Easy Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings

Q: What’s the Best Air Fryer For Garlic Parmesan Wings?

I use the Ninja Foodi 6 basket 2-in-1 air fryer. This air fryer actually has other features besides air frying, including: Air Fry Bake Dehydrate Air Broil Reheat Roast I still need to try other features, but I’ve used Air Fry, Reheat, and Air Broil quite frequently. In this recipe, we’ll use the “Air Fry” feature. I also like that there are two baskets that allow you to cook two different dishes, and they will be ready at the same time. This air fryer is really convenient for those of you who want to make an entire air fried meal, so I recommend it! For more details, check out myfirst impressions review.

✦ Join the Kitchen

Recently, I’ve been seeing lots of Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings recipes around. Not too long ago, I shared my Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan French Fries, so I just had to see how this combination is with chicken wings! I admit usually I like to go for the spicier wings since I’m just a sucker for heat, but for those of you who may not be able to handle the hotter wings or you’re just in the mood for something on the milder side, these Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Wings will definitely hit the spot! I first had some garlic Parmesan chicken wings not too long ago from Pizza Hut and they were totally awesome! Yes, I admit I missed the buffalo hot wings, and they will be my favourite, but I’ve certainly developed an appreciation for these chicken wings. Making them at home in particular, what really blew me away is the garlic Parmesan sauce you’ll be tossing these crispy baked chicken wings in!

For those of you who are subscribed to my YouTube channel, you may know I’ve been hosting an open collab for the month of August called #hotshots2022. This month, the them we’re focusing on is appetizers! I’d love for you to share your favourite appetizer recipes to join in on the fun! If you don’t have a YouTube channel, then there’s still nothing stopping you from participating! If you need some motivation to recreate your favourite appetizers at home, then check out my free guide Making Cooking Fun!!where I explain how having a theme can get you inspired to get creative and experiment with new ideas in the kitchen! Make this as part of your one-month Live to Cook challenge and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram to make me hungry!

For all the details on how to make these Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings in the oven or the air fryer, then check out the video at the bottom of this post! I’ll show both methods and share the pros and cons of both and conclude which method I prefer! Let’s get cooking!

Crispy air fryer garlic parmesan chicken wings topped with minced garlic and fresh parsley on a white plate.

Why Make This Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Wings Recipe?

Fridge & pantry-staple ingredients: I’ll discuss the ingredient list soon, but you probably have most of the ingredients on hand already in your fridge and pantry! When I did my groceries for this recipe, I just had to get some extra butter and buy the chicken wings themselves! We’ve got a couple of seasonings and of course Parmesan to make these delicious wings!
Guaranteed crispiness: I’ll show you exactly how to get crispy chicken wings in the air fryer or oven without the excess oil that comes with deep frying. Some recipes also use cornstarch and baking powder to make the wings crispy. You won’t be needing either of those to get the wings crispy here for both the air fryer and oven methods!
Easy to follow: I’ll break down the recipe and share pictures and a video at the bottom of this post so you know exactly what to do and can execute the recipe with ease! I’ll also discuss specific tips to ensure you get perfectly crispy and juicy chicken wings that will have you craving them over and over again!
Scalable recipe: You’ll see in the recipe card at the bottom of this post that you can scale the recipe based on how many portions of chicken wings you want to make. Whether you’re just enjoying these for a casual weeknight snack or serving a huge Superbowl party, you’ll know exactly how much you need and it’s easy to adjust the quantities.

Crispy air fryer garlic Parmesan chicken wings topped with fresh herb and cheese mixture on white plate.

Tools Needed for Crispy Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Wings

You probably have everything in your kitchen already to make these Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Wings. Let’s just quickly see what’s needed so that you can prep efficiently and have all your tools out in the kitchen so you’re ready to start and go for it!

Baking tray(if baking in the oven)
Aluminium foil (if baking in the oven)
Air fryer
Cutting board
Sharp chef’s knife
Mixing bowl
Spatula
Non-stick pan
Garlic press
Microplane
Tongs

What’s the Best Air Fryer For Garlic Parmesan Wings?▼

I use the Ninja Foodi 6 basket 2-in-1 air fryer. This air fryer actually has other features besides air frying, including:

Air Fry
Bake
Dehydrate
Air Broil
Reheat
Roast

I still need to try other features, but I’ve used Air Fry, Reheat, and Air Broil quite frequently. In this recipe, we’ll use the “Air Fry” feature.

