Reheating Chicken Wings In An Air Fryer – The Ultimate Guide
Do you know how to reheat chicken wings in the air fryer? Today’s guide will help you perfectly reheat these delicious meaty treats so that you never have to deal with dry or bland wings again!
For more guides on preparing and cooking chicken wings, check out this guide on How Long To Bake Chicken Wings At 400 and Chicken Wings Internal Temperature. And you can also try my delicious Air-Fried Chicken Wings recipe.
Everything You Need To Know
An air fryer is truly one of my all-time favorite appliances. It makes incredibly delicious food, works very efficiently, saves you a ton of cooking time, and can create many different textures using one machine.
Many people don’t realize that an air-fryer reheats food a lot better than nearly any other appliance. An oven works great and retains the flavor and texture of the food relatively well. However, it takes a long time to preheat and even longer to heat the food.
A microwave, on the other hand, will save you a ton of time. But, it can dry out dishes or cause them to become soggy.
An air fryer has the best of both! It can reheat your food while keeping its tender, juicy, and even crispy texture. And it doesn’t take a very long time to preheat or reheat the food.
That being said, there are some factors that will affect, well, the effectiveness of the reheating process.
A very important rule is to never overcrowd the air frying basket. This will cause the food to take longer to heat, potentially cause it to reheat unevenly, and could ruin the originally intended texture completely.
Furthermore, an air fryer works EXTREMELY WELL. It can very quickly distribute very high heat. When reheating food, make sure to keep an eye on it so you don’t end up burning it or drying it out. And trust me, it can happen in a blink of an eye!
Can You Reheat Frozen Wings?
Yes, but as with all whole (unprocessed) chicken products, it’s best to thaw the meat first.
The same goes for drumsticks, thighs, breasts, and any other chicken cut.
And another VERY important rule: you cannot re-freeze (and re-heat) products that have already been thawed and cooked. So, if you cooked frozen chicken nuggets, you cannot freeze them again. That obviously also means that you cannot reheat them (from frozen). But you can reheat leftover refrigerated chicken nuggets.
Bottom line: it is possible to reheat chicken wings in an air fryer that has been previously cooked. But not if they were cooked from frozen in the first place.
How To Reheat Wings In Air Fryer
This is my quick guide for reheating wings in an air fryer. It’s quick and extremely easy. But you still have to check if they are properly heated before just removing them from the air fryer.
Step 1: Prepare the air fryer
First, preheat the fryer to 360ºF (180ºC). If you have crumbed chicken wings (which aren’t very common), you can put the fryer on the “air-fry” setting. This will help retain the crispy texture of the crumb coating.
If you have regularly baked, roasted, fried, or grilled wings (no crumb coating), you can use the “bake” setting.
Don’t worry too much if your air fryer doesn’t have different settings. The only difference that they make has to do with the reheating times.
You can also line the bottom of the air frying basket with parchment paper or foil. Don’t use any of these if you want to retain the crumb coating. They limit air circulation.
Step 2: Add the chicken wings
Next, add the wings in a single layer inside the basket. Don’t overcrowd the basket. If you add too many wings, they won’t reheat evenly or effectively.
Step 3: Reheat the wings in an air fryer
Finally, leave the chicken wings to reheat for roughly 5-7 minutes in total.
When about 3-4 minutes have elapsed, turn over all of the wings. This will just help heat them more evenly, but it’s not a necessary step.
Step 4: Serve
When you have tested that the inside of the wings is properly heated, remove them from the air fryer and place them on a serving board or plate.
Let the chicken wings rest for a few minutes before you serve them. This will help rest the meat and make it retain more juice. Again, it’s not a crucial step, but it often helps make the chicken wings a lot better.
How To Heat Frozen Wings In An Air Fryer
If you are reheating chicken wings that are frozen (essentially cooking them), you can either follow the package instructions or use my method.
First, thaw the wings slowly for a few hours or overnight. You can keep them in their package or place them inside an air-tight container. Make sure to place the container or package on a baking tray or cookie sheet. It will catch the condensation and make a lot less mess in the fridge.
Once thawed, you can use the exact same technique I’ve listed above. The reheating times are also more or less the same.
FAQs
Virtually all chicken wings will take between 5-7 minutes to effectively reheat. If you use a lower temperature, they will take longer. And, if you are working with bigger-than-average wings, they may also take slightly longer.
The best way to avoid dry chicken when you reheat any cut is to use the right temperature, don’t heat the meat for too long and don’t overcrowd the pan. Adding too much chicken to the basket will cause the heating time to increase. At the same time, some pieces will dry out while others aren’t fully heated yet.
Once you have reheated leftover chicken wings, you cannot restore them again. You have one opportunity only. And you have to eat the wings immediately.
