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a bowl filled with Instant Pot buffalo chicken wings, carrots, celery, and a small dish of ranch dressing sitting on a gray background
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5 — Votes 2 votes

Instant Pot Chicken Wings

These Instant Pot chicken wings are perfectly crisp and ready faster than traditional wings!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Amber Goulden

Ingredients

For the wings:

  • 1.5-2 pounds chicken wings
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the sauce:

    Honey BBQ:

    • 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
    • 2 teaspoons honey
    • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
    • 1/2-1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, optional

    Lemon Pepper:

    • 1.5 tablespoons melted butter
    • 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
    • 1 teaspoon honey
    • 1/2 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
    • 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, optional

    Buffalo:

    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • 3 tablespoons hot pepper sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot

    Instructions

    • Place the wire trivet (or steamer basket, if you have one) in your Instant Pot and pour in 1 cup of water.
    • Toss the wings with salt and pepper, then place them on top of the steamer. Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
    • Once the timer goes off, immediately release the pressure on the Instant Pot. Remove the chicken wings and trivet from the pot, then pour out the water.

    Air Fryer Method

    • Place the air fryer basket in the pot (inside the steel insert) and line with a parchment paper insert, if needed. Place the chicken wings in the basket and place the air fryer lid on the pot. Set to cook at 400°F for 15-20 minutes, flipping the wings about halfway through cooking when the pot beeps at you, until crisp.

    Oven Method

    • Transfer the wings to a rimmed baking sheet (lined with parchment paper, if you like) and bake at 450°F for about 15 minutes, or for crispier wings, bake at 450°F for 25 minutes.
    • While the wings cook, make the sauce by mixing together all of the ingredients in a large bowl.
    • Toss the finished wings in the sauce and serve!

    Notes

    • You can stack chicken in the Instant Pot - don’t worry about an overlap of wings during the first steam-cooking step. When you transfer the wings to an air fryer or oven, though, the more space they have, the more evenly they will crisp. So make sure to spread them out in an even layer with plenty of room around each wing.
    • No need to defrost - if you don’t have time to thaw your wings, no problem. Part of the Instant Pot’s speedy magic is that you can actually cook them straight from the freezer! Just be sure to increase the cook time from 8 to 12 minutes on high pressure.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 343kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 919mg | Potassium: 221mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 504IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg