank you!
Love this recipe! So darn good – definitely a favorite with my family. Thank you for sharing Jill!
Thank you so much, Eileen. I am glad you enjoyed the wings. Jill
How would you adjust the cooking time to make this recipe with chicken legs? Thanks for this great recipe!
I would just watch the chicken and cook until there is no pink running out of the legs. Then up the temp for a couple of minutes.
These were nice. Couldn’t decide between this one and the bang bang chicken wings so made both and wasnt disappointed.
I followed the recipe exactly using my air fryer for the first time. The wings turned out great and the honey garlic sauce was very tasty. We used the sauce as a dip instead of all over the chicken. I think the potato starch made for a very nice crunchy coating. Will definitely make this again.
These were my first attempt to cook in my air fryer and they turned out perfectly! Everyone loved them. I cooked them longer because they were partially frozen, but they were awesome! Love the potato starch. So crispy!
Thank you for suggesting the potato starch. We had tried flour and it was a FLOP! The potato starch made a huge difference and was delicious! I couldn’t find any around here but ordered it from Amazon! Deelish!
Hi Kami. I am glad you enjoyed the wings. The starch is the key for air fryer recipes. Jill
Great Wings!!! Love this recipe added a touch of HOT SAUCE! Yummy
Would rice flour work? Also, I have the air fryer oven, the one with the shelves. Have you ever tried it?
Thank you, Jill! Terrific results – we used our brand-new GoWISE USA 5.8 qt. air fryer and the wings were deliciously crispy using potato starch. The sauce took a bit longer than 20 minutes (perhaps we had the heat too low) – at 20 minutes, the butter was still separate from the honey, but after about 40 minutes, it was well-integrated and syrupy.
I was a bit nervous to do more than 10 pieces at a time (which fit in an even layer on the bottom of the basket). But you said that you’ve done 16 pieces in your 3.7 qt. air fryer, so maybe I’ll take the risk and do more in one batch next time. Do you ever use perforated parchment paper on the bottom of the basket?
I have an observation/question for you: the 50-recipe cookbook that came with the air fryer has recipes for Honey Lime Chicken Wings and Spicy Fried Chicken that only take 9 minutes total for the wings (at 350 degrees) and 18 minutes for the drumsticks (at 390 degrees for 10 minutes and 300 degrees for 8 minutes). Your recipe for wings was 25 minutes at 380 degrees plus 5-10 minutes at 400 degrees. Do you really find that it’s necessary to cook your wings for that long?
I like very crispy wings. Re parchment paper, it depends on what you are cooking. For instance, I would not do the fries on parchment. Jill
What do you have against using flour????
Please give my 20 really very good reasons
why your are so adamantly against the use of it
to fry chicken.
You are welcome to do you own testing. Jill
Does this work with chicken breast?
Would this recipe work with chicken breast? I’m wondering if the potato starch would stick to the breast like it does the wing since there’s no skin on it.
Thanks! By the way I tried out this recipe with the wings and it’s the best with potato starch, you are right!!
Looks good to me I’ll try it.
HI, I want to make these for a party ahead of time. Do you think I could put them in a crock pot to stay warm or do you think they will get too soggy?
They will become soggy in a slow cooker.
Where do you find the potato starch? It looks so inviting to sink my teeth into. Thanks Peggy
I link to it in the recipe. Jill
LOVE THE RECIPE FOR THE GARLIC HONEY WINGS! JUST TRIED TONIGHT AND NOW I CAN’T WAIT TO MAKE TIGHTEN AGAIN.
These sound great! Going to make them today for the Super Bowl
Is potato starch the same as potato flour?
No, Juleen. Jill
Hi Jill,
Thanks for the hint. My first chicken with the Philip air fryer turned out great. I looked at lots of recipe, and I think yours. Y far is the best. However, I toss them in lemon pepper and honey busier sauce. Love them. Thanks again.
Tiffany
Where do you buy potato starch?
Hi Pat. In the recipe, if you click on the potato starch link, it will take you right to Amazon to purchase. The price is very reasonable. Jill
You, my dear lady, are a genius! Fairy dust indeed. That is the most amazing coating ever. I did not use the sauce, I love wings, just not saucy wings. The Mr. and I prefer to just dip in good ol’ fashion blue cheese with hot sauce. I did marinate overnight in milk and Badia complete seasoning and added seasoning to the potato starch. They were beyond expectation. My for ever go to recipe. Still not a health food, but so much better for you than frying in oil. I will never need to go out for wings again. The best ones ever are right here at home – thanks to your genius addition of potato starch to my kitchen.
Thanks, Suzanne. The “sauce” for this, really is not a sauce as it completely sticks to the wings, more of a coating. If you love wings and garlic, I’d love it if you would add the coating. Jill
Hi Jill,
I just ordered the secret ingredient through your link and can’t wait to try this. I have been experimenting with cooking wings sous vide first and then finishing in the air fryer to crisp. Do you think that would work here, and if so how much time should I adjust for since the meat is already cooked? (And does that merit increasing the temperature?)
could I use corn starch instead of potato starch?
