Gochujang Chicken Wings are crisp wings tossed in a slightly spicy, fermented Korean red chili paste. They’re easy to make and quick too, but more importantly, addictively delicious.
What are Gochujang Air Fryer Chicken Wings?
Gochujang Air Fryer Chicken Wings are seasoned wings cooked with minimal fat in the air fryer to create a crisp exterior and juicy, flavorful interior before being tossed in a sweet and spicy Korean fermented chili paste, or gochujang.
Think Buffalo wings meet BTS.
Korean gochujang paste forms the base of a sweet, aromatic sauce that coats wings crisp from a quick cook in the air fryer. If you’re a fan of chicken wings, this gochujang chicken wing recipe is going to blow those other ho-hum recipes out of the water.
What do I need to make Gochujang Chicken Wings?
To make gochujang chicken wings, you need chicken wings, gochujang, soy sauce, green onions, vegetable oil, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, sesame seeds, rice vinegar, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and gochugaru (or Korean red chili flakes).
You also need an air fryer to cook the wings in. Additionally, you need a pot to make the gochujang sauce in.
How do I shop for chicken wings?
How much work you want to do when you get home determines what kind of wings you buy in the store. I don’t mind breaking down chicken at home, so I purchase whole wings, which have the drumette (drum), flap (flat), and wingtip (flapper) all connected. When I get home, I use a chef’s knife to separate the three and use only the drumette and flap for this recipe. I save the wingtip to make chicken stock or bone broth later.
Wings are also sold in party bags. Party bags are usually 5-pound bags of chicken wings that have the drumette and flap already separated. There are usually 20-25 wings in a 5-pound bag. That’s more than enough for this recipe. If you plan to serve more than 4 people, though, you’ll want to buy more wings.
You can purchase your wings fresh or frozen. For this recipe, your chicken should be thawed and not frozen. Just thaw it in the fridge overnight the day before you plan to make this recipe.
What is Gochujang?
Gochujang is a traditional Korean condiment of brown rice, fermented soybeans, and red pepper powder. Gochujang is a pungent paste used in many Korean dishes like dakgalbi (spicy stir-fried chicken), various jjigaes (stews), and tteokbokki (simmered rice cakes).
After opening the package, be sure to check the label to see whether or not your particular brand of gochujang needs to be refrigerated. I always refrigerate opened containers of gochujang to preserve them.
While we’re on the topic of Korean recipe staples, gochujang gets its color and spice from gochugaru: a Korean red pepper flake powder. The gochugaru is also going into our gochujang sauce. You can find gochugaru in the same aisle as the gochujang. Look for it in a plastic bag. It’s sold dried in flakes that look like red instant coffee granules.
Is Gochujang really spicy?
My favorite brand of gochujang is O’Food Gochujang. It has a pure flavor and is not overly spicy. I mean, my gastro doc appreciates that, and the twins do as well.
The spice level may vary of gochujang varies depending on the brand, though. If you’re just dipping your toe in the gochujang waters, I recommend buying O’Food’s. Now, take this with a grain of rice because my tastebuds are on another level.
If you don’t like spicy foods at all, I mean at all, you may want to check out one of my other chicken wing recipes.
What if I can’t find Gochujang?
Substitutes for gochujang are:
- sriracha (but the wings will be really spicy)
- stirring together 1/4 cup gochugaru and 1/4 cup miso paste
- harissa paste (choose one labeled “mild,” or it will be really spicy)
- sambal oelek (another spicy option)
- chili sauce (last resort because it’s nowhere near the same excitement as gochujang)
I feel like finding gochujang these days isn’t too difficult, though.
What other recipes can I use Gochujang in?
Don’t worry about not using the rest of the gochujang in your fridge. In addition to using it in this recipe, you can marinate whole chickens in it before roasting. I sometimes use it in place of the gochugaru when I make my kimchi. My friend, Lisa, has a great recipe for vegan-tteokbokki on her site, as well. These beef skewers from my friend Julie are another great way to use it up.
When in doubt, make more wings.
Do I season the wings before frying?
Any reader of mine BET’ season their wings before they cook them. The worst thing in the world is a bland wing. Tons of wing joints depend too much on the sauce for flavor. Once you get past the sauce, their wings are bland. I cannot.
Season your chicken wings before you fry them, so the meat itself is flavorful. Don’t rely on the sauce alone.
My seasoning is simple- kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder- but it does so much to give the meat some interest.
Combine the spices in a bowl to create an even mixture. Before seasoning the wings, toss them in a small amount of vegetable oil to help the spices stick to the skin.
How do I make crispy chicken wings?
Add a little baking powder to the spice blend to get the crispiest skin on your chicken wings. The alkaline in baking powder breaks down the amino acid-covalent bond relationship known as amides or peptide bonds found in the chicken skin. In doing so, the normally rubbery skin crisps up beautifully in the air fryer. You can also employ this technique in your regular chicken baking or frying applications.
