Baked Lemon Pepper Wings are crispy zesty chicken wing perfection! Simply bake them in your oven, then glaze with a melted butter honey sauce.
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Honey Butter Baked Lemon Pepper Wings
You’re gonna love these wings. They have the classic citrusy punch from lemon zest plus a tiny kick from black pepper. However there’s also a hint of sweetness from the honey.
These chicken wings have it all; sweet, sour, salt, and spice (not 5 alarm heat but a nice background heat). But wait, there’s more!
Read on to find out the secret ingredient that helps produce the crispiest oven baked wings without sacrificing interior moisture.
How Do You Love Your Chicken Wings?
There are two types of chicken wing lovers in the world…flatties and drummies. Which one are you? I personally love the flat part (or wingette) of the chicken wing. It’s takes me less than 5 seconds to strip the bones clean.
There are also those among us who love spicy wings (like my Maple Gochujang Wings) or saucy wings, the messier the better. I prefer mine dry and crispy, just like these baked lemon pepper chicken wings.
Ingredients List for Honey Butter Baked Lemon Pepper Wings
- chicken wings
- salt
- baking powder
- lemon pepper seasoning
- honey
- butter
Most grocery stores will sell split chicken wings with the very tip removed. Some places will sell the wingettes and drumettes separately but I suggest buying a mixture of the two for variety.
The lemon pepper seasoning used in this recipe is a store bought brand which contains lemon peel, salt, dehydrated onion and garlic powder, among other spices including black pepper.
Any type of honey will work in this recipe as it is melted with the butter to create a butter sauce.
How to Split a Chicken Wing
If the chicken wings are fully articulated, they are really easy to separate at home (and often a cheaper price). A sharp knife and a sturdy cutting board are all you need.
Place the inside of the wing facing upward on the cutting board. Stretch the wing out and slice through the joint in between the tip and the drumette. Discard the wing tip or save to use in stock at a later time.
Next, find the joint in between the drumette and wingette. Use your finger to find the higher ridge and cut just below the ridge. If there’s some resistance, slide the blade around a bit and you should feel the joint.
The ‘Secret’ Ingredient for Great Baked Chicken Wings
The not so secret to crispy oven baked wings is baking powder. That’s the simple answer.
However, more of an in depth explanation is what you are here for (if not feel free to skip to the next section). Baking powder is made of baking soda mixed with a powdered acid. This makes it slightly alkaline.
Adding a slightly alkaline coating to the chicken wing raises the pH of the skin. According to J. Kenji López-Alt (author of the James Beard Award–nominated column The Food Lab) raising the pH of the chicken skin helps to both brown it (via the good old Maillard reaction) and crisp it.
While there are immediate benefits to coating the dry wings with baking powder, allowing an overnight desiccation session produces the crispiest oven baked wings. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
How to Make Baked Lemon Pepper Wings
To begin, preheat the oven to 400 F. Place a wire rack over a parchment lined rimmed sheet pan (optional…do it without paper if you have non stick pans).
Inspect the wings for any remaining loose bone fragments or rogue feathers. Pat the wings completely dry with paper towel then place them in a bowl. Sprinkle salt over the wings and massage it in.
Next, sprinkle half of the baking powder and toss the wings to coat. Keep on sprinkling and tossing until each wing has a thin coating of baking powder. Arrange coated wings in a single layer on the wire rack.
Bake the wings for 25 minutes or until they just begin to turn golden and crispy. Remove them from the oven and quickly flip over so they don’t stick. Bake for another 10-15 minutes.
Remove wings from the oven and place in a clean bowl. Drizzle melted honey butter over the wings and turn to coat. Sprinkle 1/3 lemon pepper blend over and mix well. Add second portion of seasoning.
Place the wings directly on the original baking sheet (or parchment) then sprinkle remaining 1/3 seasoning over all. Use more if you think the wings need more.
Cook the wings for another 10 minutes until they are nice and crispy. If you like, squirt fresh lemon juice over the wings before serving.
Tips for Making the Best Crispy Oven Baked Wings
- Hot oven temperature. This recipe bakes at 400 F because my oven is generally hotter than most. Consider baking your wings at 425 F if you oven is consistently on the cool side.
- Dry the wings with paper towel completely.
- Coat the wings with baking powder.
- Desiccation time. If you have time, place the baking powder coated wings uncovered on a rack in the fridge overnight.
- Bake once more after the honey butter sauce. If you love saucy wings, you can skip this last step because the wings are already cooked.
How to Store and Reheat Baked Chicken Wings
These wings are the perfect ‘make ahead’ game day or party appetizer. Once fully cooked and seasoned, allow them to cool to room temperature. Store them in an airtight container (or vac pac) and freeze them for up to six months (four day in a refrigerator).
To Reheat wings from frozen, thaw overnight in the fridge then place on a baking sheet. Reheat in a 350F oven until the internal temperature of the wing reaches 165 F (74 C).
