These lemon pepper wings are crispy fried chicken wings brushed with lemon pepper butter. An easy appetizer or main course that’s even better than the restaurant version!
You can’t eat just one of these deliciously addictive lemon pepper wings! They’re great for game day alongside other hearty appetizer recipes, or serve them over Instant Pot mashed potatoes with a side of roasted broccoli for a fabulous dinner option.
I can never resist ordering chicken wings at restaurants. They’re incredibly crispy on the outside, yet juicy and tender on the inside. Add a savory lemon pepper butter and you have the absolute best lemon pepper wings imaginable!
Table of Contents
Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need chicken wings, flour, salt, pepper, oil, butter, lemon pepper seasoning and parsley.
How do You Make Lemon Pepper wings?
This recipe starts with party style chicken wings, which are simply chicken wings that have been cut into two pieces. I feel that party wings are easier to eat and cook more evenly than whole chicken wings. Coat the wings in seasoned flour, then deep fry them in small batches until crispy and golden brown. Let the wings cool on a paper towel to absorb excess grease, and repeat the process until all the wings are fried. In a small bowl, combine melted butter and lemon pepper seasoning to make the sauce. Brush the sauce all over the wings, then sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve. I like to garnish my wings with lemon wedges and sprigs of parsley, but those are optional additions.
Tips For the Perfect Wings
- Use a thermometer to make sure your frying oil is at the correct temperature. You want your oil to be somewhere between 350 and 375 degrees F. If the oil is too hot, the wings will burn before the insides cook through. If the oil is too cold, your wings may absorb excess oil and be overly greasy. The right temperature oil will help to seal in all those flavorful juices!
- I typically use peanut oil to fry my wings, although any oil with a high smoke point will work, such as vegetable oil, avocado oil or canola oil.
- You can serve your wings as-is, or add a dip on the side such as ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing.
- When I purchased my lemon pepper for this recipe, I read the ingredients of 4 different brands and they varied quite a bit. Some lemon pepper brands contain salt, others use citric acid instead of actual lemon zest, and some even use yellow food coloring! I recommend choosing one with a more natural ingredient list that includes black pepper and real lemon.
Quick Tip
These wings are best served immediately when they’re piping hot and super crispy.
Recipe FAQs
My lemon pepper sauce is a simple mixture of lemon pepper seasoning and butter. Brush the sauce all over the wings for maximum flavor.
Lemon pepper is fairly mild on the spice scale. It contains black pepper, but does not contain any spicier chili peppers.
If you don’t have a bottle of lemon pepper seasoning in the house, make your own by combining 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest.
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Baked Lemon Pepper Wings
If you prefer, you can bake these wings in the oven. To make baked wings, you’ll want to skip the flour coating and instead brush your wings with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake your wings on a wire rack set on a baking sheet at 425 degrees F for 45-50 minutes, or until deep golden brown and crispy. Brush with the lemon pepper butter as directed in the recipe, sprinkle with parsley, then serve. You won’t get quite the same coating as you will in the frying method, but the baked version is still totally delicious!
Flavor Variations
This recipe is fabulous as-is, but you can customize the sauce or add dips to take it to the next level.
- Sauce: Instead of mixing lemon pepper into the melted butter, try other spices such as BBQ rub, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning or even chili powder. You can also grab some fresh lemons and add a squeeze of lemon juice to the butter mixture.
- Dips: While ranch is a classic pairing with wings, other great options include BBQ sauce, fry sauce, yum yum sauce or honey mustard sauce.
- Chicken: No wings on hand? You can bake up chicken drumsticks or thighs and brush the lemon pepper sauce over them for a similar taste.
If you love lemon pepper, you’ll adore these flavorful little wings. They’re a welcome addition to any party, or serve them up as a fun and unexpected dinner option!
More Chicken Wing Recipes
Baked Buffalo Wings
1 hr 5 mins
Slow Cooker Chicken Wings
5 hrs 15 mins
Fried Chicken Wings
50 mins
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
34 mins
Baked Barbecue Chicken Wings
1 hr 5 mins
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Lemon Pepper Wings
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken wings party style wings cut into sections
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- oil for frying
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- lemon wedges and parsley sprigs for serving optional
Instructions
- Place the flour in a large bowl and season with the salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Place the chicken wings in the bowl; gently toss to coat with flour mixture.
