Crispy Air Fryer Peruvian-Style Chicken Wings with Green Sauce (Aji Verde)

The year was 2012. A group of my girlfriends from NYU had moved to Murray Hill, where they discovered a mini restaurant chain in the neighborhood called Pio Pio that was famous for their juicy Peruvian rotisserie chicken covered in spices. I joined them for dinner, where the sangria and conversation was freely flowing up until the chicken hit the table, along with a bowl of vibrant green sauce that practically begged you to try it. Words seemed to cease as we all dug in, and one hit of that aji verde sauce on my palate was all it took for me to then drown my entire plate of chicken in spicy, acidic, herbaceous, and creamy sauce. Thus began my long term relationship with green sauce.

My love for this sauce developed during my time living in Hell’s Kitchen, from post-workout meals and birthday celebrations at Pio Pio‘s Hell’s Kitchen location, to drunk munchies and hungover breakfasts at Empanada Mama, where the green sauce was more salsa-like, packed into 2 tiny containers for each crispy empanada that I always struggled to ration. It also caused many sleepy afternoons during my years working at American Express in the Financial District, thanks to the food coma-inducing combo of green sauce and slow roasted pernil at Sophie’s Cuban, another popular mini-chain of Latin restaurants. Here the supply was limitless, as I was given free reign to squeeze their bottles of green sauce onto their Cuban rice and meat platters, sandwiches, and empanadas.

Fast forward to 2017 when I moved to Hong Kong, only to discover that there was NO GREEN SAUCE to be found, let alone much Latin food at all. Because of this, I made it a point to revisit one of the establishments listed above every time I went back to NYC for a visit, which previously happened at least twice a year, enough to curb my need for green sauce. Since those visits have now ceased due to the pandemic, it finally came time for me to make it myself at home. It turns out that it’s SO easy to make, and after producing 4 batches of my green dream sauce in 3 weeks, I had to share my addiction with all of you.

The green sauce is as simple as blending all of the ingredients together, with avocado, mayo, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and jalapeno acting as the primary flavor drivers. The combination is so good that I know even the staunchest cilantro-haters that LOVE the green stuff. If you want the sauce to be closest to the Peruvian version of green sauce (aji verde sauce), then you’ll want to add aji amarillo paste. The yellow pepper native to Peru has its own distinct acidity and heat to bring another dimension to the sauce and is recommended to include if you have access to it.

As for the wings, we’re using the air fryer to produce crispy chicken wings with virtually no oil. The secret is to first pat the wings dry with paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible, and then coat the wings in baking powder which further dehydrates the skin so that when you blast them with heat in the air fryer, you’ll get ASMR-level crispiness every time. You can replicate this technique for any style of chicken wings – just change the seasoning or coat in just salt, pepper, and baking powder and toss in a sauce after they’ve cooled a bit. If you don’t have an air fryer, you can also bake them in the oven but it will take twice as long (bake at 425F for 35-45 min) and might not be as crispy.

This recipe will yield much more green sauce than you need for the amount of chicken wings called for, but trust me when I say that this is a good thing! Try using any leftovers as a salad dressing, as a sauce for shrimp, steak, and roast vegetables, in place of mayo in sandwiches, and even as a dip for chips and baby carrots. Tag me if you make either these air fryer Peruvian chicken wings or the green sauce so I can see if you become as much of an addict as I have 🤪