These Air Fryer Buffalo Drumsticks are made with chicken drumsticks, baking powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and buffalo sauce.
I love adding baking powder when I am air frying chicken. It makes the skin so extra crispy. You can use store bought buffalo sauce or make your own. Making your own buffalo sauce is actually super simple. All you need is butter and hot sauce, like Frank’s red hot sauce. You just need to melt a stick of butter and hot sauce, like Frank’s, on a skillet until it melts. For best taste make your own, although buying a good quality buffalo sauce at the store can be just as good.
If you love this recipe, feel free to try my Cuban Arroz con Pollo or my Gochujang Chicken Wings.
Jump to:
Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Chicken drumsticks
- Baking powder
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Buffalo Sauce
- Chives
See recipe card for Air Fryer Buffalo Drumsticks quantities.
Instructions
Pat the chicken drumsticks dry with a paper towel. In a bowl, add the chicken, baking powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Toss to combine until fully coated.
Place the chicken drumsticks in the basket of the air fryer. Air fry at 380°F for a total of 20 minutes, flipping once halfway, until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.
Optional: Meanwhile, if you are making your own buffalo sauce, take the time as the chicken is air frying to melt the butter and hot sauce. In a large saucepan on medium low heat, add the stick of butter and the hot sauce, for 10 minutes, and keep stirring until the butter slowly melts.
Remove the air fried chicken from the fryer and place in a bowl. Drizzle the buffalo sauce over the chicken and toss well to combine.
Serve with ranch on the side.
If you like this recipe, check out my friend Maddie's Air Fried Buffalo Chicken Tenders!
Substitutions
- Chicken: I love using drumsticks for this, although you could use chicken wings or wingettes.
- Buffalo sauce: You can buy store-bought buffalo sauce or make your own. All you need to make your own is butter and hot sauce, like Frank’s.
- Baking powder: Using baking powder is essential to getting that crispy skin from air frying the chicken. It is so delicious and I even like adding it to chicken when I grill as well.
Variations
Cooking is a chance to be creative! Have fun with it and feel free to make your own variation.
- Spicy - add chili pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish, or banana peppers
- Deluxe - add guacamole, crispy onions or
- Kid friendly - add crushed potato chips (ketchup chips!)
Check out this Chicken Mole.
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.
I love using my Caraway pots, pans and baking sheets for best quality. Get yourself a discount by clicking here!
Storage
This will be good in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or frozen for up to three months.
Top tip
You can buy your own buffalo sauce if you don't want to make from scratch, but this sauce is delicious.
Air Fryer Buffalo Drumsticks
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
These Air Fryer Buffalo Drumsticks are made with chicken drumsticks, baking powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and buffalo sauce.
Ingredients
- 5 chicken drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt
- ½ cup buffalo sauce
- Chives, for garnish
- Ranch dressing, for dipping
Instructions
- Pat the chicken drumsticks dry with a paper towel. IN a bowl, add the chicken, baking powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Toss to combine until fully coated.
- Place the chicken drumsticks in the basket of the air fryer. Air fry at 380°F for a total of 20 minutes, flipping once halfway, until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.
- Optional: Meanwhile, if you are making your own buffalo sauce, take the time as the chicken is air frying to melt the butter and hot sauce. In a large saucepan on medium low heat, add the stick of butter and a cup of hot sauce, for 10 minutes, and keep stirring until the butter slowly melts.
- Remove the air fried chicken from the fryer and place in a bowl. Drizzle the buffalo sauce over the chicken and toss well to combine. Serve with ranch on the side.
Notes
You can buy store-bought buffalo sauce or make your own. All you need to make your own is a stick of butter and a cup of hot sauce, like Frank’s.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 302
- Sugar: 2.9g
- Sodium: 1276.9mg
- Fat: 17.3g
- Saturated Fat: 5.9g
- Carbohydrates: 6.5g
- Fiber: 1.9g
- Protein: 29g
- Cholesterol: 91.6mg
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Leave a Reply