Buffalo Wild Wings-Style Garlic Parmesan Sauce

It Makes Everything Taste Better

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
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Updated on 02/22/24
Tested by Tara Omidvar
Buffalo Wild Wings-style Garlic Parmesan sauce in a jar with basil, Parmesan, and lemon

The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 25 mins
Refrigeration Time: 2 hrs
Total: 2 hrs 35 mins
Servings: 4 servings

A tasty sauce can take something as simple as wings from good to great. That's the case with this garlic Parmesan dipping sauce. If it tastes familiar, that's because it was inspired by the beloved version at Buffalo Wild Wings.

While the restaurant chain now bottles and sells its many signature sauces, this homemade recipe is equally flavorful without all the shelf-stable preservatives. Mix up a big batch for your next Super Bowl party, or keep in the fridge for all your everyday wing, nugget, and fry dipping purposes.

The Key Ingredients to a Next-Level Garlic Parmesan Sauce

The tangy, spicy mixture of mayonnaise with Italian seasonings and garlic gets amped up with a generous amount of spicy crushed red pepper and a bit of Parmesan cheese. Roasting the garlic cloves mellows any sharpness, bringing out some of their sweetness, and is the key to the sauce's flavor.

Is the Buffalo Wild Wings Garlic Parmesan Sauce Spicy?

A small hot red chile pepper gives the sauce a pop of color along with extra heat, but if you prefer a milder version, feel free to use a tablespoon or two of sweet red bell pepper and cut back on the crushed red pepper flakes.

Tips for Making Garlic Parmesan Sauce

  • For the best flavor, make the sauce early in the day or a day in advance and refrigerate so the ingredients can meld together.
  • Roasted garlic adds flavor to many dishes, such as pasta sauces, dressings, and marinades. When you roast garlic for this recipe, double or triple the amount and freeze the extra roasted garlic cloves for future use in dishes such as mashed potatoes or mushroom roasted garlic pizza.
  • It's easy to turn this tasty dip into a delicious creamy salad dressing. Just whisk in a few tablespoons of olive oil or thin it out with a bit of water or cream. Drizzle the dressing over a wedge of iceberg lettuce or fresh spring greens.

What to Serve With This Sauce

This copycat garlic Parmesan sauce goes well with so many things! It's ideal, of course, for chicken wings, but it's also excellent with fried fish or shrimp, as well as deep-fried vegetables. Use it to amp up any of these dishes:

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"It's a great sauce to pair with any wings, especially Buffalo Wings. If you like garlic as much as I do, this is a perfect sauce recipe. Otherwise, I would recommend using less garlic. Keep in mind that the more it sits in the fridge (preferably overnight), the stronger the flavors." —Tara Omidvar

Buffalo Wild Wings-Style Garlic Parmesan Sauce alongside a plate of wings
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 6 cloves garlic

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise

  • 1 teaspoon sugar, or a sugar replacement

  • 2 to 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1/4 teaspoon dried basil

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

  • 1 red Fresno chile pepper, minced (1 to 2 teaspoons), optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for garlic Parmesan sauce gathered

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

  2. Heat the oven to 350 F. Peel the garlic cloves and put them in a small baking dish or ramekin. Pour the olive oil over the garlic and cover the baking dish tightly with foil. Bake the garlic for 25 minutes until it softens.

    Garlic cloves covered with olive oil in a ramekin

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

  3. Let the garlic cool slightly and then mash until it is smooth.

    Roasted garlic mashed with a fork on a white plate

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

  4. Combine the mashed garlic with the remaining ingredients (including the optional minced pepper) in a bowl.

    Garlic Parmesan dipping sauce ingredients whisked together in a metal bowl

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

  5. Whisk the ingredients until the mixture is smooth and well blended.

    Garlic Parmesan dipping sauce ingredients combined together in a bowl with a whisk

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

  6. Transfer the dipping sauce to a jar and refrigerate it for at least a few hours or overnight.

    Garlic Parmesan dipping sauce in a jar with a spoon of Parmesan cheese

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

  7. Serve the sauce with chicken wings, fried tenders or chicken strips, fried fish, or crudités.

    Buffalo Wild Wings-style garlic Parmesan dipping sauce with chicken wings

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

How to Store

This dip requires refrigeration. Cover and use within 1 week.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
248 Calories
25g Fat
4g Carbs
2g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 248
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 25g 32%
Saturated Fat 4g 22%
Cholesterol 15mg 5%
Sodium 410mg 18%
Total Carbohydrate 4g 1%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 2g
Vitamin C 2mg 9%
Calcium 51mg 4%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 45mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)