Garlic Butter Chicken Wings with Cowboy Butter made in the air fryer are the fastest and most delicious way to eat wings!

Jump to:
- What is Cowboy Butter?
- Ingredients
- Equipment
- What is an Air Fryer?
- Recipe Variations
- More Chicken Wing Recipes
- Cowboy Butter Inspired Garlic Chicken Wings
- Garlic Butter Chicken Wings
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One of our most popular recipes here on Juggling Act Mama is Cowboy Butter, so I've developed this garlic chicken wings recipe using Cowboy Butter as my inspiration. (You might also like to check out our Cowboy Steak Rub recipe, which is super delish too!
Using the air fryer for our garlic chicken wings means they not only cook quickly, but also they're browned and crispy just as they should be. In fact, Mr. Juggling Act said that these air fryer chicken wings are better than any oven recipe we've ever made!
This recipe SO good that it made our top recipes of 2018 list, and the Cowboy Butter is listed first on of Top 5 Recipes of all time!
What is Cowboy Butter?
Cowboy Butter is an amazing compound butter with fresh parsley, garlic and a couple other ingredients that was developed by Ree Drummond, better known as The Pioneer Woman.
It's absolutely amazing on chicken, steak, baked potatoes, garlic bread, and so much more. You can get my recipe for Cowboy Butter here. It's super easy to make and fantastic to keep on hand for entertaining especially.
Make a double batch and freeze half of it. It will keep in the freezer for several months - not that it will last long because you're going to want to put it on everything!!

Ingredients
- salted butter
- fresh parsley
- fresh garlic
- red pepper flakes
- lemon
- black pepper
- chicken wings
- Dijon mustard
For a list of some of my favorite items to use when cooking, please visit my Kitchen Resource page.
Equipment
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- hand-held electric mixer
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Spoons
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Santoku Knife
- Air Fryer
- Spatula, Tongs
- Sheet pan
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What is an Air Fryer?
An Air Fryer is an easy-to-use countertop appliance that produces crispy food quickly with less fat than a deep fryer. Air Fryers are basically just a compact convection oven. By circulating hot air around a basket that holds your food, it cooks in a fraction of the time.
I mean, chicken wings in 20 minutes?!? Awesome, right?

Recipe Variations
Because we test all our recipes, we recommend that you make them once just as it is without substitutions or changes. Sometimes variations can go awry. Making garlic chicken wings recipe as we have tested it will yield the best results. If you really want to get creative, here are some ideas for variations that might work well. (Please note, we have not tested these variations).
- For a spicy kick, add a little hot sauce to the Cowboy Butter mixture before cooking the wings, and/or to the wing sauce.
- Up the ante on the flavors by marinating the wings in this delicious lemon garlic chicken marinade.
- Add a pinch of paprika to the wing sauce for a hint of smokiness to your garlic chicken wings.
- Use a tablespoon of minced fresh chives in the wing sauce for a subtle onion flavor that will compliment the garlic.
- Serve with my delicious Cowboy Butter Dipping Sauce, a delicious garlic butter sauce that will add even more savory garlic flavor to your wings.

More Chicken Wing Recipes
If you're a fan of chicken wings, you might also like to check out these tasty Game Day Wings recipes, especially:


Cowboy Butter Inspired Garlic Chicken Wings
These succulent garlic chicken wings are fantastic for entertaining and especially on game day!

Garlic Butter Chicken Wings
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Ingredients
- 12-16 chicken wings
Cowboy Butter
- 1 cup salted butter
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely minced
- pinch red pepper flake
- pinch coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- ½ lemon juiced and zested
Cowboy Butter Wing Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Cowboy Butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Instructions
Cowboy Butter
- Allow the butter to come to room temperature before starting. Beat the butter until creamy, then add in the parsley, red pepper flakes, black pepper, minced garlic, lemon juice and zest. Mix until well combined.1 cup salted butter, ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely minced, pinch red pepper flake, pinch coarsely ground black pepper, 1 clove garlic, finely minced, ½ lemon juiced and zested
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and set aside.
For the Wings
- Pat the wings dry and place them into a large mixing bowl.12-16 chicken wings
- Measure out 2 tablespoons of the cowboy butter into a small mixing bowl and melt in 10 second increments in the microwave.2 tablespoons Cowboy Butter, melted
- Drizzle the melted butter over the wings and toss to coat.
- Working in batches, place 6-8 wings into the air fryer basket. Set the Air Fryer to 400-degrees F for 10 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, use the tongs to turn the wings. Cook for another 10 minutes until the wings are golden brown and crispy.
For the Cowboy Butter Wing Sauce
- Measure out 2 tablespoons of the cowboy butter into a small mixing bowl and melt in 10 second increments in the microwave.2 tablespoons Cowboy Butter, melted
- Whisk in the Dijon mustard until well combined. Drizzle over the cooked wings and toss to coat. Serve immediately, or place on a foil lined sheet pan in the oven on WARM until ready to serve.1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
For the remainder of the Cowboy Butter:
- Place the leftover cowboy butter onto a piece of parchment paper and use the back of a spatula, spread out the mixture into a log shape. Roll the parchment paper up and twist the ends. Refrigerate for 1 week to be used on steak, chicken, baked potatoes, garlic bread, etc.
Equipment
- Spatula


Jess says
Looks good, I would love to make these yummy chicken wings!
Lindsey says
I would try your chicken wing recipe!
Ang Paris says
It's so easy to make wings with the air fryer!
Ken Ohl says
made these for a football party. everyone loved them - will make again.
Nicole says
These chicken wings are so good. That butter is incredible, I want to put it on everything!
Stephanie M Henson says
I love using my air fryer for wings! I will def have to try your recipe.
Athena says
These chicken wings are SO good! Thanks for the recipe, I'm always looking for new ways to use my air fryer.