Air Fryer Korean Fried Chicken (Gluten-Free)
Shatteringly crisp, gochujang-glazed wings — the Seoul street-food classic, lightened and made gluten-free with rice starch.
AirFryerCookBook Team · Jun 27, 2026
There's a particular sound a good piece of Korean fried chicken makes — a high, brittle crackle that double deep-frying was invented to produce. In Seoul it's the soundtrack to chimaek: fried chicken and beer, eaten late, usually with people you like. The crunch isn't decoration. It's the point — a thin, glassy shell engineered to survive a sweet-hot glaze without going soft.
You don't owe the deep fryer your loyalty to get there, and you don't need wheat flour either. Here's the honest tradeoff: an air fryer won't give you the all-over, blistered shatter of oil at 350°F twice over. What it will give you — with bone-dry wings, rice starch, and a little baking powder to raise the surface — is a genuinely crisp, lacquer-ready wing with a fraction of the fat and none of the gluten. For anyone cooking around celiac or a wheat allergy who thought KFC was off the table, that's not a consolation prize. That's dinner.
A word on the gochujang: most jars are thickened with wheat. Read the label, or buy one marked gluten-free. The whole recipe lives or dies on that one check.
Use the air fryer we lean on for wings and a fast thermometer so you stop guessing at doneness.
Air Fryer Korean Fried Chicken (Gluten-Free)
37m · Serves 4 · Medium · Cosori 5.8qt
Allergen spec
verify your brandsFree from
- Gluten
- Dairy
- Tree nuts
- Egg
Contains
- Soy
- Sesame
Allergen status reflects the recipe as written. Brands vary and cross-contamination happens — always read the labels on your own ingredients before cooking for someone with an allergy.
Ingredients
×12- 2 lbchicken wings — split, patted bone-dry
- 1/2 cuprice starch — or potato starch
- 1 tspbaking powder — aluminum-free; check gluten-free
- 1/2 tspfine sea salt
- 3 tbspgochujang — check the label — many contain wheat
- 2 tbsphoney — or rice syrup for vegan-leaning
- 1 tbsptamari — gluten-free soy sauce
- 1 tbsprice vinegar
- 3 clovesgarlic — grated
- 1 tsptoasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsptoasted sesame seeds — to finish
- 2scallions — thinly sliced, to finish
Method
- 01
Pat the wings bone-dry — this is not a suggestion. Surface water is the enemy of crunch. Toss them with the rice starch, baking powder, and salt until evenly, chalkily coated.
- 02
Arrange in a single layer in the air fryer basket, leaving space between pieces. Air fry at 380°F for 22 minutes, flipping halfway, until deeply golden and crisp and the thickest wing reads 175°F.
- 03
While they cook, whisk the gochujang, honey, tamari, vinegar, garlic, and sesame oil in a large bowl. Warm it briefly if it's stiff.
- 04
Tip the hot wings into the bowl and toss to coat — off the heat, so the glaze clings instead of scorching. Finish with sesame seeds and scallions and eat immediately.
Nutrition · per serving
340 cal / 27g protein / 18g fat / 16g carbs
Estimated. Values vary by brand and portion.
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