Air fryer sweet and spicy Harissa chicken wings are such an easy delicious light weeknight dinner. We often have wings and a side salad for those nights that you need something in less than 20 minutes.
Air fryer wings are quick and easy. They take 18 minutes to cook and they come out perfect every time. Crispy skin and juicy meat, all tossed in the most delicious sweet and spicy sauce. You will want to lick your fingers clean.
Sweet & Spicy Chicken Wings
These air fryer chicken wings are tossed in the perfect sweet and spicy infusion blend of sauces.
The sweet comes from Hoisin sauce. Hoisin is most commonly used in Cantonese cuisine. It is a thick dark brown sauce that is sweet and salty. Made from soybeans, fennel, red chili peppers and sugar.
The spicy is from using Harissa sauce. Harissa is from Northwest Africa and made from hot chilis, garlic, citrus and warm spices. It comes in different spice levels. Mild will give you a slight hint of hot spice and the Spicy version has much more of a kick. This is the brand I have used and love.
Flats v. Drums
There are two types of people in the world. People who dig into a plate of wings with no reservation and total freedom. The other group stick to either flats or drums. I am a unapologetically a flat only person. If you’re hosting a crowd make sure you have both.
The Perfect Game Day Wings
Make these Air Fryer Sweet and Spicy Harissa Chicken Wings for game day! With the perfect sweet and spicy balance, these saucy wings will impress any crowd. Double the recipe and make 40 wings for your friends, just hit the 2x in the recipe below and it will do the conversion for you! Work in batches so your wings are in a single layer in the air fryer. Go team!
Air Fryer Sweet and Spicy Harissa Chicken Wings
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 16-20 Chicken Wings
- 1 TBSP Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
- ¾ cup Harissa Sauce
- ¼ cup Hoisin Sauce
- 2 TBSP Rice Vinegar
- Sesame Seeds
- Green Onions
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400F.
- Pat the chicken wings dry and add them to a bowl. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper and gently toss to coat the wings.
- Place the chicken wings in the basket of the air fryer so that they lay in a single layer. Cook for 8 minutes.
- While the chicken wings are cooking, in a bowl whisk together the Harissa sauce, Hoisin sauce, and rice vinegar. In a small bowl add about 1/2 cup of the wing sauce, you will use this first. Set aside the rest of the sauce until the end.
- After 8 minutes, pop out the air fryer basket, using the wing sauce in the smaller bowl, brush on the wing sauce to cover the wings. Flip the wings and brush on the wing sauce until coated. Discard any leftover sauce from the small bowl that you had used because may have been contaminated from the undercooked chicken.
- Place the chicken wings back into the air fryer and cook for another 8 minutes at 400F.
- Remove from the air fryer and toss in the remainder wing sauce.
- Top the sweet and spicy harissa wings with a light sprinkle of sesame seeds and some thinly chopped scallion green-ends.