I also like that there are two baskets that allow you to cook two different dishes, and they will be ready at the same time. This air fryer is really convenient for those of you who want to make an entire air fried meal, so I recommend it! For more details, check out myfirst impressions review.

How to Get Perfectly Crispy Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Wings

Mainly the formula includes cooking it in 3 stages. Stage one, cook it half way and flip. Stage two, cook it all the way and flip again. Stage three, bump up the heat and finish crispening up the wings.

Do You Use Baking Powder for Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Wings?▼

I usually do not, for me the level of crispiness is to my liking and satisfaction. However, if you want to, add just a tiny amount, abour 1/4 to 1/2 tsp, because too much will affect the texture and flavour of the final wings.

Is It Better To Cook Chicken Wings at 350 or 400?▼

I have personally seen great results in terms of color, crispiness and juiciness making air fryer wings cooked at 350 F. I do not see a reason to raise the cooking temperature. It might also depend on each air fryer model and how well heat and hot air is circulated and maintained during the cook.

Ingredients for Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings

Let’s see what we’ll need for our Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings. Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD for all ingredient quantities and the complete recipe instructions, and to save the recipe for later! You can also scale the recipe based on how many chicken wings you want to make - all the quantities will be automatically adjusted for you!

For the Garlic Parmesan Butter Sauce

Parmesan cheese: Please get a block of fresh Parmesan and grate it yourself. It’s just so much better than getting the powdered stuff! You’ll want your cheese finely grated, so I recommend you use a microplane.
Garlic cloves: We’ll mince fresh garlic cloves to make garlic butter Parmesan sauce.
Butter: Unsalted, melted butter to make the garlic butter sauce. If you’re making 20 chicken wings, you’ll want one stick of butter.
Garlic powder: To give an extra garlic flavour to the sauce.
Parsley: Chopped fresh parsley will give the best results for your garlic butter sauce. You could use dried parsley, but fresh is best!
Salt and pepper: To taste.

For the Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings

Chicken wings: Ideally, get chicken wings that have the tips removed for you.
All-purpose flour: This will be used to get our chicken wings crispy in the air fryer or oven.
Garlic powder: Used to season our chicken wings.
Salt and pepper: To taste.

How to Make Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Wings

To Make the Garlic Butter Parmesan Sauce

In a pot or pan, add the butter and heat until molten. Add the chopped parsley, minced garlic, garlic powder and the finely grated parmesan cheese. Mix well to combine the ingredients and taste to adjust for seasoning. Add salt as needed.

Stick of butter melting in a stainless steel pan on stovetop.

Melted butter with minced garlic and parmesan cheese simmering in a pan for garlic butter sauce.

Melted butter with minced garlic, fresh parsley, and grated Parmesan cheese simmering in a pan.

Melted butter mixed with chopped parsley, minced garlic, and grated Parmesan cheese being stirred in a pan with a wooden spoon.

Melted butter with minced garlic, parsley, and grated Parmesan cheese being stirred in a pan for garlic Parmesan sauce.

Melted butter sauce with chopped parsley and minced garlic simmering in a pan for garlic Parmesan sauce.

Once prepared, reserve half of the sauce in the pot/pan and transfer the rest in a large bowl.

Garlic parmesan sauce with melted butter, minced garlic, parsley, and grated cheese being stirred in a dark pot.

Melted butter mixed with chopped parsley, minced garlic, and grated Parmesan cheese in a glass bowl.

To Make the Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings

Place the wings on a cutting board and pat dry using a kitchen towel.

Raw chicken wings patted dry and arranged on paper towels on a cutting board.

Season the chicken wings with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add flour and mix well.

Raw chicken wings seasoned with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, coated in flour in a glass bowl.

Seasoned raw chicken wings mixed with flour in a glass bowl during preparation.

Raw chicken wings seasoned with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and flour in a glass bowl before air frying.

Set the air fryer temperature to 350 F. Add the wings in your basket for 13 minutes.

Raw chicken wings seasoned with garlic powder and flour in an air fryer basket before cooking.

Flip the wings and cook for another 13 minutes.

Cooked chicken wings in air fryer basket after 26 minutes, golden brown and ready to toss in garlic parmesan sauce.

