These Garlic Parmesan Air Fryer Boneless Chicken Wings are double breaded and air fried until golden, crispy and juicy. They’re made with sliced boneless skinless chicken breast, dipped in egg and dredged in flour with a generous amount of grated parmesan and garlic powder. They air fry in just 10-12 minutes, and require much less oil than frying. There is no sauce or melted butter coating for this recipe as all of the garlic parmesan flavor is packed into the crispy breading. While you can serve them on their own, your favorite dipping sauce like ranch or buffalo, works well too. Make these boneless wings for an appetizer, snack or game day party food!
To keep things simple, I usually serve these wings with store-bought ranch or buffalo sauce (and, of course, some celery and carrot sticks). But, if you’re looking for a homemade dip or sauce, this mayo-free chipotle dip (made with cashews) is a delicious one to try. You can also try the honey garlic sauce I use for my chicken thighs recipe.
Table of contents
The crispiest boneless chicken wings
There are three things that make these the crispiest boneless wings – the double breading, the parmesan and a little spray oil.
- When I first tested this recipe, I coated the chicken in one layer of egg and flour. While the results were crispy, I wanted them even crispier, along with a thicker coating of breading. So, I doubled up on the layers of egg and flour for my next test, and the results were just what I was looking for – thick, golden and crispy breading!
- The crispy texture is helped by a good amount of finely grated parmesan that’s added to the flour coating. The fine texture of the parmesan blends in well with the flour and clings to the egg coating on the chicken.
- Lastly, once the chicken is doubled breaded, you need to spray both sides with oil. This also helps to crisp up the breading as the chicken air fries.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
The following is a quick breakdown of the key ingredients for the recipe and my suggestions for substitutions. For the full list of ingredients, scroll to the recipe card below.
- Chicken – You’ll need 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or about 1 1/2 pounds. Depending on how large you like your boneless wings, you can get about 12-14 pieces from 2 breasts.
- Parmesan – For the best results, I recommend buying a block of parmesan and grating it yourself, instead of relying on the packages of pre-shredded cheese. The fresh parmesan will taste and melt better, while the pre-shredded cheese often contains other ingredients to prevent clumping, so it doesn’t melt as smoothly. You can also use grana padano or pecorino romano in place of parmesan.
- Flour – All-purpose white flour is a basic ingredient for breading. Feel free to substitute with whole wheat flour or gluten-free 1-to-1 flour.
- Eggs – Two large eggs (whisked with milk) help the flour coating stick to the chicken.
- Garlic – I prefer to use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic as it mixes well with the flour/parmesan mixture and sticks more evenly to the chicken. I haven’t tested this recipe with fresh minced garlic.
- Other seasonings – I paired the garlic powder with a little salt, onion powder and paprika. If you’d like to spice it up a bit, you can use smoked paprika or a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- Oil – I like to use a spray oil as it’s easier to lightly apply a thin coating of oil on the chicken. You can fill a spray bottle with your favorite oil or use a store-bought spray oil. I used avocado oil here.
How to make boneless chicken wings in the air fryer
Even though this recipe requires double breading, it’s still quite easy to make! Below is a brief overview of the steps along with photos.
Leanne’s tips for recipe success
- Size of chicken pieces. While the chicken pieces don’t have to be completely uniform in size, you’ll want them to be roughly the same thickness so they cook at the same time.
- Finely grated parmesan. I use the smallest holes on a box grater so the parmesan is finely grated (instead of larger shreds). This makes it fine enough to mix in with the flour and helps it evenly coat the chicken.
- Use tongs for less mess. To keep your fingers from getting clumped up with breading, you can use tongs to move the chicken pieces between the flour and egg mixtures.
- Grease air fryer basket. To prevent the breaded chicken from sticking to the basket, be sure to grease the basket with spray oil before adding the chicken.
- Don’t overlap chicken. To ensure the chicken cooks quickly and evenly, don’t overlap the chicken pieces. I have a 5.8 quart air fryer and 12 pieces fit in my air fryer basket. If you have a smaller capacity air fryer, you will need to air fry the chicken in 2 batches or cut the recipe in half.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can substitute boneless skinless thighs in this recipe. Just note that you will need to increase the air frying time slightly.
I haven’t tested this particular recipe with breadcrumbs so I’m not sure if the double dredging process will have the same results as flour. If you’re looking for a chicken recipe with breadcrumbs as breading, these air fryer chicken bites are made with a crispy panko crumb breading.
If you skipped the double breading and only coated the chicken in one layer of egg and flour, this could impact how crispy the chicken gets. You also don’t want to skip the spray oil on both sides of the chicken as this helps make it crispy. Also, make sure you flip the chicken so both sides crisp up evenly.
The breading will get soft in the fridge, so I like to air fry any leftovers so the breading crisps up again. This just takes 4-6 minutes at 350F in the air fryer.
More crispy air fryer chicken recipes
- Homemade Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Patties
- Air Fryer Cornflake Chicken Strips
- Air Fryer Chicken Schnitzel
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below!
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Description
These Garlic Parmesan Air Fryer Boneless Chicken Wings are double breaded and air fried until golden, juicy and crispy. They also require less oil than frying!
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- 1/2 cup (70g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (40g) finely grated fresh parmesan
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons milk
- spray oil
Instructions
- Grease the bottom of your air fryer basket with spray oil.
- Slice each chicken breast into roughly 6-7 pieces. This depends on how large you like your wings. I usually go for sizes between a nugget and a tender, so they have a chance of resembling wings.
- Add the flour, parmesan, garlic powder, paprika, salt and onion powder to a shallow bowl and whisk together.
- In another shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.
- Dip a piece of chicken in the egg mixture and let any excess drip off.
- Dredge the same piece of chicken in flour and shake off any excess.
- Dip the chicken in the egg mixture again.
- Finish up by coating it again in the flour mixture.
- Place the piece of chicken in the air fryer basket and repeat with all the pieces of chicken.
- Spray the tops of the chicken with oil.
- Air fry at 400F for 6 minutes. Pull the basket out, carefully flip the wings over and spray with oil. Air fry for another 4-6 minutes, or until crispy and golden and the internal temperature of the chicken is 165F.
Notes
- While the chicken pieces don’t have to be completely uniform in size, you’ll want them to be roughly the same thickness so they cook at the same time.
- I use the smallest holes on a box grater so the parmesan is finely grated (instead of larger shreds). This makes it fine enough to mix in with the flour and helps it evenly coat the chicken.
- To keep your fingers from getting clumped up with breading, you can use tongs to move the chicken pieces between the flour and egg mixtures.
- To ensure the chicken cooks quickly and evenly, don’t overlap the chicken pieces. I have a 5.8 quart air fryer and 12 pieces fit in my air fryer basket. If you have a smaller capacity air fryer, you will need to air fry the chicken in 2 batches or cut the recipe in half.
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