The Latent Larder

Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken Wings

No oil bath and no oven preheat — just a hot basket and a sticky garlic glaze that clings instead of pooling.

Serves
4
Prep
10 min
Cook
25 min
Written
Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken Wings

Method

  1. Pat the wings dry, then toss with the salt and pepper.

  2. Arrange in a single layer in the air fryer basket, without crowding, and cook at 380°F for 12 minutes.

  3. Flip and cook until deep golden and crisp at the edges, another 10 to 12 minutes.

  4. While the wings finish, combine the garlic, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a small saucepan and simmer, whisking, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes.

  5. Toss the hot wings in the glaze until fully coated and serve right away with scallions and sesame seeds.

Notes

The cornstarch is what keeps this from turning into a syrupy puddle at the bottom of the bowl — without it the honey just runs off the skin. Simmer the glaze only until it coats a spoon; much past that and it seizes into taffy when it hits the cool wings.

Work in two batches if your basket holds less than a single layer. Crowded wings steam instead of crisping, and there’s no rack trick here to save them the way there is in the oven.