Air Fryer Korean Chicken Wings

Try this easy and delicious air fryer Korean chicken wings recipe! 

Air fried chicken wings are coated with sticky and addictive Korean sauce. You can even choose the flavor you want from two of the most popular Korean fried chicken sauces I will share below!

What’s more it is super easy to make and you can start gobbling them up in less than 30 minutes.

Lastly, you get to enjoy your favorite Korean fried chicken in a healthier way. Let’s get cooking!

Korean Chicken Wings in Air Fryer 

Well made Korean chicken wings are a crowd pleaser. Typically Korean fried chicken is deep fried in oil; Twice to make it extra crispy, but today’s recipe is air fried instead. So people who don’t appreciate deep fried oily chicken can enjoy the Korean fried chicken flavor too.

I have made Korean fried chicken (deep fried) many times using different parts of chicken in the past, but this time I chose chicken wings. That’s because chicken wings are a great cut to cook in an air fryer as wings are naturally greasier parts of chicken. So you don’t even need additional oil to coat.

Korean Chicken Wing Sauce

I have tasted different sauces for Korean fried chicken over the years and these two sauces are most universally known in Korea.

The first one is soy sauce based “Soy Garlic Sauce” and the other one is gochujang and ketchup based “Sweet and Spicy Sauce”.

These sauces are so easy to make. You just need to combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to boil, cool down then brush the sauce over the air fried chicken wings.

This is to minimize the chicken wings getting overly soggy. Coated chicken wings become sticky, very flavorful, and moreish. They will disappear in no time when you serve them.

How to Serve

Typically Korean fried chicken is served with pickled radishes, so they will go well with these air fried chicken wings too. I also think pickled cucumber and lemon, Korean macaroni salad, and corn cheese will make a great companion as well. 

 

Popular Korean Chicken Recipes

Seriously, I think all Korean chicken recipes are so delicious and addictive. If you want to venture out more, check my recipes below!

• Baked Korean Chicken Wings
• Gochujang Chicken
• Chicken Bulgogi

 

Ingredients for Korean Chicken Wings (Serve 4 as an appetizer)

Tools

• air fryer
• cooking spray oil

Chicken & Base Seasonings

• 900g /2 pounds chicken wings
• 2 Tbsp rice wine (mirin)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• A few cracks ground black peppers

Soy Garlic Sauce

(Adapted from my Dakgangjeong: Soy Garlic Popcorn Chicken sauce)

• 3 Tbsp soy sauce, regular
• 2 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp rice wine (mirin)
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 Tbsp minced ginger
• 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
• A few cracks ground black pepper
• (optional) 30g / 1 ounce green onions, white part x2
• (optional) 3 dried chilies
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 2 tsp water

Sweet & Spicy Sauce

(Adapted from my Korean Fried Chicken Sauce)

• 1.5 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp gochujang (Korean chilli paste)
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil

Garnish (Optional)

• sesame seeds
• green onions

* 1 Tbsp = 15 ml, 1 Cup = 250 ml

** Each sauce above is more than enough for 1 kg /2 pounds of chicken wings respectively, so you may have some extra sauce at hand after cooking. This extra can be used as a dipping sauce for those who like extra saucy chicken wings.

How to Make Korean Chicken Wings in Air Fryer

1. In a bowl, place the chicken wings and add rice wine. Mix them well and set aside it for 5 mins.

2. Gently shake off excess liquid from the wings and place them into a clean bowl. (Discard any residual liquid in the bowl from step.1). Add the onion powder, garlic powder, salt, ginger powder, and ground black peppers. Mix them well.

3. Spray some cooking oil onto the air fryer basket. Place the seasoned chicken into the basket without overlapping too much. Set the air fryer temperature at 200 C / 400 F and cook each side for 10 mins or until the chicken wings are crisp and golden brown outside. Just note that the cook time may vary depending on your air fryer.

4. Make your choice of chicken wing sauce following the instructions below.

4.1) Soy garlic sauce

In a sauce pan, combine all sauce ingredients (except for corn starch and water). Bring it to boil over medium low heat while stirring often. Once the sauce starts bubbling, take out (and discard) the chilies and green onion pieces. In a small bowl, combine the corn starch and water. Mix well then pour it over the sauce. Stir often. Once the sauce thickens or turns to glaze (within 1 – 2 mins), remove from the heat and cool down for 3-5 mins.

4.2) Sweet & spicy sauce

In a sauce pan, combine all sauce ingredients. Bring it to boil over medium low heat while stirring often. Once the sauce starts bubbling and thickens (about 4-5 mins), remove from the heat. Cool down the sauce for 3-5 mins.

5. Place the air fried chicken onto a lined sheet pan. Gently coat the chicken with your choice of sauce using a basting brush. Once all the chicken is coated with the sauce, serve. 

Storage and Reheating Tips

One thing these air fried chicken wings are not so good for is storing and reheating. They just don’t taste the same once they get reheated (the chicken wings look sad and shrivelled.) So I suggest you make only as many as you will eat at one seating. However, if you still end up with some leftover chicken wings, they can be refrigerated for a day or two and eaten cold or reheated.

If you want to save some time on cooking, I’d recommend combining the sauce ingredients in an air tight container then store in the fridge. Make the sauce following the instruction above in step 4 at the time of air frying chicken wings. If you make the sauce all the way through in advance and refrigerate, it will thicken a bit too much to baste, particularly for the soy garlic sauce.

 

More Air Fryer Recipes

Do you love your air fryer and want to use it more often? Try some of my air fryer recipes below. They are so delicious and flavorful!

• Air Fryer Chickpeas (Korean BBQ flavor)
• Tuna Patties (Gochujang mayo flavor)

 

Love Korean food? Browse lots more Korean recipes from my easy Korean recipe collections. And subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.