Grilled chicken wings are the party food. Perfect as a snack and ideal for tailgating. Everyone has their favorite coating and dipping sauce. These grilled Cowboy Butter Chicken Wings will take your wing game to another level. They’re savory, spicy and buttery.
Using my simple 3 step process, you will be enjoying deliciously tender, juicy and crispy chicken wings all tailgating season long!
Looking for more saucy wing ideas, check out the fan favorite Garlic Parmesan Grilled Chicken Wings or if you’re looking for a little heat, you must try my Grilled Gochujang Wings.
Key Steps in grilling the Perfect Chicken Wings.
Prepping: In this step there are 3 main parts to consider when prepping chicken wings: Drying, Lubing, Seasoning. Each step plays an integral part in the final outcome.
Grill set up: No matter what type of grill you use, set up and heat distribution are vital in achieving the perfectly grilled chicken wings.
Grilling: Time and temperature are important pieces to achieving tender, juicy and crispy grilled chicken wings.
Ingredient list for Cowboy Butter Chicken Wings.
- Chicken wings: for this recipe I went with whole wings. However, party or detached wings will work here as well.
- Olive oil: binder for the seasoning on the wings.
- Seasoning: I used a mix of an all purpose rub and steak rub for the chicken wings.
- Butter: liquid base of the cowboy butter sauce
- Garlic: I used minced garlic to give the cowboy butter sauce a pungent kick.
- Pepper flakes: adds delicate heat levels to the rich and buttery sauce.
- Cayenne pepper: adds heat but also smokiness to the cowboy butter sauce.
- Worcestershire sauce: perfect tangy and savory notes to balance the fatty butter and spicy notes.
- Herbs: freshly chopped herbs for freshness and crunch at the end to breakthrough the richness of the sauce.
How to prep chicken wings
When gathering ingredients for the Cowboy Butter Chicken Wings recipe, think about the most important ingredient - the wings themselves. For this recipe, I used whole wings. However, party wings are the more popular choice amongst wing lovers. Purchasing them whole and detaching them yourself is the more economical approach, but requires more work.
I have a full blog on How to Grill the Perfect Chicken Wings. I go into all the detail around detaching whole wings, seasoning and the grilling process.
When seasoning wings, make sure they are dry. Remove them from the package and pat them dry with a paper towel. Get get the perfectly crispy skin, place them in the fridge for an hour to completely dry.
Next, apply olive oil to the outside of the wings. This will work not only as a binder for the seasoning, but will also get the skin nice and crispy during the grilling phase.
I seasoned the wings with Dad’s All Purpose Rub which adds the savory salt, pepper and paprika notes and then added Dad’s Steak Seasoning to get the herb, garlic and butter flavors.
Dad’s Seasonings
Must have grillin seasonings!
How to grill the perfect chicken wings
The secret to this Cowboy Butter Chicken Wing recipes or any wings is perfectly grilled wings. You want crispy skin and flavorful, juicy meat inside.
To do so, chicken wings need to grilled on the indirect heat side.
Pre-heat the grill to 450 degrees and set it for indirect heat. Place the seasoned chicken wings on the grates and cook for 45-60 minutes or until the wings internal temperature reaches 180 degrees. Flip the wings half way through to ensure an even cook throughout.
Recipe Tip
- Grill on indirect heat to avoid the skin from burning
- Grill at a higher temperature to get the skin crispy
Make a homemade Cowboy Butter sauce
While the chicken wings are on the grill, it’s time to make the cowboy butter sauce. This sauce is different than the more common hot or savory sauces for wings. It’s a mix of rich, buttery and spicy notes that just need a nice brush over the top.
These grilled cowboy butter chicken wings will be bursting with flavor!
In a saucepan, add a stick of unsalted butter, minced garlic, diced shallot, fresh parsley and chives, dry thyme, a dash of cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and Dad’s steak seasoning. Melt the ingredients over low heat until everything is nicely mixed together.
Recipe Tip
Adjust heat levels depending on spice preference.