I have not tried the cornstarch for this recipe. Jill
I used cornstarch and they came out nice and crispy
For the first time last night, I made chicken wings in an air fryer. I was too lazy to make my own sauce so I used a bottled bbq sauce. This technique developed by Jill was absolutely perfect to achieve crispy, decadent wings. The potato starch truly is the key, it’s like coating your chicken wings in fairy dust, it’s so light and airy. I used a little more than a pound of chicken wings, 12 pieces, and I cooked them for 30 minutes (they were not frozen), shaking every five minutes. Also, knowing I wasn’t using the flavorful sauce in the recipe, I seasoned my chicken prior to coating the wings in the potato starch. I’m kind of a chicken wing snob, and truly, these were the best to come out of my kitchen. Thank you, This Old Gal, for all the time and research you put into each of your recipes, they always are amazing!
Hi Pam. Fairy Dust, I love that and it fits perfectly. I am so glad you enjoyed the wings. We are having these for dinner tonight. We love the extra crunch that the Fairy Dust gives the wings. Jill
This was my first recipe in my new air fryer and oh my heaven these wings were so delicious! That potato starch flour really made them crisp up perfectly! I ended up eating many without the honey garlic drizzle, but it too was delish! Thank you for this recipe and the tip about seasoning the basket!
Hi Charles. I am so glad you enjoyed these wings. We love them too. Jill
Made this tonight and was a hit with the family. Thanks for the step by step instructions with pictures. Sauce was a bit sweet so I added a teaspoon of soy sauce. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks for sharing your secret, although I normally do use potato starch for traditional frying, I’m new to air frying.
Love your recipe… at least the part with the potato starch. I’ve made wings twice and each time they have turned out perfect.
My only variation since I was using BBQ sauce was to add 1 tsp each of onion powder, garlic powder and Hungarian paprika. Also added 1/2 tsp of Cayenne pepper. 30 minutes at 360 shaking about every minutes .
Thanks and to anyone who hasn’t tried it, give it a try… you will love the results.
Amazing, amazing … AMAZING!!
(And I don’t even eat chicken wings!) .. I did double the sauce.
Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks, Tami. Did you make a double batch of wings too? Jill
Thanks for how you did it it turned out perfect
Susan, yay, wonderful! Glad you enjoyed. Jill
Thank you for this recipe! I will definitely be trying it. Do you think I would be able to use corn starch instead of potato starch? I already have this in my pantry, Thanks!
I made these earlier in the week and they were delicious. I changed the sauce just a little by adding some BBQ sauce, pouring it over the wings, then returning to airpot for a few minutes. The sauce carmelized and was perfect!! My sweetie took some to work and shared with a friend, who now wants a whole plate full for himself!
Can I use corn starch instead of potato starch? I don’t have any on hand and I don’t live in town.
Thanks!
Wow!!! I went to college in Buffalo and wings became the sixth food group for us. Having made wings ever since at home I replied on messy vats of oil. I was skeptical of cooking with air, Air?! really?! but with the potato starch secret (and my own special sauce), OMG, amazing, nice and crispy! And so much easier with minimal cleanup. Thanks so much for the tip! Life changing! ( :
Hi Mike~
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe. 🙂 It is amazing, I agree. We love using air fryers in this house.
Jill
These wings are amazing! Thank you!
I’m about to use your recipe for the wings.
Can’t find potato starch
Is there a substitute
Should the wings be cooked from frozen or thawed? Thanks.
These wings were absolutely delicious! I didn’t have potato starch so I substituted corn starch and they came out delicious. Love my new Air Fryer and this recipe it was perfect! Thanks a bunch for sharing!
Jill, just confirming – is it 1/4 cup of honey as indicated in the recipe or 1 cup as stated in one of the comments above? And is the butter to honey ratio the same?
Jill, both the honey and the butter failed to list the units. I’m assuming cups. Is this correct? These wings sound delicious, and I’m looking forward to trying them.
Sorry, now that I look at it again, I see that the butter does include the cup unit. Am I correct in assuming that the honey is also in cup unit?
Susan, I am sorry. It is corrected. One cup of honey! I am so glad you are making this and hope you let me know your opinion.
Jill
I thought you might like to know a secret I remember hearing about getting the sauce to adhere to the wings. Place sauce in a tupperware container and dump wings into sauce. Shake gently and BURP the lid. Shake again. The burping is suppose to cause the sauce to absorb into the wing a little. It seems to work.
I usually bake mine using baking powder (can’t have potato starch). They turn out amazing but take an hour. I’m still waiting for my AF to be delivered…but am going to try this!
The recipe says 1/4 honey. Is it 1/4 cup? Thank you.