Cooked chicken wings in air fryer basket after 26 minutes, golden brown and ready to toss in sauce.

After 26 minutes total, the wings should be ready to toss in the sauce.

Once the wings are done, transfer them to the bowl with the garlic parmesan sauce and toss well. While you can enjoy them now, I'd just ask you to wait a bit longer.

Transfer the air fryer wings back to the air fryer and turn the heat to 390 F. Cook for 1-2 minutes.

Cooked chicken wings tossed in garlic parmesan sauce in an air fryer basket, ready to be returned to the fryer.

Crispy air fryer chicken wings tossed in garlic parmesan sauce with fresh herbs in a bowl.

Ninja air fryer set to 390°F next to a Samsung microwave on a kitchen counter.

Then, transfer all of the remaining sauce to the bowl and toss wings with the sauce again. Serve immediately and spoon sauce over the wings.

Garlic Parmesan chicken wings tossed in creamy sauce with minced garlic and fresh parsley in a bowl.

Garlic parmesan chicken wings coated in sauce on a white plate and in a metal bowl on a red gingham tablecloth.

I Don’t Have An Air Fryer! How Do I make Garlic Parmesan Wings in the Oven?▼

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Prepare a baking sheet with a wire rack

Place the wings on a cutting board and pat dry using a kitchen towel.

Transfer the wings into a large bowl and season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add flour and mix well.

Lay out the wings onto the prepared baking sheet.

Raw chicken wings coated in flour and seasonings arranged on a wire rack over a baking sheet.

Transfer the wings into the oven, turning them once after 15 minutes. Repeat this at least 2 more times for a total of 50-60 minutes, or until they are crispy.

Golden-brown chicken wings arranged on an air fryer basket rack during cooking.

Once the wings are done, transfer them to the bowl with the garlic parmesan sauce and toss well. While you can enjoy them now, I'd just ask you to wait a bit longer.

Golden-brown chicken wings arranged on a wire rack lined with foil, being placed in an oven for final crisping.

Transfer the air fryer wings back to the air fryer and turn the heat to 390 F. Cook for 1-2 minutes.

For the oven baked wings, rearrange the wings on the wire rack and cook at 450 F or broil for 3-5 minutes.

Then, transfer all of the remaining sauce to the bowl and toss wings with the sauce again. Serve immediately and spoon sauce over the wings.

Garlic parmesan chicken wings tossed in creamy herb sauce in a white bowl, garnished with fresh parsley.

Garlic parmesan chicken wings being tossed with green herb sauce on a white plate.

Tips & Tricks for Crispy & Juicy Garlic Parmesan Wings

Pat the wings dry for any excess moisture before cooking.
For the air fryer flipthe wings after 13 minutes to ensure both sides to get evenly coloured.
Make sure not to stack the wings on top of each other. If you don’t have enough space in your basket or baking sheet (for oven baked method) then I recommend you make your wings in two batches. It’ll be worth it!
You can always quickly reheat the wings from the first batch in the air fryer by selecting the reheat setting.
If broiling the wings in the last stage of cooking for the oven baked wings, keep a close eye to ensure the wings don’t become too dark.
While making the sauce, make sure to pick out the leaves from the parsley before chopping, the steps can introduce some bitterness and don’t have much flavour.

Golden crispy air fryer chicken wings topped with fresh parsley and garlic Parmesan garnish on a white plate.

Serving Suggestions for Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Wings

These Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings are such a versatile appetizer. I don’t know when there WOULDN’T be an occasion to enjoy them! You can pretty much have them with anything, but here are some main dishes and dipping sauces that will be perfect for your chicken wings!

MAINS

SAUCES

Can You Make Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings IN Advance?▼

Chicken wings are best served fresh, so I wouldn’t recommend you try to make these in advance. They just won’t be the same!

However, if you think you have too many wings prepared, then don’t worry. Store the air fried or baked chicken wings in an airtight container in the fridge for at most three days. When you are ready to serve, you can reheat your chicken wings in the oven or the air fryer.

To reheat in the air fryer, place them in the basket at 350 F, and it should take about 5 minutes for the chicken wings to be fully warmed through. You can make your garlic butter sauce fresh or just enjoy them however you’d like!

To reheat the chicken wings in the oven, then preheat the oven to 400 F. It’ll take about 10 minutes to reheat. Serve and enjoy!

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!

Recipe by Anadi Misra