Crispy air-fryer chicken wings with blue cheese sauce

These crispy air-fryer chicken wings have got the crispiest chicken skin I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating, but the actual chicken still remains moist and juicy. And I’ve got not one, but two great sauces to serve with them. The first is a deliciously creamy blue cheese dipping sauce, and the second is a spicy chilli and garlic glaze to slather over the wings when they come out of the air-fryer.

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My new toy

It’s lovely being a Mum on Mother’s Day, especially when your son decides to spoil you with a state-of-the-art air-fryer oven! It’s something I’ve always wanted but didn’t feel I could justify the cost. I always felt that an air-fryer was just another gimmicky kitchen gadget that would end up gathering dust in the furthest corner of the kitchen cupboard once the novelty of using it had worn off. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

I’ve only had it for 2 weeks, and I’ve already used it to make french fries, sweet potato fries and meat pasties (recipes to be added soon). I’ve also used it for defrosting my crusty German bread rolls which I put into the freezer last week after I’d finished testing the recipe. They literally defrosted and crisped up in 5 minutes – and tasted as though they’d been freshly baked!

But my favourite creation so far in this amazing new air-fryer has to be these crispy chicken wings. The skin is so crispy that you can actually hear it crunch as you bite into them, but the inside is soft and juicy and full of flavour. And they only took 15 minutes to make! I think you can now safely say I’m absolutely hooked on this new toy!

If you don’t have an air-fryer oven, don’t worry – you can make these wings in a conventional air-fryer (with a basket) too!

Two fabulous chicken wing sauces

The basic recipe for the crispy air-fryer chicken wings is simple. Sprinkle the wings with a mixture of salt and paprika and put them into the air-fryer to cook. That’s all you have to do.

However, I do think you CAN improve on perfection, so I’ve come up with 2 different sauces that I think you’ll love – they complement the chicken wings perfectly.

You don’t have to make both of these sauces, it depends on how you want to serve the wings. The blue cheese sauce is perfect for dipping, but if you prefer a sticky glaze on your wings then I would recommend the Durky sauce.

Of course, if you don’t fancy these sauces you could always make my Jack Daniels dipping sauce instead!

Blue cheese dipping sauce

The first is a deliciously creamy blue cheese dipping sauce that you can mix up in less than 5 minutes and I’ve got 2 different variations of it for you.

There’s no cooking involved in either of these blue cheese sauce recipes. Both of them take only 4 ingredients – the first is blue cheese (or Stilton), sour cream, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce and the second is blue cheese, soft cream cheese, Greek yoghurt and garlic. You can decide for yourself which of them you prefer.

Spur copycat Durky sauce (bonus extra recipe!)

The second sauce is my version of Durky sauce which is served in Spur steakhouses all over South Africa. Durky sauce is a spicy chilli and garlic sauce that goes so well with either steak or chicken. It’s sweet and tangy all at the same time and once you start eating it you can’t stop.

You can buy Durky sauce on Amazon, but it’s so easy to make that I thought I’d share my version with you. It is absolutely delicious when smothered over the chicken wings as they come out of the air-fryer or even poured over a steak. But keep plenty of serviettes handy if you try this sauce on your chicken wings – you’ll need them for wiping your sticky fingers.

So without further ado, let’s get on with the recipes.

What you will need

Equipment

Obviously an air-fryer! This is a link to my air-fryer oven, but you can use a normal air-fryer with a basket instead. If you are in the market for an air-fryer, I would really recommend getting the largest one you can afford – you will be able to do so much more with it.

For the blue cheese sauce you will need a small mixing bowl and for the Durky sauce you will need a saucepan.

Ingredients

**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making these crispy air-fryer chicken wings and the sauces on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

This recipe will make sufficient wings for 2 to 3 people as a main meal or for 4 to 6 people as a starter / snack.

Chicken wings – you should cut the wing-tip away, and either discard it or use it to make chicken stock. Then cut through the joint to separate the wing into 2 pieces. If you prefer not to separate the wings, that’s absolutely fine. I just think they are easier to eat if they are separated before being cooked. I used 450 grams (1 pound) of chicken wings, which gave me 15 whole wings, separated into 30 pieces.

Paprika and salt – for flavouring

Blue cheese dipping sauce – version 1

Blue cheese – also known as Stilton.

Sour cream – this is sold as sour cream in the supermarkets, NOT cream that has turned sour in the refrigerator.

Lemon juice – you can use bottled lemon juice or squeeze fresh from a lemon.

Worcestershire sauce – to provide a slightly salty element.

Blue cheese dipping sauce – version 2 (not pictured)

Cream cheese – my favourite brand is Philadelphia, but you can use the supermarket ‘own brand’ instead.

Blue cheese (or Stilton)

Greek Yoghurt – or natural thick yoghurt. Not fruit-flavoured yoghurt.

Garlic granules – I prefer garlic granules (or garlic powder) in this sauce as they dissolve easily. Freshly minced garlic will leave little bits of garlic in the sauce.

Salt and pepper – to taste. I don’t normally add this because the Stilton has enough flavour without the addition of salt and pepper.

Durky sauce

Water – you may wonder why this sauce is made with water rather than stock, but believe me, it works.

Vinegar – half a cup of vinegar may seem like a lot of vinegar to add to a sauce but by the time you’ve added in all the other ingredients you won’t even notice it.

Shallots and garlic – the shallots should be very finely diced, and the garlic minced.

Chilli – for a little heat. You can use finely chopped fresh chilli, or just use ready minced chilli from a jar.

Brown sugar – acts to tone down the taste of the vinegar, and adds a little sweetness.

Tabasco sauce – only add this if you want more heat – it’s optional.

Tomato puree – the original recipe for Durky sauce doesn’t contain tomatoes, but I think that a small amount of tomato puree improves the flavour.

Salt and paprika – for seasoning

Cornflour (or cornstarch) for thickening

What to do

Chicken wings

Preheat your air-fryer to 185C / 365F for 2 minutes.

If you only have a conventional air-fryer, you can arrange the wings in a single layer in the basket. You may have to fry them in batches if they don’t all fit.

Word of warning – baking parchment is quite safe to use in an air-fryer, but don’t use it when pre-heating the oven. You need to have the weight of food on the baking parchment to hold it down or the force of the hot air may blow it around the oven and bring it into contact with the heating element, which may cause it to catch fire.

You don’t have to use baking parchment, but it does catch any drips and makes cleaning up much easier.

Blue cheese sauce

The instructions for both versions of the blue cheese sauce are the same. The images below are for version 1.

Both versions of this blue cheese dipping sauce take around 5 minutes to whip up.

Durky sauce

This sauce takes around 30 minutes to cook, and ideally you should let it stand for a further hour for the flavours to fully come together.

When you are ready to serve it, pour some of the sauce over the wings to coat them, and serve the remainder of the sauce alongside the wings as a dipping sauce.

This sauce can be served either hot or cold (room temperature – not out of the refrigerator).

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Freezing and storage

The chicken wings and the blue cheese sauces are not suitable for freezing.

Durky sauce can be frozen for up to 4 months. To use, defrost it in the refrigerator and then reheat it in a saucepan on the stove.

Pin for later

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Other recipes

If you enjoyed these crispy air-fryer chicken wings, you may also like to try some of my other chicken recipes:

• Sticky chicken skewers
• Crispy chicken wings with barbeque sauce
• Oven-baked peri-peri chicken
• Sesame chicken strips

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