These Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Wings are finger-lickin' good and guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. All you need is 4 ingredients and 45 minutes. Then, you'll have crispy, tender chicken wings to serve to hungry friends and family.
If you love hosting and are in need of a few easy appetizers to make, I recommend my Air Fryer Pizza Rolls, Air Fryer Nachos or Air Fryer Tortilla Chips with Spicy Mango Habanero Salsa with Black Beans.
You could also try Pine Nut Hummus for a lighter option. Make sure to check out my recommendations on What Snacks To Serve With Hummus too.
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📋 About the Recipe
- An easy appetizer or main dish. These juicy lemon pepper wings can be made for game days, pot lucks, parties, or easy dinners. If serving as an appetizer, try them with one of my pitcher sized cocktails: Red, White, and Blue Sangria or Frozen Passion Fruit Margaritas.
- Cooks in 15 minutes! One of the best parts of using the Air Fryer to cook chicken is it cooks very quickly! Great for last minute dinners and hosting. Try my Air Fryer General Tso's Chicken or Air Fryer Orange Chicken for more easy air fryer chicken recipes.
- Freezer friendly. If you've got leftover air fried chicken wings, save them for another meal or party in the future. Simple freezing instructions found down below!
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Chicken wings - If you are in a rush or are looking for a quicker prep, buy chicken wings that are already cut into wingettes and drumettes by the butcher. If you have whole wings, you can easily cut them yourself and use the wing tips to make homemade chicken broth.
- Lemon pepper seasoning - Lemon pepper seasoning is where all the flavor comes from in this wing rub. Don't attempt to make these lemon pepper wings without it. When buying a lemon pepper seasoning in stores, look for a higher quality one made without dyes and with sugar and salt lower on the ingredient list.
- Olive oil - Just like when making my Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Wings, you need oil to coat the wings and help the lemon pepper seasoning stick to the wings. If necessary or desired, use another high smoke point oil.
📓 Instructions
- Prepare the chicken wings. If you bought whole chicken wings, cut them into wingettes and drumettes by cutting at each joint. Discard the wing tips (or save them to make chicken broth later on!) If you’ve never cut wings like this before, follow this tutorial on how to break down chicken wings for help.
- Prepare the seasoning. In a large bowl (big enough to add the wings into), mix together olive oil, paprika, and lemon pepper seasoning.
- Marinate the wings. Add the cut wingettes and drumettes to the seasonings and coat throughly. Allow the wings to sit for 20 to 30 minutes to soak in all the flavors in the seasonings.
- Place wings in the air fryer. Layer them into the bottom of the air fryer basket in a single layer, with enough space between to allow the air to circulate well.
- Air fry. Air fry at 390 degrees F for 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees F and the wings are golden brown.
- Serve! Pair the hot lemon pepper wings with your favorite dipping sauces like cool garlic ranch, feta ranch, buffalo sauce, blue cheese, Lemon Dill Yogurt Sauce, honey mustard, or BBQ sauce.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
- For smokier wings: Use smoked paprika in place of the paprika for smoked wings.
- For extra crispy wings: Pat the wingettes dry with a paper towel before coating in the seasoning and air frying. This will make a super crispy skin.
- Olive oil substitute: Use another neutral cooking oil like avocado oil, vegetable oil, or grapeseed oil.
- Make your own lemon pepper seasoning at home.
❄️ How to Store
To store: Store any leftover lemon pepper wings in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. For best freshness, store the wings in an airtight container.
To freeze: Cooked chicken wings are safe to freeze. Allow them to cool completely at room temperature, then place the wings on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze the wings for 2 to 3 hours, or until frozen solid. Once frozen, transfer the wings to a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 6 months.
To reheat: I recommend reheating the lemon pepper wings in the air fryer at 350 degrees F for 3 to 5 minutes, or until warmed through.
🔍 FAQs
These lemon pepper wings are not meant to be cooked from frozen. If you have frozen wings, try these no thaw air fryer chicken wings.
Yes! Air fryer chicken wings use significantly less oil than deep frying and even less oil than oven baking! Enjoy these lower fat wings as a healthy main dish or healthy appetizer.
Lemon pepper wings are covered in a dry rub. If you want to make them saucier, dunk them in a dipping sauce of choice.
💭 One More Tip
For a main dish, plan on about 6 to 8 wingettes or drumettes per person. This is equivalent to 3 to 4 whole wings per person, if you are cutting the wings yourself.
For an appetizer, plan on about 3 to 4 wingettes or drumettes per person. This is equivalent to 1 to 2 whole wings per person, if you are cutting the wings yourself.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings, separated into wingettes and drummettes, wing tips discarded around 8 whole wings or 16 total wingettes and drummettes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- your favorite dipping sauces: ranch, blue cheese dressing, hot sauce, bbq sauce, honey mustard dressing, ketchup, etc.
Instructions
- If you bought whole chicken wings, cut them into wingettes and drumettes by cutting at each joint. Discard the wing tips (or save them to make chicken broth later on!) If you’ve never cut wings like this before, follow this tutorial on how to break down chicken wings for help.
- Mix together olive oil, lemon pepper seasoning, and paprika in a large mixing bowl.
- Add wing pieces and toss to coat. If you have time, allow wings to sit for about 20 to 30 minutes to soak in the flavor of the seasonings.
- Place wings in the bottom of your air fryer basket. Do not overcrowd the basket. You might need to cook the wings in batches, depending on the size of your air fryer.
- Air fry wings at 390 degrees F for about 15 minutes (see notes), or until the wings are perfectly golden brown and cooked to 165 degrees F in the middle.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
- For crispy wings, make sure there is no extra moisture. Do not rinse the wings before cutting or cooking. If they feel wet when you remove them from their package, dab them dry with a paper towel.
- For more servings, double or triple the recipe. For a main dish, plan on about 6 to 8 wingettes or drumettes per person. This means 3 to 4 whole wings per person.
Nutrition
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Franci Silver
Easy to make and super delicious. Very healthy and filling. Thank you for the great recipe.