Love crispy chicken wings, but don’t want to deal with all of the oil? These healthier, Keto-Friendly Air Fryer Thai Chili Chicken Wings are the answer. A 30-minute meal full of bold Thai flavor everyone will love!
If you thought that being Keto meant saying no to Thai Chili chicken wings, then you’re in luck. This easy Keto-friendly recipe combines air fryer crispy chicken wings with an easy, no-sugar-added Thai Chili sauce. I’m using an air fryer because it turns this recipe into a 30-minute, quick meal. These chicken wings are perfect as an appetizer or a main dish when paired with a vegetable or other low-carb side.
What’s in Keto-Friendly Thai Chili wing sauce?
This recipe is a Thai-style variation on my Keto Asian Sticky Wings. Both recipes use chili sauce, but this recipe replaces Chinese-style ingredients like soy sauce and rice wine vinegar with lime juice and fish sauce. This Thai Chili sauce includes 6 ingredients.
- Lime Juice
- Erythritol (or your preferred sweetener)
- Fish Sauce
- Broth or Water
- Garlic Chili Sauce
- Xanthan Gum
What’s the purpose of Xanthan Gum?
I’m using Xanthan Gum as a Keto-friendly and gluten-free sauce thickener. It replaces things like cornstarch, flour, and tapioca starch that are used to get a syrup-like sauce.
How do you make Thai Chili sauce?
This sauce takes about 10 minutes. I make it while the wings are cooking in the air fryer. You simply dump all of the ingredients in a saucepan and heat until the sauce reduces. You should stir the sauce occasionally to make sure it’s not sticking to your pan.
How do you make crispy chicken wings in an air fryer?
Making chicken wings in an air fryer is super easy. In fact, there are only 4 main steps:
- Toss the wings in the spice mixture.
- Lay them flat on the air fryer cooking basket.
- Cook the wings on 400ºF (or the chicken setting) for 15 minutes.
- Flip the wings and continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes.
After the wings are done, then you can toss them in the sauce.
Crispy Wing Tip:
Baking powder is an important tool for getting crispy wings when you are not frying them. I add about one tablespoon per pound of meat.
Why make Thai Chili wings in an air fryer?
Get crispy skin without frying.
Having crispy skin is pretty important to me. In fact, I like my chicken wings to taste fried even though they aren’t. In the past, this has meant cooking wings for what seemed like forever on 425-450ºF in the oven. An air fryer crisps the skin of your chicken wings without frying.
Cook your wings in less time when compared to baking.
If you’ve ever tried to oven fry wings, you know that it takes close to an hour. Using an air fryer takes almost half the time when compared to baking. In this recipe, my wings were super crisp in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup Erythritol, granulated
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp Garlic Chili Sauce
- 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum
- 1.5 lb Chicken Wings, cut into flats and drums about 12-14 wing parts
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
Instructions
- Remove the chicken wings from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you want to cook them.
- Add all of the spices to a small bowl.
- Toss the wings in the spices to coat.
- Place the wings in the air fryer cooking basket.
- Cook on 400ºF for 15 minutes per side.
- While the chicken wings cook, add all of the ingredients to a medium saucepan.
- Whisk until the erythritol is mostly dissolved.
- Heat over medium high heat until it has a syrup like consistency (about 10 minutes).
- Remove from the heat.
- Drizzle some of the sauce on the wings when you are ready to eat them. You can use the rest for dipping. Serve immediately to have a crispy, saucy chicken wing.
Notes
Home Chef Tip: Be sure to prepare the Thai Chili Sauce while the wings are in the air fryer in order to make this a 30-minute meal.

We hope you enjoy these Keto-Friendly Thai Chili Chicken Wings from SoFabFood Home Chef, Davinah from Dr. Davinah’s Eats. If you love this simple recipe, be sure to visit our Keto Section for more like it. For daily recipe inspiration, subscribe to our newsletter, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Pinterest. Enjoy!
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