When using baking powder to achieve crispy chicken wings, use an aluminum-free one. You don’t want them to taste like you’re biting into foil. I also recommend letting the wings sit in that seasoning mixture for at least an hour (or up to 24 hours) before frying them. The more time the baking powder has to break down those peptide bonds, the crisper your wings will be.
Now, if crispy wings don’t matter to you- we will, after all, still coat them in a sauce- you can omit the baking powder.
Lay the seasoned wings on the tray of your air fryer. Because you added oil to the chicken before seasoning it, you shouldn’t need to spray the tray with any more oil. In addition to the grease that will render from the chicken skin as it cooks, that oil should do a pretty good job of keeping the chicken from sticking to the tray.
Leave a little space between each piece so the air can circulate around them. This also ensures a nice, crisp exterior. I love my air fryer because it has a tray instead of a bucket. If yours is a bucket-style model, you’re going to have to toss the wings more often to ensure they cook evenly.
How long do I Air Fry the wings?
Put the tray in a 400°F (205°C) air fryer and fry them for 5 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and use a pair of tongs to flip the wings over. Air fry the wings for another 4-5 minutes.
Once the wings are golden brown and crisp, remove them from the tray and arrange them on a cooling rack set over a sheet pan. Keep the wings in a warm (170°F/75°C) oven while frying the remaining batches. My air fryer tray fits around 16 wings at a time, which means I air fry them in 2-3 batches. If you have a bucket-style air fryer, it may take more batches.
Can I make the Gochujang sauce ahead of time?
Make the gochujang sauce after putting the first batch of wings into the air fryer. Gochujang sauce is make-ahead friendly. You can prepare it and store it in a container in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can freeze gochujang sauce in a freezer-safe container for up to 6 months. Allow it to cool completely before putting it into a container. When you’re ready to use it, thaw it completely in the fridge or use the defrost setting in the microwave.
Heat the sesame oil in a 3-quart saucepot over medium heat. Don’t crank up the heat under the pot because sesame oil has a low smoke point and will burn at too high a temperature. Add the garlic and ginger to the oil in the pot and sauté them for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant and slightly golden in color.
Next, add the gochujang, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, gochugaru, and sesame seeds to the pot. Use a whisk or a spoon to stir these into the garlic and ginger in the pot.
Bring the contents of the pot up to a gentle simmer, then allow the sauce to simmer for 30 seconds. Stir the sauce and decrease the temperature to low.
Simmer the sauce, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes, stirring every minute and a half, while you continue air frying the wings.
Can I substitute any of the ingredients?
If you’re having difficulty sourcing ingredients, especially the gochugaru, here are some alternative ingredients. For gochujang subs, see my list of recommendations above.
- Gochugaru substitutes: red pepper flakes, harissa powder, or cayenne BUT only add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper as it will be very spicy.
- To make this a gluten-free recipe, replace the soy sauce with tamari sauce.
- Rice Vinegar (also labeled rice wine vinegar) substitutes: mirin, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar.
- Sesame Oil substitutes: olive oil, peanut oil, or vegetable oil.
- Brown Sugar substitutes: coconut sugar, date palm sugar, or granulated sugar.
Use the same amount of the substitute as the ingredient called for in the recipe.
Do I sauce chicken wings before or after air frying them?
As you probably figured out by where we’re at in the recipe, it’s best to sauce chicken wings after frying them. That’s because of the amount of sugar in the sauce, especially in the case of this gochujang version. The sugar in the sauce caramelizes in the air fryer, which means it will start to darken and burn in a short time. It also keeps the skin from crisping up as we want.
Instead, wait until all of the wings are cooked and use a pair of tongs to toss them in batches in 1/3 cup (80 milliliters) of the sauce. I toss them in a small amount of sauce because I want to reserve some sauce for dipping later. It also maintains a crisp exterior. Tossing in a small amount of sauce also makes the process less messy.
Return the wings to the rack on the sheet pan and keep them warm in the oven until you’re ready to garnish and serve them.
Can I make these Gochujang Chicken Wings in the oven?
You can easily convert this air fryer chicken wing recipe to oven-baked wings:
- Season the wings as instructed above and arrange them in a single layer on a rack set atop a sheet pan. This will keep the wings from being soggy on the bottom.
- Bake the wings in an oven, preheated to 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and flip the wings over. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until the skin is golden brown and crisp.
- If you want extra-crispy wings: decrease the baking time to 15 minutes per side. After 30 minutes of total baking time, decrease the oven temperature to 170°F (80°C) or “Warm” and keep “cooking” the wings for another 15-20 minutes.
- Toss the baked wings in the sauce as instructed above.
As you can see, baking the wings will add another 40 minutes to the prep time, but it is an option.
What about frying them the traditional way?
