These Air Fryer Garlic Knots are soft, fluffy, and topped with a homemade garlic-butter sauce! Using a 5-minute homemade pizza dough (or store-bought if you’re short on time), these will disappear from the table before you know it!

While testing out some recipes for my latest cookbook, Air Fried Boss.. I couldn’t help but make these Air-Fryer Garlic Knots. They are made using a from-scratch pizza dough recipe and only take 7 minutes to fully cook in your air fryer. I had another pun about these, but I decided knot to keep it in the post. Okay okay, I’m done! Try the recipe and let me know what you think.
Ingredients
- Active Dry Yeast – The recipe for my No Rise Homemade Pizza Dough uses 1 packet of active dry yeast. Don’t be intimidated with this ingredient… I show you one of the easiest (and quickest) ways to make pizza dough – without a mixer, too!
- All-Purpose Flour – You need a good amount of flour for the dough and to roll it out on a countertop or cutting board. If you’re using store-bought pizza dough, we’ll still need a little flour for the surface.
- Minced Garlic – No garlic powder here; we want that savory bite that comes from minced garlic. You can mince cloves yourself or use the jarred stuff if you have it on hand.
- Butter & Olive Oil Glaze – This is probably the best part of a soft and fluffy garlic knot. We brush a garlic-butter glaze on the knots twice – once before baking, then once after. There’s enough left for dipping too!
How to Make Garlic Knots in the Air Fryer
This recipe is so simple! All you do is separate your pizza dough, roll it out into ropes (I measured mine to be the length of a kitchen knife), “tie” them up, and brush with a buttery glaze.
Throw them in the air fryer for about 7 minutes until golden brown, then brush (or dip) in the garlic butter. You can also top with chopped parsley and grated parmesan to make it look pretty. They’ll be fluffy and soft on the inside, and just oh-so-delectable.
Serve these homemade garlic knots with a big salad, tomato soup, a marinara dip, or alongside your favorite homemade pizza for pizza night. Or just eat them as is!

FAQs
Yes! You can use pizza dough (although you’ll get a much better taste with my homemade recipe.) Simply skip the first 5 steps in the recipe card and go straight into shaping the premade dough.
Sure can. I’ve actually frozen the dough after shaping them, or you can also cook fully and then freeze. Just use a freezer reusable bag and seal well.
We don’t count carbs over here! But seriously, if you are concerned about carbs – there are pizza dough recipes out there that use greek yogurt instead of yeast that are lower carb/higher protein. Try one of those and then go straight into air frying.
Other Pizza Night Recipes You’ll Love!
Caprese Pizza with Balsamic Glaze
Personal Make-It-Your-Own Pizzas

Air Fryer Garlic Knots
Ingredients
No-Rise Homemade Pizza Dough
- 1 cup warm (not hot) water
- 1 packet active dry yeast (0.25 oz or 1 ½ tsp.)
- 1 tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
Garlic-Butter Glaze
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 330°F. Line the air fryer tray with parchment paper and spray the paper with non-stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, pour in the warm water.
- Add the active dry yeast and sugar; let sit for 5 minutes until the mixture is frothy.
- Pour in 1 tbsp. of olive oil and gently stir with a sptaula until combined.
- Add in the flour and salt; mix with the spatula until a slightly sticky ball forms. Create a dough ball, using a bit more flour if needed.
- Transfer dough ball to a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth.
- Slice dough into 16 sections (I start by halving the dough, then halving those halves, etc. until I get to 16.)
- Roll out each section dough into a long rope. Aim to make them at least the length of a kitchen knife. Take each string of dough and "tie' them into knots.
- In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp. of olive oil and 2 tbsp. of butter with the minced garlic and all seasonings.
- Brush the garlic-butter glaze onto each knot.
- Bake in the air fryer for 7 minutes, until knots are golden brown. Brush extra garlic-butter glaze on top of them and serve immediately. Enjoy!
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The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per serving: $0.23
- Total Cost (16 garlic knots): $0.90
- Those Other Guys: $7.99 per serving