Air fryer honey buffalo wings are delicious, extra crispy chicken wings with a sticky, sweet, and spicy sauce. These air-fried buffalo wings are made with simple ingredients and make a large batch. Perfect on an appetizer or wing platter with your favorite blue cheese or ranch dressing.
If you like wings, you will love these honey buffalo chicken wings. These delicious wings are extra crispy, with a sticky honey buffalo sauce. They are milder than traditional buffalo wings but still have a nice heat.
Serve them with ranch or blue cheese dip and other wings like savory parmesan garlic wings or air-fried tequila lime wings.
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We love chicken wings in our house, and we love trying different flavor variations.
These crispy wings in a spicy honey buffalo sauce are one of our favorite recipes.
These wings have a sweeter, milder flavor than traditional buffalo wings but still pack enough heat to be called hot wings.
These wings are coated in flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and spices before being tossed into the air fryer. The result is an extra crisp chicken wing that hangs onto the yummy hot wing sauce.
The sauce ingredients are three simple ingredients; you can make as much or as little as you want. Extra sauce can be kept served on the side or stored in the refrigerator for a later date.
You can serve these honey hot wings on a platter with various appetizers and wings for appetizer night or football parties or serve them as a main meal with a salad or fries. Add a dish of blue cheese, ranch dressing, or a platter of carrot and celery sticks to help cool things down.
This makes a large batch of wings perfect for serving a crowd or saving the leftovers for lunch the next day.
Ingredients & Substitutions
For a full list of ingredients and measurements, see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
For the Wings
Split Chicken Wings – You will want about 2 pounds of chicken wings, with the wing tips removed. In our family, we do a mixture of flats and drumettes, but you can do all drumettes or all flats if you prefer.
You can leave them whole if you don’t want to do chicken wing sections. We also like to do chicken drumsticks if you want a more substantial meal.
For the Seasoning
These wings are coated in flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and seasonings. Combining these ingredients will give your wings that extra crispy texture you are after.
Spicy Honey Buffalo Sauce
Honey – We use regular liquid honey for our sauce, but you can use a flavored variety such as hot honey if you want to add an extra kick.
Hot Sauce – We choose to use Frank’s Red Hot when making our honey buffalo wing sauce, but you can use a different sauce.
Butter – The butter helps make the sauce smooth and also thickens it, which helps it coat the wings.
Step by Step Instructions
Season and Cook the Wings
Mix the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and chili powder in a small bowl.
Place the wings in a large bowl and toss with half the flour mixture. Wait 5 minutes, then add the rest of the flour mixture and toss again.
Place the seasoned wings in a single layer in the air fryer basket and spritz with olive oil spray. Cook the wings at 380°F for 23-25 minutes, shaking or turning the wings halfway through.
The wings are done when they are golden brown and crispy. An instant-read thermometer should read 165°F when inserted into the thickest drumette.
Pro Tip: Double-flouring the wings takes a bit more time, but this is my favorite method because it makes the wings extra crispy and delicious. The extra crispiness is worth the extra five minutes!
Make the Hot Honey Buffalo Sauce
While the wings are cooking, make the sauce. Add the sauce ingredients to a medium saucepan and simmer over low heat until the honey and butter are melted. Whisk until smooth.
Sauce the Wings
When the wings have finished cooking, transfer them to a large bowl. Pour the honey hot sauce over the wings and toss to coat. Add as much or as little sauce as you like. Then, transfer the wings to a platter and serve.
Serving Suggestions
These hot honey chicken wings are great on an appetizer platter, can be eaten as a snack, or can serve as the protein portion of your meal.
They are delicious party wings and perfect for football season. Serve them on a wing platter with garlic parmesan wings or habanero hot wings for various flavors and heat levels.
They also go great with other appetizers, such as buffalo chicken wontons, air-fried bacon wrapped chicken strips, or air fryer cheeseburger egg rolls.
As a meal, you can’t go wrong with a simple salad, baked potato, or even some creamy jalapeno mac & cheese.
I always like to serve wings with a side of dip such as ranch or blue cheese dressing, and extra sauce.
Storing Leftovers
We recommend that these wings be eaten the same day they are made. But if you have leftovers, they can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should keep for about three days.
Leftovers can be enjoyed cold, or you can pop them in the air fryer at 350°F for 5-6 minutes to warm them up.
Top Tips & FAQS
- The double flouring takes a bit more time but is 100% worth the wait for extra crispy chicken wings.
- Don’t stack the air fryer basket too full. A bit of overlap is fine, but a full basket will prevent the wings from crisping, which may stick together.
You can reheat these wings in the microwave, oven, or air fryer. To reheat in the air fryer, set the temperature to 350°F and heat the wings for 5-6 minutes or until they reach the desired temperature. If they have been previously coated in sauce, keep an eye on them, as the honey in the sauce will burn if heated too long.
More Air Fryer Wing Recipes
Printable Recipe
Air Fryer Honey Hot Buffalo Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings split
- 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Honey Buffalo Sauce
- ½ cup hot sauce like Frank's Red Hot
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Place the chicken wings in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, garlic powder, chili powder, and smoked paprika.
- Sprinkle half the flour mixture over the wings and toss to coat. Rest for 5 minutes, then add the remaining flour and toss again.
- Place the wings in a single layer in the air fryer basket and place the basket in the air fryer. Set the temperature to 380°F and cook the wings for 23-25 minutes until crisp and cooked through. Shake the basket a couple of times during the cooking process to ensure even cooking.
- Avoid crowding the basket and work in batches if necessary.
- While the wings are cooking, make the sauce.
For the Honey Hot Sauce
- Add the hot sauce, honey, and butter to a small pot. Heat on low heat until the honey and butter are melted. Whisk until smooth.This can also be done in a microwave. Place the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup and heat for about 30 seconds to melt the honey and butter. Whisk until smooth.
Sauce the Wings
- Remove the cooked wings from the air fryer and place them in a large bowl.
- Pour the sauce over the wings and toss to coat. You can add as much or as little as you like.
- Move the wings to a platter to serve with extra sauce and your favorite dip.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.