These air fryer lemon pepper wings are crisp to perfection! Just a few simple ingredients like lemon, pepper, chicken wings and butter or ghee and you have an easy appetizer recipe for any party or an easy dinner. Tangy and delicious and done in less than 25 minutes!
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Making homemade chicken wings from scratch are much easier than you would think! If you've ever had a craving for Wingstop lemon pepper wings at home - this is the recipe for you!
Air frying lemon pepper wings only takes a few simple ingredients and an air fryer like a Ninja Foodi, Power XL, Nuwave or whichever model you have. This easy recipe will give you crispy chicken wings in no time.
You can use lemon pepper seasoning or create your own using fresh lemons and pepper. This game day appetizer is so delicious, you'll think you're at your favorite sports bar!
Grab your favorite dipping sauces (I love ranch on all things) and go to town on the best and easiest air fryer lemon pepper wings recipe you can find! While you're at it try our buffalo cauliflower and pretzel rolls for your party!
Why This Recipe Works
- Can be made straight from frozen.
- Perfect appetizer to feed a crowd for any party like game night or game day and the Super Bowl!
- Simple and healthy ingredients you probably already have on hand in the pantry. Less calories than the deep fried version.
- Made without flour and without baking powder making it great for dietary restrictions like Keto or Whole30
Ingredients You Need
Here are the ingredients you need to make this recipe. Reference the recipe card at the bottom for exact measurements and the notes below for substitution ideas.
- Chicken wings: for spacing and ease of eating I prefer drums and flats rather than whole wings for this recipe.
- Lemon: you will use both the juice and the zest.
- Ghee: I recommend Fourth & Heart's Himalayan Salt Ghee, alternatively you can use butter
- Dry rub: any dry rub will do but I like the Onion Salt from Trader Joe's. For extra flavor you can use McCormick's lemon pepper seasoning.
How to Make This Recipe
This is a step by step walkthrough of how to cook this recipe. Exact cook time and temperatures are available in the recipe card at the bottom.
- Rinse and pat chicken dry. Season well with your favorite dry rub, be sure it includes salt.
- Add chicken to the basket coated with coconut oil spray. Air fry at 360F for 12 minutes per side.
- Melt ghee and mix in remaining ingredients to make lemon pepper sauce.
- Once the chicken is done, lightly coat the wings in the lemon pepper sauce. Serve immediately.
Expert Tips
Make ahead: You can prep your wings by dry rubbing them and then freezing them. Once you are ready to eat, you can cook the frozen chicken according to the directions and add an additional 5 minutes (2.5 minutes per side).
Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheating: Reheat leftovers for 3-5 minutes at 360F or until crispy and heated through.
Super crispy skin: To make the them even crispier, try bumping up the temperature to 400F for the last 4-5 minutes of cooking.
Flavor variations: If you're looking to try another healthy chicken wings recipe, give my ranch Ninja Foodi chicken wings a try! For a sweeter flavor add in 1 tablespoon honey to the butter sauce.
Serving Ideas: Serve with dipping sauce like ranch, honey mustard or even a drizzle of honey and with a side broccoli and potato wedges.
FAQs
This recipe can be made with a dry rub by omitting the ghee or better and lemon juice. If you want to make them wet include the lemon juice and butter or ghee.
Air fried at 400F gives you a delicious crispy wing in just 24 minutes.
I prefer to use flats and drumsticks rather than whole wings because it helps to cook more. The amount that you can cook at one time depends on how large your model is.
Make sure to not overcrowd the basket and air fry in one layer in batches if needed.
These can be made these straight from frozen however will need to add additional time to account for the frozen meat. Begin with an additional 5 minutes per side and always use an instant read thermometer to temp the wings to 165F to ensure doneness.
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Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Wings
Ingredients
- ½ pound chicken wings
- ¼ cup ghee
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3-4 garlic cloves grated
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- onion salt or other dry rub.
Instructions
- Rinse and pat chicken dry. Season well with your favorite dry rub, be sure it includes salt.
- Add chicken to basket coated with coconut oil spray in one layer. Be sure not to crowd the basket and cook in batches if necessary. Air fry wings at 360F for 12 minutes per side.
- Melt ghee and mix in remaining ingredients to make lemon pepper sauce.
- Once wings are done, lightly coat the wings in the lemon pepper sauce. Serve immediately.
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