- Heat 4 inches of oil in a large pot to 350 degrees F.
- Add the chicken wings to the pot in batches of about 6-8 wings. Fry for 10-12 minutes or until wings are deep golden brown and cooked through. Repeat with remaining wings.
- In a small bowl, combine the butter and lemon pepper seasoning. Brush the butter mixture over the chicken wings and toss to coat. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
- Garnish with lemon wedges and parsley sprigs if desired.
Notes
- Use a thermometer to make sure your frying oil is at the correct temperature. You want your oil to be somewhere between 350 and 375 degrees F. If the oil is too hot, the wings will burn before the insides cook through. If the oil is too cold, your wings may absorb excess oil and be overly greasy.
- I typically use peanut oil to fry my wings, although any oil with a high smoke point will work, such as vegetable oil or canola oil.
SO easy to make and SO GOOD!!! Yum! We did just drumsticks and it was ‘finger-lickin good!’ very moist chicken for the thin breading. A do again and again and again recipe!
So glad this recipe came up in my notifications. It’s fabulous! Lots of punchy lemon pepper flavor and the wings were wonderfully crispy without being dry. I usually stick to making buffalo wings and this was my first attempt at lemon pepper wings. No regrets and I’ll be making these again and again. Delicious! Thank you so much for sharing.
This recipe is basically good but one caution regarding the salt used. I made the mistake of salting the flour per the recipe and then using a store bought lemon pepper seasoning without regard for the salt in the seasoning. Unfortunately the seasoning I used had salt as the #1 ingredient. I was glad I tasted the first batch that came out of the hot oil and found out how salty they were. I threw out the flour and then used just plain flour with some pepper added. Don’t make the same mistake I did and check the amount of salt in your seasoning first.
MY SON LOVES LEMON PEPPER CHICKEN , SO I’M GOING TO TRY TONIGHT
THEY LOOKS GOOD LOVE LEMON PEPPER SEASON ANYWAY
An explosion of flavor in your mouth! Really tasty!
I want to bake lemon pepper chicken wings, should I just leave the flour out of the recipe?
Yes that’s fine!
you’ll get more crunch if you flour and fry your wings vs. baking them. both are good though.
Will I still get that extra crispy crunch of the wings if I dont use the flour?
They will still be crispy, they just won’t have a coating on them!
This will be my time making these lemon pepper wings and I’m hoping I don’t mess them up.
Not as crunchy as it would be with flour but it will have a little crunch
These quite literally just became a staple. I made them last night and they were the hit of dinner. Some may find that the wings don’t pick up enough of the seasoning either from the brush or tossing, toss or brush anyways, and just give it another layer of seasoning – it won’t be to much.
Definitely making these again soon. Better than take out! I’m serious!
Simple but OHHHHH so good! I added a little Lawry’s garlic salt to the butter and lemon pepper which added an additional level of flavor. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
This receipe is absolutely delicious, easy to follow, & great on time! Thank you for sharing your exremly tasty lemon pepper chicken wings recipe! My family absolutely enjoyed every bit!
These make my mouth water! Going to make them tomorrow!
I will have to try this . My family loves chicken wings and their favorite is korean style wings (crispy fried with soy garlic sauce). The lemon pepper sauce sounds like it is also going to be a winner. Thanks for the recipe!
So yummy! This recipe is perfect for the Superbowl game party! Thanks for sharing!
I love lemon pepper wings! It’s very refreshing and it’s a good finger food. I would love to try your recipe! Yummy!
Ok, so I have never had Lemon Pepper wings but it does look really appetizing. The calorie content is also good for such delicious looking fare.
I love fried chicken! Your recipe of adding lemon and pepper looks awesome. I’ll add this to my list of new recipes that I’d try.
My husband would love these! I am curious how the lemon pepper would taste with cauliflower wings since I’m a vegetarian. I’ll have to try it when I make the wings for my family and the cauliflower wings for me.
oh my goodness this looks so scrumptious! i love anything with lemon and pepper so will definitely have to try this recipe. thank you for sharing!
I’ve had wings in lots of different ways, but I’ve never had lemon pepper wings. Those look so good!