If you have leftovers after the big party…consider throwing the wings out. They are extremely perishable and considered unsafe to eat after even 2 hours at room temperature (68 F or 20 C).
Honey Butter Baked Lemon Pepper Wings
Baked Lemon Pepper Wings are crispy zesty chicken wing perfection! Simply bake them in your oven, then glaze with a spicy honey butter sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chicken wings; split with tips removed
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter; melted
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Pat chicken wing dry with a paper towel then place them in a bowl.
- Sprinkle the salt over the wings and mix with hand so they are all seasoned.
- Sprinkle the baking powder over the wings and mix again using your hand, ensuring each wing is lightly and uniformly coated.
- Arrange wings on a baking rack then place over a baking sheet (If you have the time place them in the fridge for 8 hours to dry out completely).
- Bake for 25 minutes then remove the tray from the oven and flip the wings over.
- Bake for another 10-15 minutes; until they begin to turn colour.
- Remove from the oven and place wings in a bowl. Mix the honey and melted butter together and pour over the wings, turning to coat.
- Sprinkle 1/3 of the lemon pepper seasoning over the wings, mix well, sprinkle another 1/3 seasoning and mix again.
- Place the wings directly on the original baking sheet and sprinkle remaining 1/3 seasoning over all. Bake for another 10 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1072Total Fat: 79gSaturated Fat: 30gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 43gCholesterol: 263mgSodium: 3450mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 51g
Nutritional calculation was provided by Nutritionix and is an estimation only. For special diets or medical issues please use your preferred calculator.
Thanks for the secret ingredient – I’ve never made wings at home, believe it or not! I’ll be trying them now . These look AMAZING!
I’ve been missing wing night something crazy. These are a very close substitute for my favourite pub wings.
These wings look incredibly flavorful and on top of that the photography for this recipe is great!
Thank you so much Moop!
I love a good chicken wing, but something about visible spices just makes me even happier. All that cracked black pepper is just so good, and then you add the lemon and HONEY BUTTER? C’mon. I’m going to eat an entire plate of these. Lol. The baking powder thing is awesome too, and you can just SEE how it impacts the texture. I’m going to have to try that one on the reg. Cheers!
It really does make a difference…such a swanky little trick.
Wow, I’ve never tried the baking powder coating before. Really great technique and the honey glaze after is soooo good!
The baking powder trick really works! Thanks for stopping by Sabrina.
How interesting to have a lemon & pepper mix. I can already start tasting it in my mouth.
It’s such a delicious flavour combination Naiby.
Perfection! These wings look so crispy and lemon pepper seasoning sounds yum! Can’t wait to try! Thanks for all the tips, pinning this now 🙂
Hope you enjoy the wings Vijitha!
yummy yummy! perfect for game night!
You betcha! Enjoy.
Love the flavors. I must give this recipe a try. My family loves when I make chicken wings. Can’t wait to surprise them with this. Thanks for the idea and the recipe!
So great to hear…I hope you all enjoy the wings!
Oh, this is genius! From the awesome Kenji tip (love him!) to the wonderful balance of sweet, sour, salt, and spice … these wings have it allllll goin’ on! Perfect for the Super Bowl, for sure! And BTW … I’m a “drummy”. 😉
We would get along well Shelley!
My teens absolutely love wings! The flavours in here are fantastic. Pinning for later!
Thanks so much Julia!
These Honey Butter Baked Lemon Pepper Wings sound like a wonderful flavor combo. I have most of the ingredients and think I might make them this weekend. I love lemon and pepper—but I am interested in the idea of adding honey! Sounds awesome!
Yes, I love how simple the ingredients are. They are always on hand. Enjoy!
These look perfectly crispy just the way I like wings.
Yes, this style is my fave too. No dirty sticky fingers!
This Honey Butter Baked Lemon Pepper Wings recipe is making my tummy growl! I can’t wait to have this on my table.
Thanks for stopping by Dennis.
Baked wings with baking powder truly does make all the difference. Only way I make them so I was happy to see it included. This will be a nice change from the Buffalo wing version I always seem to make.
It sure does! Thanks for stopping by Vanessa.
Ohhh I just love the addition of honey in this recipe! I’m not a big wing fan, but I am going to try this on chicken tenders asap!
Oh yes, the flavour combination would work well on chicken tenders too.
These wings look AMAZING!!! I love wings anyway I can get them and lemon pepper sounds perfect. Cannot wait to try them!
Me too. I like to think of them as a blank canvas…so many possibilities.
Thanks for revealing your secret ingredient plus all your tips! I cannot wait to make these on Sunday!!!
Enjoy….and go Chiefs!!
Your wings are the perfect game day food for Superbowl. I am definitely making your recipe on Sunday. It will be yummy! Thanks so much for sharing it!
I hope you love them as much as we did. Go Chiefs!!
You can NEVER have too many wing recipes. Perfect as an appetizer. We love them with pizza. Always a crowd-pleaser.
Agree! I like all of the flavours.