Lemon-Pepper Chicken Wings
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 appetizer servings
- 2pounds chicken wings, whole or separated into wingettes and drumettes
- ¼cup olive oil
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 2lemons
- 2teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 1packed teaspoon dark brown sugar
- ½teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼teaspoon citric acid (optional; see Tip)
For the Chicken
For the Lemon Pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
1006 calories; 72 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 34 grams monounsaturated fat; 13 grams polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 80 grams protein; 1191 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Make the chicken wings: Heat oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. On the sheet pan, pat the chicken wings dry, and toss with the olive oil and salt until evenly coated.
- Step 2
Roast until the chicken skin is golden brown and crispy, turning once halfway through, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, make the lemon pepper: Finely grate about 2 teaspoons zest from the lemons onto another parchment paper-lined pan (a considerably smaller one works). Cut the lemons into wedges and set aside for serving. Add pepper to the zest, mix to combine and spread in an even layer. When the wings are done roasting, transfer them to a large mixing bowl and turn off the oven. Place the pan with the lemon zest and black pepper in the still-warm oven, letting the lemon zest dry out and the black pepper toast in the residual heat, 3 to 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn or brown the zest; it may darken in shade slightly but should still be a vibrant yellow.
- Step 4
In a small bowl, use your fingers to mix together the toasted lemon zest and black pepper with the salt, brown sugar, garlic powder and citric acid (if using) until well combined. Be sure to break up any clumps of sugar. Sprinkle 4 teaspoons of the lemon pepper over the wings and toss until evenly coated. Taste for seasoning, adding more lemon pepper as desired. (You can store the rest of the spice blend in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 1 month.)
- Step 5
Transfer the seasoned wings to a large platter and garnish with the lemon wedges. Serve immediately.
Tip
- Citric acid is the secret ingredient in most commercial lemon-pepper seasonings. An organic compound found in lemons and other citrus fruits, it is sold powdered (sometimes as sour salt) in the baking and spice aisles of supermarkets as well as online. It gives you an electric tartness without fresh juice. But if you don’t want to go this route, be sure to spritz the chicken wings with the lemon wedges right before serving (and do this anyway, even with the citric acid, as the sharpness is exhilarating).
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Ken G
Can you just use store bought lemon pepper?
Prakash Nadkarni
RE: Making seasoning stick You can combine melted butter/oil with fresh, semi-wet substitutes: minced garlic vs powder; 2 Tb lemon/lime juice vs citric acid; honey vs sugar. I'm still using a 5lb pack of citric acid bought 4 yrs ago (a powder in pure form, "sour salt"). 1-dimensional by itself, its concentrated sourness works for making jams, marmalade, lemon curd/custard. Dissolve some in vinegar for citrusy vinaigrettes, homemade mayo /aioli. Mild heat (e.g.,paprika) works well here.
ErinS
This recipe is amazing. One of the best things I ever ate. Thank you Eric!! Accidentally bought boneless wings - still worked (just ate with a knife & fork). To other commenters questions - I didn’t need to add anything to hold on seasoning, the pan juices & heat were enough.
Brandon
Haven’t cooked this yet but I’m wondering if the lemon pepper seasoning will really stick to the chicken after it’s crispy from the oven frying. Maybe could toss the chicken in some melted butter or a bit of olive oil before coating with the seasoning?
Ukulele Ike
Why not simply toss the wings with olive oil and Penzey’s lemon pepper before roasting?
lee
Kenji Lopez-Alt tosses wings with salt and baking powder and then dries them overnight in the fridge before roasting for a crispy coating. He then coats them with butter and hot sauce for a Buffalo wing vibe. I wonder if that might work for lemon pepper coating. Sounds delicious. I'm off to buy wings for the weekend.
MsryPat948
PS. This lemon pepper mixture is superior to any store bought brand. Give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.
KL
Substitute sichuan pepper either entirely or partially for extra zing
Michelle
I toss oven-fried wings in melted butter to get the lemon pepper to stick correctly. This isn't as necessary if the wings are deep fat fried, as a restaurant would do.
DRK
I am wondering if an air fryer might not be a useful option? Cook the wings in the air fryer instead of a conventional oven, which means that you can either cut down or not use oil in the first cooking step. Then use the olive oil that was listed and toss with the lemon pepper mix. Put it then again into the air fryer or more likely into a warm oven. I haven't tried this yet but certainly will.
Sheepish Jen
It says so, right in the intro.
c
Yes, he tells you in the intro - "To make this with store-bought lemon pepper, skip Steps 3 and 4 and simply toss the roasted wings with a dusting of the seasoning to taste."