Sauce up the Cowboy Butter Chicken Wings
There are 2 ways to coat these perfectly grilled chicken wings with the cowboy butter sauce. My recommendation is to brush this rich sauce over the wings while they are still on the grill. It helps keep the butter sauce soft and creates the perfect coating.
Another way is to remove the grilled chicken wings from the grill, let them rest and then toss in the sauce. This step is easier with party wings which are smaller and easier to coat with a flip.
Whichever step you take, make sure the rest the wings before serving. This allows the juices inside to redistribute making for not just a crispy and sauce bite, but juicy as well.
Before serving these delicious Cowboy Butter Chicken Wings, sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley over the top for a hint of freshness and enjoy!
What to do with leftover Cowboy Butter sauce
The beauty of working with butter is that it is re-heatable. If you made too much sauce, no problem! Pour the leftovers into a small container and reheat in the microwave or ideally in a sauce pan over the stove top. Over low heat, melt the butter and mix the contents of the sauce until the liquid is clear.
Use the cowboy butter sauce for dipping of any protein or over veggies or baked potatoes. Don’t let this delicious sauce go to waste!
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do I get crispy skin on my wings? The trick to crispy skin is to cook the wings at a higher temperature. I like the range between 350-375 degrees. Tossing your wings in olive oil before seasoning will also help.
What is the best way to reheat wings? I like to use an air fryer or oven to reheat my wings. Set the temp to 350 degrees, add the wings and they should be ready in 10 minutes. Using the oven or air fryer will keep the skin crispy.
If you tried this Cowboy Butter Chicken Wings or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the📝 comments. I love hearing from you!
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Cowboy Butter Chicken Wings
These grilled Cowboy Butter Chicken Wings will take your wing game to another level. They're savory, spicy, buttery and perfectly grilled.
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword cowboy butter sauce, grilled wings, chicken wings, tailgating, game day, grilin with dad recipes, grilling with dad recipes, saucy wings.
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes minutes
Servings 4 People
Calories 786kcal
Chicken Wing Ingredients
- 2 lbs Chicken wings
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tbsp Dad's All purpose rub
- 2 tbsp Dad's Steak seasoning
Cowboy Butter Sauce Ingredients
- 2 sticks Unsalted butter
- 1 Shallot
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp Minced garlic
- 1 tbsp Dad's Steak seasoning
- 1 tbsp Fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp Chives
- 1 tbsp Crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp Dry thyme
- 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
With a paper towel, pat the wings dry. Make sure to get all sides.
Lightly drizzle the wings with olive oil and season with Dad's All Purpose and Steak seasonings.
Preheat the grill to a high 450 degrees and set for indirect heat.
Place the seasoned wings directly on the grates and cook for about 40 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Flip the half way.
While the wings are on the grill, make the cowboy butter sauce. In a skillet, add unsalted butter, minced garlic, diced shallot, fresh parsley and chives, dry thyme, a dash of cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and Dad's steak seasoning. Melt the ingredients over low heat until everything is nicely mixed together.
Brush the sauce over the wings just just before removing them from the grill.
Remove the cowboy butter chicken wings from the grill and rest 5-10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
DO NOT wash the chicken after it’s been removed from the packing. This will only add moisture. The cooking process will kill off any bacteria on the meat.
DO NOT drench the chicken wings in oil. Light drizzle is enough.
DON’T BE SHY on the seasoning. Some of the seasoning will either burn off during the grilling process or fall off. Adjust heat levels in the sauce to your liking.
Grill time will depend on the outside temperature. Grilling in freezing cold weather will impact and slow down the cook time and heat levels. Be sure to keep an eye on those wings and temps.
Grilling wings to a 175-185 degrees internally on high heat will not dry them out. Meat around the bone needs more time to cook for the fat to break down and tenderize the meat. Calories: 786kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 71g | Saturated Fat: 36g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 23g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 216mg | Sodium: 273mg | Potassium: 534mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2940IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 323mg | Iron: 10mg
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