If there’s one food that people don’t like to waste, it’s the chicken wing. Chicken wings are addictive in their ability to be a fun, social food with plenty of variety in sauces. Wings from the restaurant or oven tend to be friend or baked to bring out the moist, tender chicken flavor.
But you’re full now. You can’t eat more chicken wings at the moment and tomorrow, you’re going to unpack the wings and finish them off. The question remains: how do you reheat chicken wings?
Methods of reheating your chicken wings include the oven, microwave, and air fryer. The key idea is to keep the chicken moist while also making it hot enough to taste good reheated. Read below for more specifics about each method.
How to reheat chicken wings in the oven
When reheating at home or if your office happens to have an oven, this is one of the easiest methods with good results. Note that these instructions assume the wings were fully cooked.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Put the wings you want to recook on an oven safe tray and spread them out so they aren’t touching
- Use oven mitts to remove the tray after a few minutes to see if they are warm enough for you. You can also tell when they are sizzling
- Repeat process by putting wings back in oven if they aren’t hot enough
- Remove the whole tray and wings when they are done
- Use a spatula or tongs to remove the wings from the tray
You can also add foil to the baking tray before putting the wings on. This can help keep crispy wings crispy, and could also help keep the wings from sticking to the tray.
The oven offers key advantages for reheating chicken wings. Ovens heat up the wings more slowly than other kitchen appliances. Heating more slowly offers a great opportunity to keep the wings moist – and not too hot.
Ideally, you want to monitor the temperature of your wings closely. Too much heat will dry them out.
How to reheat chicken wings in the microwave
Reheating wings at the office? The microwave might be more readily available.
- Place the wings on a microwave safe plate in a single layer
- Put a damp paper towel over the wings. This helps the wings absorb some moisture and offset the heat
- Microwave at normal power for about 1 minute.
- Check the temperature and texture of the wings to see if they feel right to you
- You can put the wings back in the microwave for longer, until they are hot enough
The microwave is great for reheating up your wings quickly. The downside to the microwave is that the heat can easily dry your wings out. The heat is why we suggest putting them in for a minute, or even less at a time.
Reheating chicken wings in an air fryer
An air fryer is really one of your best options for reheating chicken wings. The air fryer is similar to the cooking process for your wings initially. The biggest advantage is keeping your wings crispy and moist
Air fryers are also becoming more common in American households.
- Preheat your air fryer to low to medium. In digital air fryers, this generally means 400 degrees or lower.
- Place the chicken wings in the air fryer’s basket or tray.
- You can let the chicken wings sit in the air fryer for a few minutes before checking. The temperature isn’t so hot that your wings will likely dry quickly.
- Open the air fryer safety and see if the wings are hot enough for your liking
- Remove the wings from the fryer and enjoy
Reheating chicken wings in a frying pan
Reheating chicken wings in the frying pans is quite easy if you have a stovetop available.
- Preheat a frying pan to low or medium
- Put your preferred oil – like vegetable or olive oil in the pan to prevent stickiness and moisturize.
- Put the wings in the pan. Flip them after a few minutes
- Remove the wings once they are hot and crispy
You could also put the sauce in the pan with the wings if you wish to heat up your sauce too.
How about the sauce for reheating chicken wings?
We didn’t mention the sauce because that’s up to you. The sauce is part of what keeps your wings moist.
You can choose to douse your wings with sauce before you reheat them. This can add moisture during reheating and keep the wings from getting too sticky.
Another option is to keep the sauce for the wings on the side. That’s entirely up to you! We have some sauce suggestions though.
Is it ever unsafe to reheat wings?
For reheating wings, the one situation in which you shouldn’t reheat wings involves leaving them out at room temperature for a couple hours.
Leaving wings out at room temperature can lead to a build up of bacteria that can result in food poisoning. Reheating the wings is not entirely guaranteed to remove the bacteria at all.
Final thoughts
Reheating chicken wings is a simple and easy process whether you are at home or the office. See our tips above for keeping your wings moist and yummy.
One of the most important things you can do to keep your wings good is to have an eye on them regardless of which method you prefer.