Su H
These wings were amazing!! I had a good lemon pepper from a quality spice company so used that but added the salt, sugar, garlic powder and a couple more twists of fresh coarse ground pepper. The result was fantastic! Will definitely be making these again.
Melrose
Marinade the chicken in the olive oil lemon pepper mixture first, than cook.
L.G.
I just made these. It took >60 minutes to get them slightly crispy. Air-drying them before roasting might work; broiling them-- with no olive oil at all-- would. With both chicken fat and olive oil, there's too much moisture to get crisp before getting completely desiccated. I don't understand the point of the oil. If the timing and temperature were tested in a commercial or convection oven rather than a home electric oven, that might explain why the results varied from the recipe.
jennifer
Delicious. I made a couple adjustments on bake time based on how i cook my other wings. I baked them at 400 covered with foil for an hour, then uncovered for another hour. I like my wings dry, so i take them out periodically to turn them. When mostly dry, I took them out and tossed them in the lemon pepper and put them back in for a couple minutes to get them crisp.
Yr
Amazing wings!!! The homemade lemon pepper is so special. The citric acid gave it kind of a restaurant quality flavor. The lemon pepper is good on everything too so i'm glad we had extra leftover :)
Betsy
I made half of the recipe. I skipped toasting the zest and substituted 6 pkts of True Lemon crystallized lemon for it and just mixed all the seasonings together. I sprinkled the wings with salt as directed, then tossed with the amount of seasoning mix called for and refrigerated the wings for about 2 hrs. Air-fried for about 15 minutes @390°. DELICIOUS! This is a keeper recipe, and I have plenty of seasoning mix left for another batch.
BabsD
I erred by seasoning wings with salt and pepper before roasting which made them a tad too salty otherwise well received. Used a grate over half sheet pan lined with foil - gets crispier result. Easy enough to throw together and not your typical chicken wing recipe.
Beldar
I used lemon pepper seasoning that I had on hand but otherwise followed the recipe. Using my mortar and pestle, I ground the mixture down to a finer consistency. Next time I’ll use a little less sugar, but we liked it a lot.
Alona
Great recipe! Do not skip the toasting of lemon zest and pepper. Not only it will add aroma to your dish, but the kitchen will smell amazing. Works great for grilled chicken as well. Just toast the seasoning in a dry pan. I love to through a lemon half to caramelize on the grill as well and finish the dish with some juice.
Bassey
Amazing base recipe, but the first step on your journey to perfecting this fresh lemon pepper is adding an extra quarter - 1/2 teaspoon of salt, especially if you don't have citric acid. You can also grill chicken with this lemon pepper, just make sure the chicken sits in the seasoning in your fridge or a cooler for 20 minutes.
Es
Excellent. A little more garlic powder next time. These wings were crispy, tasty, and pretty. Happy to have a recipe using citric acid, as I always have some in my pantry. The wings exuded a lot of moisture so I moved them around on the parchment to crisp them up.The lemon pepper added a slight crunch and looked amazing on the wings. I made the full amount of lemon pepper for 1.25 pounds of wings.
Sarah
These are so super tasty--and easy to make too!!! I brought them to a picnic and they were a huge hit. There was no need to do anything different or extra to make the seasoning stick. They came out perfectly for me when following the recipe as it is. Will definitely make these again!
jo t
I made this exactly as stated in the recipe. It was delicious. No need to reinvent the wheel. This recipe needs nothing but do use the citrus acid. It should not be optional and enhances the flavor dramatically.
Solana
These wings are delicious and quite easy, I will definitely be making them again! I had no issue with making the seasoning stick. The chicken was juicy and had a little oil remaining after baking.
Stephanie R
Honestly, just skip making your own lemon pepper concoction and get a fresh jar of it from the grocery store. These turn out really very tasty no matter which lemon pepper you use.
jan renee
I cooked these for nearly an hour. Basically doubled the lemon zest recipe. If you love extra tangy then citric acid is a must. Get it at Walmart in the housewares section. It’s six bucks for a canister that will last through eternity. My daughter said this might be the best thing I ever cooked. I wouldn’t go that far but if you’re tired of poorly seasoned lemon pepper wings, this will wake up your taste buds! Yum!
Chris F
Needed to roast for 50-55 minutes. When I turned the wings after 20 minutes, I needed to drain the juices from the baking sheet because of the amount of fluid. Much crispier after doing so. Came out perfectly, very crispy and tasty.
Pam
I found citric acid in the canning section in Walmart. About $7 for a 14.8 oz jar. It should last awhile!
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