These baked garlic parmesan wings are crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and full of amazing flavor! We’ve perfected how to bake them in a way that’s easy and gives you the best flavor and crunch!
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I’m a huge fan of wings, but I typically prefer the boneless kind because wings tend to be a lot of work to eat for very little meat reward.
These wings are the exception. We made this recipe after trying the Buffalo Wild Wings parmesan garlic wings and realizing they were better as bone-in!
You’ll start by marinating the wings in a garlic salt, bake the wings, and then coat the baked wings in a parmesan garlic sauce. They are crispy and flavorful on the outside and so tender on the inside. The work to make and eat them is totally worth the effort!
The most important part of this recipe is how you bake the wings. We tested out various methods for cooking them – air frying, baking on a sheet pan, and baking them on a cooling rack + sheet pan. The third method works so much better for getting you a crispy crust because the heat can flow through all the holes in the cooling rack getting all the skin!
If you’ve never tried baking chicken this way, it’s the perfect hack for getting that crispy skin! Serve them with this buffalo chicken dip, queso fundido, and these spinach and artichoke cups for a delicious dinner or one of the best Super Bowl snacks.
Ingredients in Parmesan and Garlic Wings
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Parmesan cheese – you need to use grated parmesan for this recipe, ideally finely grated. Shredded won’t work to coat these like the grated.
- Chicken wings – you can use either just wings or both wings and drumsticks, I prefer the drumsticks personally, but that’s just because they have more meat per wing.
- Parsley – you can use either dried or fresh parsley.
- Avocado oil – I like avocado because it’s flavorless, but you could technically use olive oil as well if that’s all you have.
- Garlic – you’ll need both garlic powder (we use granulated garlic) as well as fresh garlic that’s minced. The garlic powder is for marinating the wings before they bake and the fresh garlic is in the sauce you coat the wings with after they’re baked.
How to make Garlic parmesan wings
The actual method of how you make these is super important, especially since the recipe itself is fairly simple.
1 – Prep your materials
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and move your oven rack to the middle if it’s on the bottom or top of the oven.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easier cleanup. If you don’t have parchment paper, you can skip this step. You’ll just have to clean the baking sheet!
- Place an oven safe wire rack on top of the parchment paper. This is key – the wire rack will allow the hot air in the oven to evenly bake and crisp up all of the chicken wing skin.
2 – Marinate and Bake the Chicken Wings
- Combine your oil, salt, and garlic powder in a large bowl or plastic bag. Using a plastic bag means no dishes, either one works fine.
- Toss the wings in the seasoning, making sure to get them all coated. You can either use tongs or your hands to move them around to get coated.
- Once the wings are all coated, place them in a single layer, evenly spaced on the wire rack. If you have more than one layer of wings, do a second rack rather than putting them super close together.
- Roast the wings for 25 minutes, then flip your wings, ideally while still in the heat of the oven. After flipping, roast for another 20-25 minutes or until the outside of the wings is browned and crispy.
You’ll know the wings are done when both sides are crispy and brown.
3 – Make the garlic Parmesan Sauce
When the wings have about five minutes left, make the garlic parmesan sauce so it’s ready as soon as the wings are done.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan. As soon as the butter has melted, add garlic and parsley and cook for 1 minute – stirring often to keep the garlic from burning.
- Pour the sauce into a large glass bowl then add your cheese and stir to combine everything together.
- Add the hot wings to the sauce and toss until well coated. Just like when coating in the oil mixture, use tongs to gently toss the wings in the sauce.
Serve immediately while still warm to enjoy the crispy outside and moist and juicy inside. You can either enjoy these on their own or serve them on a platter with ranch dressing for dipping, because ranch dressing is good with everything!
How to Store leftover wings
If you have leftover wings, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Reheat the wings by placing them in a cold oven on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, turning the oven on to 350 degrees, and letting the wings heat up with the oven.
Helpful Tips
Bake on a wire metal rack to get a crispy skin on your wings. The hot air of the oven needs to be able to circulate around, including underneath, to make the wings crispy. And the fat needs to drip down away from the wings to keep it crisp. We like this rack for baking.
Use parchment paper for easy clean-up. If you skip the parchment paper, you’ll end up having to scrape caramelized chicken fat off the baking sheet, which I can tell you from experience is not fun.
Don’t make the sauce early so the butter doesn’t start to solidify again. You want it to be nice and warm to coat the wings nicely.
Recipe FAQs
Do I have to use the wire baking rack?
While you don’t have to use the wire baking rack, this is the best method for getting the crispy skin on the outside of the chicken. You could just bake them directly on the baking sheet, the skin will likely be a little softer.
Can I make these in the air fryer?
While you can make these in the air fryer, I highly recommend baking them in the oven using the baking sheet + wire rack method!
Baked Garlic Parmesan Wings
Ingredients
Wings
- 2 Tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 pounds chicken wings
Sauce
- 5 Tablespoons salted butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley or 2 TBS fresh parsley, chopped
- ⅓ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Pull out your chicken wings 30 minutes before you are ready to cook to allow them to come to room temperature.
- Position your oven rack in the middle of the oven. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F convection or 425 degrees F non-convection.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (Optional, but makes cleanup easier.) Place an oven-safe wire rack in the lined baking sheet.
- Combine the avocado oil, salt, and garlic powder in a large bowl or ziplock bag.2 Tablespoons avocado oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Toss the wings in the seasoning and place them in a single layer, evenly spaced on the wire rack.2 pounds chicken wings
- Roast the wings for 25 minutes.
- Flip the wings over and roast for another 20 minutes or until the chicken is browned and crispy.
- 5 minutes before the wings are done, melt the butter in a small saucepan or pot over medium heat.5 Tablespoons salted butter
- Immediately after the butter has melted, add the garlic and parsley and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously. Be careful not to burn or brown the garlic.4 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- Pour the sauce in a large, clean bowl; add the cheese; and stir to combine.1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Add the wings to the sauce and toss until well-coated.
- Serve immediately while still warm.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Info
More Easy Chicken Recipes
If you like chicken, try these chicken recipes next!
- Coconut chicken tenders – serve these with coconut rice for a delicious dinner!
- Chicken teriyaki bowl – marinated chicken gets topped with a simple teriyaki sauce and veggies!
- Instapot chicken tacos – the easiest chicken tacos ever, made all in the Instapot!
- Greek lemon chicken recipe – easy chicken thighs with Greek seasoning and lemon!
- Almond chicken – tender chicken breast encrusted in crunchy almond coating.
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