Get the most crispy and juicy garlic parmesan chicken in your air fryer with so little effort! Loaded with flavor, these drumsticks are a real crowd pleaser!
Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
Get ready for the most delicious drumsticks, all thanks to our trusty air fryer!
So quick and easy to prep and cook, this garlic parmesan chicken is perfect to serve as an easy appetizer, or serve them up with your favorite sides for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
If you love these, be sure to check out my pressure cooker drumstick and BBQ drumstick recipes!
Why You’ll Love this Air Fried Garlic Parmesan Chicken:
- Quick: It takes minutes to prep these drumsticks and then just let the air fryer do it’s thing. Easy peasy!
- Kid-friendly: If you have some picky eaters to feed, I’m sure they’ll be super happy with these!
- Healthier: Because the chicken is cooked in the air fryer, rather than deep frying, you still get perfectly succulent and crispy chicken, but without the need for loads of oil.
How to make Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Chicken Drumsticks
- Coat the drumsticks in baking powder.
- Toss in the garlic and parm seasoning mix.
- Place the drumsticks in the air fryer basket.
- Cook, flipping half way.
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
Do you need to use fresh parmesan?
You can make these drumsticks with pre-grated or fresh parm, but I do find the texture and flavor is better with fresh. Pre-grated parmesan can be a bit dry and grainy, and it’s flavor isn’t as pronounced. Opt for fresh if you can, but pre-grated will get the job done.
Reheating
Reheating these garlic parmesan chicken drumsticks is so effortless with the air fryer and they taste like they’ve been freshly cooked. Any leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Before reheating, let the chicken come up to room temperature and pre heat the air fryer to 375F. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until heated through to serve.
Can you bake them in the oven?
If you don’t have an air fryer (go and get one!) you can make this delicious chicken in the oven too. I won’t be quite as crispy, but it will still be super tasty!
Coat the drumsticks as per the recipe, then cook them in an oven at 375F for 30 to 40 minutes until cooked through.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Pat the skin dry before coating the drumsticks in the baking powder and seasonings. This helps to remove excess moisture and gets them super crispy.
- Don’t overcrowd the air fryer basket. The drumsticks should be in a single layer otherwise they won’t cook evenly. Cook them in two batches if needed.
- Check that the chicken is cooked through by using an instant read thermometer. It should register at 165F.
- Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving, this will help them to get nice and juicy.
One word of warning, be sure to cook up a double batch of this air fryer garlic parmesan chicken, because it will disappear quickly!
More Air Fryer recipes we love
If you’ve made this recipe, please be sure to let us know by leaving a star rating or a comment below. Enjoy!
Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs. chicken drumsticks
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
Instructions
- Pat the chicken drumsticks dry. I prefer to peel off the skin, you can leave the skin as it will give more crisp to chicken.
- In a large bowl, mix chicken drumsticks and baking powder together and set aside.
- In a plate, combine parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, salt, and ground pepper.
- Coat the chicken drumstick with the parmesan herb mix until it is well coated.
- Spray the air fryer basket with oil. Place the prepared chicken drumstick in a single layer. Do not overlap the chicken drumsticks.
- Place the basket in air fryer and air fry at 380*F for 24 minutes, flipping through halfway.
- Increase the temperature to 400*F and air fry for about 5-6 minutes.
- Remove the air fried chicken drumsticks from air fryer basket and place it in a plate.
- Serve the crispy garlic parmesan drumsticks with your favorite sauce.
Notes
- Pat the skin dry before coating the drumsticks in the baking powder and seasonings. This helps to remove excess moisture and gets them super crispy.
- Don’t overcrowd the air fryer basket. The drumsticks should be in a single layer otherwise they won’t cook evenly. Cook them in two batches if needed.
- Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving, this will help them to get nice and juicy.
Renee says
Tried. Zero percent of the Parm mixture stuck to the drumsticks.
Becky Hardin says
I am sorry it didn’t work out for you!
Jenn burdick says
I loved this recipe easy easy ! Thanks for the tips also . Made my Father’s Day dinner easy !
Becky Hardin says
I’m so glad to hear that, Jenn!