Chicken wings are breaded and fried until crispy and then coated in a buttery lemon pepper wing sauce. There’s no reason to buy wings when you can easily make and enjoy homemade lemon pepper wings.
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What makes breaded lemon pepper wings so good?
Love chicken wings but miss the crunch of Southern fried chicken? Then you'll want to try these breaded wings with lemon pepper wing sauce.
Sometimes called wing dings, these flour-dredged chicken wings offer a light, crispy breading that helps the sauce cling to the wing and ensures the meat is super tender. Try this lemon pepper sauce recipe for your next game-day get-together!
Why you'll love this lemon pepper sauce recipe
Naked wings can be a bit disappointing, but toss them in this lemon pepper sauce, and you have something truly extraordinary. With only two ingredients, this sauce is a snap to pull together in only a few minutes.
Make a double batch because you'll want to try it on everything after one taste!
Wing dings with lemon pepper sauce ingredients
For breading and frying the wings, you'll need:
- Chicken wings, cut into pieces
- All-purpose flour
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Vegetable oil
For preparing the lemon pepper sauce for the wings, you'll need
- Unsalted butter
- Lemon pepper seasoning
Ingredient notes
You can buy chicken wings already divided into wingettes and drumettes or cut them yourself and save money. If you have never cut chicken wings, check out this video explaining how to do it quickly and safely.
The lemon pepper seasoning plays a huge role in the sauce's flavor, so use a fresh container of your favorite. Kinder's Cracked Lemon & Pepper is an excellent brand to try if you don't often cook with lemon pepper seasoning.
You can use any oil with a high smoke point for frying the wings. Vegetable oil, canola oil, or peanut oil are great choices.
How to Make Breaded Wings With Lemon Pepper Sauce
Here are the steps for making juicy chicken wings that are fried to golden brown perfection and tossed in a tangy and buttery lemon pepper sauce.
To bread the chicken wings:
- Stir together the flour, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper in a large mixing bowl.
- Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet and place it next to the container with the seasoned flour.
- Dredge the chicken wings in the seasoned flour.
- Shake off the excess flour and place the floured chicken wings on the wire rack.
To fry the chicken wings:
- Set a clean wire rack over a paper towel-lined baking tray close to where you will fry the chicken wings.
- Add at least four inches of oil to a thick-bottomed pot or a countertop deep fryer. Be sure to attach a clip-on deep-fry thermometer to the side if you are using a pot.
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 350°F.
- Add a few chicken wings at a time. Watch the oil to make sure it doesn't drop too much.
- Fry the chicken wings until they are just starting to brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Use a spider tool to occasionally stir the wings to help them cook evenly and prevent them from sticking to the sides or bottom of the pot.
- Remove the wings with the spider and drain them on the prepared wire rack. If you want, you can check the wings' internal temperature using an instant-read thermometer.
- Tent the wings with aluminum foil to keep them warm and finish cooking the rest of the wings.
To make the lemon pepper sauce for wings:
- Melt the unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Take the melted butter from the heat and stir in the lemon pepper seasoning.
- Cover the saucepan to keep warm.
To sauce the wings:
- Combine the fried wings and sauce in a large bowl.
- Toss well to coat.
For an extra burst of lemony flavor, sprinkle some lemon zest or drizzle some fresh lemon juice over these lemon-pepper chicken wings.
What to serve with lemon pepper wing dings
Why not add a side or two to round out your meal with crispy lemon pepper wings?
- Fries. Keep it classic with a basket of fries. Can't get enough of the lemon pepper seasoning? Try sprinkling it on the fries instead of salt.
- Corn Rib. These tasty and easy-to-make grilled corn ribs have an addictive blend of spicy seasoning that will get everyone eating more veggies.
- Dip. Ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing are the most popular ones for wings.
How to store wings with lemon and pepper sauce
After cooling the wings, transfer them to an airtight container. Sauced and unsauced wings will keep in the fridge for about three days, but the unsauced ones will stay crunchier. You can keep unused lemon pepper sauce separately in a covered container.
What is the best way to reheat lemon pepper sauce wings?
Use an air fryer to get the same crunchy breading as wings straight out of the deep fryer. If you don't have one, you can still get decent results in the oven:
- Take the wings out of the fridge and let them come up to room temperature.
- Preheat the air fryer or oven to 375°F
- Place the wings in the air fryer and cook for three minutes per side. If using an oven, put the wings on a baking tray and cook for 6 to 7 minutes per side.
Pour any extra lemon pepper sauce for wings into a small saucepan and warm over low heat before tossing with the reheated wings.
More Chicken Wing Recipes
Breaded Lemon Pepper Wings
Ingredients
Wings
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 ½ pounds chicken wings
- vegetable oil for frying
Lemon Pepper Sauce
- ⅓ cup melted butter
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
Instructions
- Combine the flour, kosher salt, and black pepper in a large bowl.
- Cut the wings at each joint. Discard the wing tips or save them for stock.
- Dredge the drumettes and wingettes in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess.
- Add vegetable oil to a deep fryer or large heavy-bottomed pot until it reaches a depth of 4 inches. Heat the oil to 350°F.
- Deep-fry the wings in batches for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once to ensure they cook evenly. When the wings are just beginning to brown, remove them from the oil and drain them on a wire rack resting on a cookie sheet.
- Combine the melted butter and lemon pepper seasoning in a large bowl.
- Place the fried wings in the bowl with the seasoned butter and toss to coat.
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