Instant Pot Chicken Wings Recipe

If you’re craving fall-off-the-bone tender chicken but don’t want oily take-outs anymore, this Instant Pot chicken wings recipe will be worth a try!

Covered in a delicious hot buffalo sauce and then air-fried to crispy perfection, today’s chicken dish is a perfect choice for a quick dinner and for International Chicken Wing Day (29th July). The pressure cooking method helps lock up all the necessary fat and moisture to get crispy tender wings ready on the table in half the time of oven-roasting.

Finally, we’ll finish the chicken in the air fryer to add nice crisp edges. The accompanying buffalo sauce and mayo dip will make everyone at the table lick their fingers clean!

Is It Healthy to Cook Chicken Wings in the Instant Pot?

With no breading or frying batter required in this recipe, we believe the answer is yes.

These Instant Pot chicken wings provide an essential source of protein for your meal while adhering to keto and low-carb diets. Slathered in the hot buffalo sauce and then fried to crisp perfection, these wings taste just like the deep-fried version but much lighter on calories, fat, and cholesterol.

After pressure cooking, we use the air-fryer to round off a similar texture and flavor of deep-fried foods. As a result, the chicken is roasted to tender without a bunch of extra cooking oil.

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There’s also a minimal amount of buffalo sauce and mayo per serving, so it’s nothing to worry about.

Though this dish may seem a little labor-intensive to make, you’ll be rewarded with wings that are juicier and healthier than deep-fried or oven-baked ones. Everything is done within a 40-minute cooking session, guaranteeing that your dinner will come just in time for the hungry stomachs.

And while we’re at it, our air fryer chicken wings is another dish with buffalo sauce as a side dip, where you’ll also get both the air fryer and chicken wings in one recipe.

Main Ingredients

1. Chicken Wings

In today’s recipe, we will pressure cook the chicken wings in the Instant Pot and finish them in the air-fryer. The combination of these two cooking methods will give you chicken wings that are as crispy as take-outs.

Also, as this recipe can work with either fresh or frozen chicken wings, you will no longer have to plan on thawing them the night before.

Before starting, we suggest taking a quick 5-minute step to trim off loose skin on the chicken for the sauce and seasonings to stick better on the wings later. The skin helps lock up a bit of moisture and fat to keep the chicken wings juicy and tender, so it’s better not to cut it out completely.

2. The Buffalo Sauce

After steaming, the chicken wings are tossed with buffalo sauce and a mix of seasonings, then fried to perfectly crisp. In the background, the honey balances the hot buffalo sauce, the garlic adds a light tang, while the paprika and cayenne work together to create a nice smoky flavor.

Due to the addition of the buffalo sauce, these wings are mildly spicy. Feel free to adjust the amount of buffalo sauce according to your tolerance for spicy foods.

Although buffalo sauce is the most common choice for chicken wings, sometimes, a combination of sauces can add some more depth to your dish. Besides hot sauce (all types labeled for wings), consider adding some BBQ sauce, teriyaki, or cheese sauce to the coating mixture.

To add a little kick to the chicken, feel free to switch up the flavors. For example, you can also add butter to tone down the spiciness and help the sauce adhere to the wings.

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How to Store and Reheat

Instant Pot chicken wings can keep well in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. After that, you can reheat cooked chicken wings either in the oven, air fryer, or microwave.

There are plenty of reheating methods, each with distinct advantages and disadvantagesReheating chicken in the oven will most likely bring out the best result.

What to Serve With

Our Instant Pot chicken wings are served hot out of the air fryer with a side dish and tasty fruit juice. We also prepared some raw carrot and celery sticks to dip in mayo for refreshment.

1. Air Fryer Potato Wedges

Our air fryer potato wedges are just like your favorite fried wedges at the restaurant — only a lot crispier with much less fat!

Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, these potato wedges save you more calories while still offering the appetizing crisp edges and perfectly seasoned flavors. They’re undoubtedly the perfect choice to balance out the spicy chicken.

2. Cucumber and Lemon Juice

Cucumber and lemon juice is one of our top-notch favorite summer drinks. It makes a refreshing beverage to overflow your body with nutrients and keep you hydrated at the same time.

This drink requires only four ingredients and three simple steps. It’s a perfect choice to either start your day or end your meal!

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Easy Instant Pot Dishes We Didn't Think Possible, But Were

This dish is equally as flavorful and glamorous as what you would order in an Italian restaurant: the tender, perfectly -seared chicken, and sweet, earthy, brown mushrooms. They’re all smothered in a creamy wine sauce and served over a bed of pasta.

Another dish we didn’t think was Instant Pot-friendly was Pad Thai, but it was good. The pot allows us to recreate the exact flavor while reducing cooking time and effort. The end result is this easy 20-minute recipe!

Instant Pot Chicken Wings Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Craving fall-off-the-bone tender chicken but don't want oily take-outs anymore? This Instant Pot chicken wings recipe will be worth a try! The chicken wings are covered in a delicious hot buffalo sauce and then air-fried to crispy perfection — absolutely a perfect choice for a family dinner.

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• cook TIME 35 mins
• prep TIME 5 mins
• total TIME 40 mins

• COURSE Main Course
• CUISINE American
• SERVINGS
  4

  servings
• CALORIES 491 kcal

INGREDIENTS

1x2x3x

• 32 oz skin-on bone-in chicken wings
• 4 oz carrots (julienned)
• 4 oz celery (julienned)
• 1/2 cup unsalted chicken broth
• 3 tbsp homemade buffalo sauce
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
• 1 tsp coriander (chopped)

INSTRUCTIONS

Image instructions

1

Add 1/2 cup unsalted chicken broth to the Instant Pot. Place a steamer basket inside the pot and arrange 32 oz chicken wings in it. Cook on the “Meat/Stew” setting for 12 minutes.

2

Quick-release the pressure and remove the chicken to a clean plate. Set aside.

3

Make the buffalo sauce: Add 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1/8 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp freshly chopped thyme, 1/2 tsp honey, and 3 tbsp buffalo sauce to the pot. Cook everything on the “Sauté” setting for 1 minute.

4

In a small bowl, whisk 2 tsp all-purpose flour in 2 tbsp water.

5

Add the flour-water mixture to the Instant Pot. Continue to cook for 7 minutes until the sauce thickens.

6

Toss the chicken wings with the buffalo sauce to coat evenly.

7

Add the coated chicken wings to the air fryer, fry at 375℉ for 7 minutes.

8

While waiting, make the dip: In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp sour cream, and 1 tsp freshly chopped coriander.

9

Remove the chicken wings from the air-fryer. Enjoy them hot with the mayo dip on the side, and 4 oz carrot and 4 oz celery sticks as dippers.

NUTRITION

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot Chicken Wings Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 491Calories from Fat 315

% Daily Value*

Fat 35g

54%

Saturated Fat 9g

56%

Polyunsaturated Fat 5g

Monounsaturated Fat 13g

Cholesterol 232mg

77%

Sodium 523mg

23%

Potassium 596mg

17%

Carbohydrate 7g

2%

Fiber 221g

921%

Sugar 4g

4%

Protein 37g

74%

Vitamin A 5312IU

106%

Vitamin C 20mg

24%

Calcium 58mg

6%

Iron 2mg

11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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