Lemon Pepper Wings

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Baked in the oven, these lemon pepper wings are the perfect combination of sweet, tangy, with a touch of peppery spice.

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Total Time50

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Lemon Pepper Wings Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 123kcal

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken wing drumettes, thawed
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from half a lemon
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1½ teaspoons lemon pepper spice blend
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and an oven-safe wire rack. You can spray your wire rack with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
In a large bowl, add the thawed chicken wing drumettes and cornstarch. Toss to completely coat the chicken pieces with the cornstarch.
Arrange the chicken wing pieces on the prepared baking sheet, making sure to leave space between each piece so the hot air can circulate around. This helps get even heating and crispy skin.
Bake the chicken for 20 minutes without any lemon pepper sauce.
While your chicken is baking, you can make your lemon pepper sauce in a small saucepan, over low heat, by adding the unsalted butter, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon pepper spice blend, salt, and garlic powder. Simmer on low heat just until the butter has melted and the spices have infused into the butter and oil. Turn off the heat to the saucepan.
After the chicken wings have baked for the first 20 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and baste each chicken wing drumette with the lemon pepper sauce. Return the chicken wings to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Once the chicken wings have baked for 10 minutes, then you will remove the baking sheet from the oven, carefully flip the chicken wing drumettes over, and baste the other side of the chicken. Return the chicken wings back to the oven to bake for another 10 minutes or until the wings reach 165°F, and the juices run clear.
Once your chicken wings are baked through, you can broil them for 1 to 2 minutes on each side to get the skin golden and crispy. After they have been broiled to a beautiful golden brown, you will want to give them one last coat of lemon pepper sauce before serving them.

Notes

I find that the bags of frozen mixed pieces tend to have much smaller pieces than what you find in the fresh meat section of your grocery store (thus giving the large difference in serving size), so I like to buy my chicken wings fresh because I can see the size of the pieces. This matters when baking because you want all your chicken wing pieces to bake at the same rate. If your pieces are smaller, then you will need to decrease the amount of bake time accordingly.
You can easily double or triple this delicious lemon pepper chicken wings recipe. You will need to increase the amount of lemon pepper sauce accordingly, and you will need to use a second prepared rimmed baking sheet so that you do not crowd your chicken wings when baking.
Taste your lemon pepper seasoning blend to know if it is good with the amount of salt it will add to this recipe. Depending on the brand you use, you may find that different brands are saltier than others. You may want to add more or less salt or lemon pepper seasoning to your butter and oil. You will just need to adjust according to taste.

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