Garlic parmesan wings
40 min · 31 g protein · 397 cals / serving
Crackly air-fried wings tossed while they are still hot in fresh garlic butter, then in a snow of parmesan and parsley that clings to every ridge. No batter and no fryer: a spoonful of baking powder does the crisping. Served with a cool garlic yogurt dip and a big pile of cold celery and carrot sticks, which is how wings are meant to go down on game day. Wing skin is where the flavour lives and it keeps this a mid-score snack.
Ingredients
Wings
- 2 1/4 lb raw wings (about 20 pieces) chicken wings, split into flats and drums, patted very dry; the weight is the cooked meat and skin you eat
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, aluminium-free, not baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Garlic parmesan
- 2 tbsp butter
- 5 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan, finely grated
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
To serve
- 4 stalks celery, cut into sticks
- 2 medium carrots, cut into sticks
- 1/2 lemon, in wedges
- 3/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt, stirred with a little grated garlic, lemon and parsley
Steps
- Dry the wings thoroughly with paper towels, then toss them in a bowl with the baking powder, salt, garlic powder and pepper until every piece has a thin, even dusting. If you have time, leave them uncovered on a rack in the fridge for an hour or up to overnight; the drier the skin, the crisper it gets.
- Heat the air fryer to 400°F. Cook the wings in a single layer, in batches if needed, for 20–24 minutes, turning halfway, until deeply golden and crackly and the meat by the bone reads 165°F. Oven instead: on a rack over a lined tray at 450°F for 35–40 minutes, turning once.
- While the wings cook, melt the butter with the grated garlic in a small pan over low heat, or in the microwave in 20-second bursts, until it smells sweet and nutty but the garlic has not browned.
- Put the hot wings in a large bowl, pour over the garlic butter and toss. Add the parmesan, parsley and chilli flakes if using and toss again until the cheese sticks.
- Stir the yogurt with a little grated garlic, a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of salt and some of the parsley for the dip. Pile the wings onto a platter with the dip, the celery and carrot sticks and the lemon wedges and serve straight away, while the coating is still crisp.
Good to know
Why baking powder?
It raises the pH of the skin and helps it dry and blister, so wings crisp without batter or oil. Use baking powder, never baking soda, which tastes soapy at this amount.
Can I make them more buttery, like the takeout kind?
Double the butter to 4 tablespoons for a glossier, saucier coat. It is richer and the score drops to about 43 instead of 48.
Another dip?
The garlic yogurt dip here is cool and sharp against the rich coating. A Greek yogurt blue cheese dip works too, or skip the dip and go for extra lemon.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 159
- Protein
- (32%)
- 13 g
- Fat
- (58%)
- 10 g
- Carbohydrates
- (10%)
- 4 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 465 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1589 kcal goes into the pot and 1048 g of ingredients comes out as about 1000 g of food: 159 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.