Superb website you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any discussion boards that cover the same topics discussed in this article? I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get feedback from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Thanks! good website Maryann good website portal
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ThisOldGalAirFryerGroup/?ref=bookmarks
Would this still work without the potato starch? wouldn’t the chicken get crispy on it’s own?
Just bought my airfryer & this will be my first recipe.
Alex, the chicken wings will crisp up, but you won’t have the wonderful crunch you get with the potato starch. It really makes a huge difference.
Jill
Do you think these would be good in the instant pot, skipping the crunchy coating and using your method for your buffalo wings?
Hi Lindsey~
There is a Pressure Cooker Honey Garlic Wing recipe on the blog already. For this recipe, you could cook the wings, crisp them and then add the syrupy sauce. So, yes, you can do it as you asked.
Jill
Loved these. Just got my go wise turbo and am glad to make something so successful for one of my first attempts. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Linda~
Congrats on your new air fryer. So happy that you loved these wings. We had them last night. It’s my new favorite wing recipe.
Jill
Hi Jill. I belong to most of your groups. Have 8 qt. Teal PPC xl, Large Power Air fryer and full set of Copper Chef. Saw this recipe for the Honey Garlic Chicken Wings which sounds so good.
I just bought a bag of the “secret ingredient”. My local Market Basket market sells “chowder fish” (mostly cod and haddock end pieces, some quite large) for $2.99 a pound. Awesome deal since I usually pan fry or bake pieces with bread crumbs.
Do you know if I can use the “secret ingredient” on this fish in my air fryer? Thank you.
Love all your recipes. Can’t wait to make this chicken now that I have “all” the ingredients. Have never used it before.
Hi Anne~
Potato Starch is so good on the fish you mention and will give it a terrific crunch. I can’t wait for you to try this recipe. It took the place of my other favorite wing recipe.
I am so happy that you are in my groups. 🙂
Jill
Thanks Jill. Will try it on the fish tonight.
Ok. What went wrong. Coated fish with the potato starch, put in air fryer. Over done, still white with starch. Did I miss a step somewhere?Definitely not brown and crispy. Kind of white and yucky.
Anne, did you shake off the potato starch before putting it in the air fryer? Did you spritz it with oil? The fish has no oil, like chicken wings, so you need to spritz with oil.
Jill
Ok, Thanks. I did shake off excess starch but did not spritz with oil. Would “Pam” be ok to use? Not sure what temperature I should use either for the fish. The are sort of thin like fillets, but since it’s considered “chowder fish” size varies. New to this air fryer thing. Going to buy chicken wings tomorrow. My local Price Rite store is advertising a bag of frozen wings at 4 lbs. for $5.99. My Market Basket has them at $10.99. Going to Price Rite.
Hi
I tried this but saw parts cooked and other areas still have white potato starch on it. Is there something I am missing?
Hi JB~
Did you shake off the excess potato starch before placing them in the air fryer? Did you shake the basket, so everything was cooked? How many wing parts did you use and in what size air fryer?
Jill
Hi I just got 5.8qt air fryer from evine. I did this with chicken tenderloin strips. I did not shake excess starch. I guess I may have try to put too much starch on it because I tried to cover every part of chicken with starch. I guess I should shake out any excess. Do you think dipping with egg would help too? I am thinking maybe I should dip in egg and then potato starch. Really enjoying my air fryer- inside is tender and outside crispy. Inserting bowl back in is painful as it won’t slide in easily – I was tempted to return it because of that. But food is so good and so I am still trying to figure the right angle to insert bowl back in.
I want to order one but I’m scared it might not work for me I need to start eating healthy and plus I’m so old to cook with all kinds of pans
I love that you use Potato Starch making this gluten free…. thanks
Hi Fawn~
Thanks so much for your comment. I love using Potato Starch, rather than flour. The taste is so much better.
Jill
Jill, I used the potato starch for my chicken wings last night. What a great tip. I decided to use a dry spice blend instead of the honey garlic. I was making them for an evening party and didn’t want them to be too messy. I will absolutely do the honey garlic butter the next time hubby and I have wings, which will probably be soon. I think I’m hooked on wings! I received my 5.8 qt GoWise a few days ago, and so far I’m impressed. I had a little trouble reinserting the drawer when I was cooking the wings. I found that if I tipped the front of the drawer up a little, that it didn’t catch so much. I think it’s a user error thing. I also filled the basket quite full (maybe 25 to 30) winglets, so the cooking time was about 40 minutes all together, but they were a hit at the party. Thanks for all you do! I’ll be talking to you on fb soon, I’m sure. Have a great weekend.
Hi Nancy~
So glad you like your new air fryer and the wings! We are hooked on wings too. It’s Friday, so that is what is for dinner tonight.
The drawer can be difficult. It is not user error. I think the design is a bit flawed. The smaller air fryer has no issues and they probably should have used a track to help with insertion of the drawer.
Jill
Sounds so good
Hi Linda~
Thank you so much! Let me know if you make these.
Jill