How to make crispy, juicy, and flavoursome Nandos chicken wings in the air fryer. So good that you will want to come back for seconds.
Made with our healthy Nandos marinade this is a fantastic rinse and repeat recipe that you can also make ahead and freeze.
This nandos chicken wings recipe was originally shared with you back in 2017 and we are updating our Nandos series for you today with better gadgets and better recipes.
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Nandos Chicken Wings
There are two amazing things that me and the family have done over the last decade.
One was buying an air fryer and 10 years of air frying has changed the way we cook and made us fall in love with crispy food with a lot less oil.
The other was live in Portugal. We lived there from 2008 to 2021 and fell in love with peri peri chicken, or as the Portuguese call it piri piri.
This meant that over the last decade we have enjoyed a lot of Portuguese food that inspired the Nando’s brand.
Then add to this cooking Nando’s food in the air fryer, and we have the perfect delicious chicken, just with even lower calories.
Today, I want to talk to you about the most popular air fryer food “chicken wings” with a Nando’s makeover in the air fryer.
If you love Nandos and have an air fryer, then you will love these Nandos chicken wings.
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Does Nandos Have Wings?
Yes, Nando’s does sell wings and each time we have gone to Nandos we have ordered some chicken wings as a starter along with some other Nando favourites.
Though, at a Portuguese restaurant you are more likely to be served a half chicken that includes some wings, rather than wings on its own.
What Is Nandos?
Nandos is a popular international African Portuguese restaurant chain. I have noticed it has the biggest popularity in the UK and in Australia.
In fact, we have a Nando’s less than 10 minutes drive from where we live.
Its called Nando’s because its founder is called Fernando (Nando for short in Portuguese).
As someone that has eaten out at a LOT of Portuguese barbecue chicken restaurants, I would say it was very similar, just with the option of different heat levels.
Is Nandos Unhealthy?
No, I would consider Nandos to be healthy NOT unhealthy. That is because unlike other chicken chain restaurants its more barbecued than deep fried. And that the Nandos food is cooked in a tomato based marinade rather than in thick creamy high fat sauces.
What Is In Nandos Marinade?
Nandos is most famous for its marinade and its chicken wings marinade doesn’t disappoint.
Nandos peri peri wings recipe marinade includes ingredients such as tomatoes, peppers, garlic, lime, extra virgin olive oil as well as oregano.
It also features birds eye chillies from Africa, and you can choose your heat level to avoid it from been too spicy for you.
Peri Peri Chicken Wings
To make peri peri chicken wings in the air fryer, it’s a very simple concept. We are making a batch of our favourite Nandos marinade first, then tossing the wings in the marinade.
They are then marinated before been air fried.
You then have perfect peri peri chicken wings. You can eat them straight away, save them for later, or even when they are cool, freeze them for another day.
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Nandos Wings Ingredients
Wings – We used a pack of 1kg/2.2lbs of chicken wings that we bought from the supermarket. Due to the size of our air fryer, we did 2 batches to be able to cook them all. But if you wanted just enough to do an air fryer round, aim for half of this.
Marinade – We then used enough of our homemade nandos marinade to cover the wings ahead of marinating in the fridge.
Foil – I also recommend cooking your wings in the air fryer on a layer of foil. (You can read here about using foil in the air fryer) this stops a mess of the air fryer and then they don’t stick.
Ziploc – I also recommend a Ziploc bag for marinating the nandos wings in. We always buy them in bulk (like this) and then we have a good supply in our kitchen for a number of different recipes.
Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this Nando’s wings recipe it has been our Philips Air Fryer (we have this one) and its fantastic for a huge range of air fryer recipes.
Plus, we recommend you head over to our air fryer recipes category as we have more than 500 tried and tested air fryer recipes and have been air frying for 10 years.
How To Make Nandos Chicken Wings?
- Load. Place into a Ziploc bag your chicken wings, your marinade and some barbecue sauce. Shake the Ziploc bag until the chicken wings are well coated.
- Fridge. Place your peri peri wings into the fridge for at least an hour but can be left overnight if you prefer.
- Cook. After your peri peri chicken wings have been marinated, load onto a layer of foil inside your air fryer basket. Cook for 16 minutes at 180c/360f or until perfectly cooked.
- Finish. You can serve as is, or brush over some extra marinade or barbecue sauce.
And I am sure you can see now how easy it is to make nando chicken wings and why you should be doing it too!
Nandos Hot Wings
If you want Nandos hot wings and to step up the heat on your chicken wings, then simply add in more birds eye chilli.
This is the heat in the Nandos chicken and just by crushing an extra birds eye chilli into the chicken marinade will make a huge difference to the spice level.
Chicken Wings Nandos Tips & Tricks
- Nandos can be as spicy as you want it to be. We recommend no birds eye chilli for a tamer, 2 for mild, 4 for hot and 6 for super hot.
- Love Nandos and want more inspiration? Then follow our series and make Nandos chicken, Nandos spicy rice, Nandos Beanie Burger or see our full list of Nando recipes that you can make at home.
- You can use this same Nandos chicken wings recipe and swap it out for other chicken. Such as boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken legs, or even turkey breast.
- For best results marinate your Nandos chicken wings overnight.
- You can freeze your Nandos leftovers and then follow our reheat chicken wings in air fryer instructions.
- I recommend serving your nandos chicken wings with our instant pot spicy rice. It’s the best rice ever and they go so well together.
More Chicken Copycat Recipes
- Air Fryer McChicken Sandwich
- Air Fryer KFC Chicken
- Air Fryer KFC Popcorn Chicken
- Air Fryer Zinger Burger
Your chicken wings nandos recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.
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Nandos Chicken Wings In Air Fryer
Instructions
- Load your homemade Nandos marinade into a bag along with the chicken wings and the barbecue sauce.
- Seal and bag and shake the bag about until the wings are well coated. Then place the Nandos peri peri wings into the fridge for at least an hour.
- Add a layer of foil into your air fryer basket.
- Then add the marinated nando chicken wings.
- Air fry your nandos chicken wings for 16 minutes at 180c/360f before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t make it now? Then save it for later!
I love some chicken wings and love a Nando’s. These were the easiest and tastiest wings that i have ever made and they reminded me of the Nando’s mild ones!