To fry gochujang wings:
- Season the wings as instructed above. Fill a dutch oven or deep fryer with 2-inches of neutral cooking oil (like vegetable, peanut, or canola oil) to a large dutch oven or deep fryer. Heat the oil to 375°F (190°C).
- Fry the wings in hot oil for 10-12 minutes, or until the skin appears golden brown.
- Use tongs or a spider to remove the chicken from the pot to a rack placed over a sheet pan to drain excess oil. Continue frying the remaining wings.
- Place the fried wings in a serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and toss to coat the chicken evenly.
- Serve or keep in a warm oven until ready.
Frying the wings for this recipe takes about the same amount of time and involves more oil.
How do I serve these Gochujang Chicken Wings?
To serve gochujang wings, sprinkle thinly sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds over the sauced wings. I reserve the gochujang sauce because I’m a dip-whore. Usually, I scrape what sauce remains from coating the wings into individual prep bowls so my guests (or family) can serve themselves extra sauce.
What can I serve them with?
These wings go great with a few of my other recipes. Here are my go-tos:
- Air Fryer Platanos Maduros
- Peruvian Inspired Coleslaw
- Country Style Potato Salad
- Hawaiian Inspired Macaroni Salad
Fries (or chips) are another great option to serve with these chicken wings.
How do I store leftovers?
Store leftover gochujang chicken wings in a covered container in the fridge for 3 days. To reheat the gochujang wings, warm them in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 10 minutes or until warmed through. You can also reheat wings in a 300°F (150°C) air fryer for 3- 4 minutes. Use the microwave as a last resort when reheating wings as it makes the skin rubbery.
You can also freeze gochujang wings. I like to freeze them on a silicone-lined baking sheet on a pan until they’re frozen through. Once frozen, I transfer them to a freezer storage bag and freeze them for up to 2 months. Freezing them individually like this allows you to pick however many you want to make from the bag instead of being forced to reheat the whole batch. Thaw the wings completely in the fridge and follow the instructions above to heat.
Hopefully, this recipe inspires you to step outside of your wing comfort zone. Let me know if you tried these Gochujang Chicken Wings and how you liked them. Don’t forget to pin this recipe for easy finding and share it with your world, too!
Gochujang Air Fryer Chicken Wings
at Sense & EdibilityEquipment
- air fryer (preferably one with a tray instead of a bucket)
- tongs
- cooling rack
- sheet pan
Ingredients
For the Chicken Wings
- 2 teaspoons (12 grams) kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 grams) garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder optional for crispy wings
- 1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) black pepper
- 5 pounds (2 1/4 kilos) chicken wings
- 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) vegetable oil
For the Gochujang Sauce
- 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon (8 grams) garlic minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (3 grams) ginger minced
- 1/4 cup (85 grams) gochujang
- 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) soy sauce
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (7 grams) gochugaru
- 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (9 grams) toasted sesame seeds
Optional Garnishes
- 1-2 green onions trimmed and thinly sliced
- toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Season the Wings (up to 24 hours ahead)
- In a small mixing bowl, use your fingers or a spoon to mix together the kosher salt, garlic powder, baking powder (if you're using it), and black pepper.
- Use paper towels to pat the skin of the chicken wings dry. This will help the oil stick to the wings better. Add the wings to a large mixing bowl. Pour the vegetable oil over the wings in the bowl and use your hand or a pair of tongs to toss the chicken in the oil until well-coated.
- Sprinkle the spice blend over the wings and give them another toss to ensure they are evenly coated in the spice mixture. Allow the wings to sit in this seasoning mixture for at least an hour (or up to 24 hours), uncovered in the fridge, before frying them. The more time the baking powder has to break down those peptide bonds, the crisper your wings will be.
Air Fry the Wings
- Preheat your air fryer to 400°F (205°C). Preheat your oven to "Warm", or 170°F (75°C).Arrange a cooling rack over a sheet pan for holding the cooked wings on later.
- Lay the seasoned wings on the tray of your air fryer. Leave a little space between each piece so the air can circulate around them. You will need to fry the wings in batches.Put the tray into the preheated air fryer and fry them for 5 minutes.
- Remove the tray from the oven and use a pair of tongs to flip the wings over. Air fry the wings for another 4-5 minutes. Once the wings are golden brown and crisp, remove them from the tray and arrange them in a single layer on the cooling rack-sheet pan set-up. Keep the wings in the warm oven while you air-fry the remaining batches.
Prepare the Gochujang Sauce While You Air Fry the Chicken Wings
- In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. When the oil in the pot begins to shimmer slightly, add the garlic and ginger and sauté them for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant and slightly golden in color.
- Next, add the gochujang, soy sauce, brown sugar, gochugaru, rice vinegar, and sesame seeds to the pot. Use a whisk or a spoon to stir these into the garlic and ginger in the pot.Bring the contents of the pot up to a gentle simmer, then allow the sauce to simmer for 30 seconds.
