Air fryer chicken wings with pomegranate glaze
By:
Tom Shingler
Head of food, delicious.
- Published: 9 Jan 23
- Updated: 4 Apr 24
Air frying simulates deep frying without the need to submerge food in oil. Once our food team got to grips with theirs, they haven’t looked back, and these chicken wings are just one of the many successes. Sticky and sweet pomegranate molasses coats crispy, just-as-good-as-deep-fried chicken wings, bolstered with the crunch and spice of dukkah. It’s a great recipe, as well as being the perfect starting point for you to come up with your own glazes and spiced dry rubs.
New to air frying? Check out our collection of air fryer recipes.
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Serves 2 (or 4 with sides)
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Hands-on time 20 min, plus marinating
Ingredients
- 500g chicken wings
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Dukkah spice mix to sprinkle (see Know-how)
- 1 spring onion, finely sliced (optional)
For the glaze
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp chilli flakes (or more to taste)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Method
- Each chicken wing has two hinge-like joints, which you need to cut through to prepare them. The smaller wing tips can be cut off and saved in the freezer (they are great for making gravies and stock). Next, bend the wing backwards until it snaps and the joint exposes itself. Cut through the skin and around the joint to create 2 pieces – you now have a ‘flat’ and a ‘drumette’ – you should be able to see why they’re both called that. Put both in a bowl and repeat until all the chicken wings are prepared.
- Toss the prepared wings with the salt, sugar, garlic and baking powder. If you have time they’ll be much crispier and tastier if you can set them out on a wire rack and leave them in the fridge overnight (uncovered) to air dry (see Be A Better Cook) – but just give them as long as you can.
- Heat the air fryer to 200°C. Put the wings back in a bowl and add the oil. Toss again to coat, then arrange in a single layer in the air fryer basket, ideally with some space around each one. Cook for 16 minutes, giving them a good shake and turning halfway through.
- While the wings cook, combine the glaze ingredients in a bowl or small saucepan with a splash of water and a pinch of salt and pepper. If it’s in a bowl, pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds; if it’s in a pan, warm it through on the hob until bubbling. When the chicken wings are cooked, toss them in the glaze to coat, then return them to the air fryer for 2 minutes more to set the glaze. Serve sprinkled with dukkah and, if using, the spring onion.
- Recipe from January 2022 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 643kcals
- Fat
- 40g (8g saturated)
- Protein
- 50.4g
- Carbohydrates
- 20g (12.5g sugars)
- Fibre
- 0.5g
- Salt
- 3.6g
delicious. tips
Adding baking powder to wings helps make them extra crisp – by raising the pH of the chicken skin, it starts breaking it down and helps the browning process to get underway. That, combined with air-drying the wings for as long as possible, ensures a crispy skin without the need for deep-frying.
The wings will be at their best if left in the dry rub overnight (although they’ll still taste great if you need your wings fix right away).
Air fryers work best when the food is in a single, even layer with a bit of space between each piece. You can scale the recipe up and down easily, but work in batches if your air fryer isn’t big enough. We used a 4.2 litre air fryer, which just about fit 500g wings in one go.
Dukkah is a Egyptian mix of spices, seeds and chopped nuts – you can find it in most large supermarkets, delis or online at souschef.co.uk
Buy ingredients online
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