- Stir the sauce and decrease the temperature to low. Simmer the sauce, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes, stirring every 1 1/2 minutes, while you continue air frying the wings.
Sauce, then Serve the Gochujang Chicken Wings
- Once all of the wings are cooked, add a batch (12-14) wings to a clean mixing bowl. Use a pair of tongs to toss them in 1/3 cup (80 milliliters) of the sauce. Return the wings to the rack on the sheet pan and keep them warm in the oven until you're ready to garnish and serve them.
- To serve gochujang wings: sprinkle thinly sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds over the sauced wings. Serve the remaining gochujang sauce in individual prep bowls on the side as a dipping sauce for the wings.
Notes
Swaps and Substitutions:
- Gochujang substitutes: sriracha (but the wings will be really spicy), stir together 1/4 cup gochugaru and 1/4 cup miso paste, mild harissa paste, sambal oelek, or chili sauce.
- Gochugaru substitutes: red pepper flakes, harissa powder, or cayenne BUT only add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper as it will be very spicy.
- To make this a gluten-free recipe, replace the soy sauce with tamari sauce.
- Rice Vinegar (also labeled rice wine vinegar) substitutes: mirin, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar.
- Sesame Oil substitutes: olive oil, peanut oil, or vegetable oil.
- Brown Sugar substitutes: coconut sugar, date palm sugar, or granulated sugar.
Tips and Techniques:
- If you're using frozen chicken wings, thaw them first in the fridge overnight. Drain any liquid from the thawed wings and pat them dry before adding the oil.
- When using baking powder to achieve crispy chicken wings, use an aluminum-free one.
- If you have an air fryer with a bucket-style tray, you're going to have to toss the wings every 2 minutes to ensure they cook evenly.
- My air fryer tray fits around 16 wings at a time, which means I air fry them in 2-3 batches. If you have a bucket-style air fryer, it may take more batches.
- Don't crank up the heat under the pot when making the sauce because sesame oil has a low smoke point and will burn at too high a temperature.
- Since the sugar in the sauce caramelizes in the air fryer, it's best to sauce the wings after they are cooked.
Storage Instructions:
- To Store Leftover Wings:
- Transfer the cooled gochujang chicken wings to a covered container and store in the fridge for 3 days.
- To reheat the gochujang wings: warm them in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 10 minutes or until warmed through. You can also reheat wings in a 300°F (150°C) air fryer for 3- 4 minutes. Use the microwave as a last resort when reheating wings as it makes the skin rubbery.
- To Freeze Prepared Wings:
- Freeze the cooled wings on a silicone-lined baking sheet on a pan until they're frozen through.
- Once frozen, transfer the chicken to a freezer storage bag and freeze them for up to 2 months.
- Thaw the wings completely in the fridge and follow the instructions above to heat.
Make Ahead Instructions:
- Chicken Wings: Season and store the wings in a covered container in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Drain off any liquid that forms in the bottom of the container and pat the wings down before air frying.
- Gochujang Sauce: Prepare and store it in a container in the fridge for up to 1 week or freeze it in a freezer-safe container for up to 6 months. Allow it to cool completely before putting it into a container. When you're ready to use it, thaw it completely in the fridge or use the defrost setting in the microwave.
Gochujang Wings in the Oven:
- Season the wings as instructed in the recipe above and arrange them in a single layer on a rack set atop a sheet pan.
- Bake the wings in an oven, preheated to 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and flip the wings over. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until the skin is golden brown and crisp.
For extra-crispy wings: decrease the baking time to 15 minutes per side. After 30 minutes of total baking time, decrease the oven temperature to 170°F (80°C) or "Warm" and keep "cooking" the wings for another 15-20 minutes. - Toss the baked wings in the sauce as instructed above.
Deep-Fried Gochujang Wings:
- Season the wings as instructed in the recipe.
- Add 2-inches of neutral frying oil (like vegetable oil) to a dutch oven or deep fryer and heat it to 375°F (190°C).
- Fry the wings in hot oil for 10-12 minutes, or until the skin appears golden brown.
- Use tongs to remove the chicken from the pot to a rack placed over a sheet pan to drain excess oil. Continue frying the remaining wings.
- Place the fried wings in a serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and toss to coat the chicken evenly.
- Serve or keep in a warm oven until ready.
Ooh man do I love gochujang! This was absolutely delicious! I could’ve eaten all those wings up by myself, no joke!
We’re always fighting over portions, Tammy!
I love making noodles with gochujang, oyster sauce, tamari, and other things but never thought to put it on chicken wings! It really shined in this recipe and the wings came out amazing from the air-fryer!
Yes Veronika!
These chicken wings were amazing! I loved the spice from the gochujang. It was so delicious!
Thank you, Kayla!