Air-fried wings tossed with lemon and pepper are the perfect snack for everyone in the family. They taste delicious because of their zesty and mildly spicy flavor.
You can prepare air-fried lemon pepper wings in just 15 mins. All you need are chicken wings and a bit of lemon pepper spice for this recipe.
They taste so tempting and delicious that you’ll be going to love them.
So let’s start with the recipe right away!
How Do You Make Air Fryer Chicken Wings?
Dry skin crisps up faster and better in the air fryer, so give your chicken wings a quick pat dry before seasoning them.
This rule also applies to turkeys and other skin-on poultry, so keep it in mind the next time you make a roast chicken.
Is it necessary to preheat an air fryer?
Preheating your air fryer is always a superb idea. This is why: It aids in the crisping of whatever you’re cooking.
Without preheating, your recipe may take longer to cook, may cook less uniformly, and the final result will be less crispy, which no one wants. Consider your air fryer to be an oven. Just like you would preheat an oven, you should do the same with an air fryer.
Ingredients
To prepare these saucy chicken wings, you need a few ingredients only.
1. Chicken Wings: In addition to the chicken wings, you’ll also need condiments like salt, pepper, and olive oil.
It’s better to get the wings separated from the butcher’s shop. They have it cleaner and tidier, which makes things even quicker and simpler! These wings create a buttery base that makes the perfect amount of sauce to complement the tangy flavor of the lemon pepper seasoning.
You can even get the whole wings and cut them yourself; just throw away the wing tips.
2. Lemon Pepper Sauce: The sauce has butter and lemon pepper seasoning and is the star of the show. It combines salt, pepper, and dried lemon zest. You can buy it from the market or prepare it at home.
Some brands include onion and garlic, along with lemon and pepper.
The dipping sauce (Optional): For sweet sauce lovers, honey mustard is the ideal dipping sauce to soften the notes of the lemon pepper.
Directions For Cooking
Follow these instructions carefully before beginning the recipe.
Step 1: Preheat your air fryer to 380 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the wings with the olive oil and half of the lemon and pepper spice mixture.
Step 2: After tossing them with the seasoning, Place the chicken wings in the air fryer basket. Arrange the wings in a single layer. Cook the wings for 10 minutes at 380 degrees Fahrenheit, flipping them halfway.
After 8 minutes, flip the wings and continue cooking until they are almost done.
Step 3: Transfer the wings from the air fryer to a clean bowl. Add the remaining salt, lemon pepper, and butter to the bowl. Return the wings to the air fryer, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Continue to air-fry until they are deeply golden and crispy.
The Final Step: Serve with a honey-mustard or any of your favorite dipping sauces.
Watch the video below to learn the step-by-step process of cooking lemon pepper wings in the air fryer.
Tips
- Cook Patiently: Though it’s not necessary, letting the wings sit for 20–30 minutes at room temperature before cooking will ensure more even cooking.
- Crispier Skin: If the wings’ skin has moisture, it’ll not crisp up during cooking. Drying the wings with paper towels will help you have the crispest skin possible.
- Overcrowding the basket: Avoid overfilling the air fryer basket. Space between wings ensures air can pass through easily, making the skin more brown and crispy.
- Uniform cooking: Starting at a low temperature makes it easier to cook frozen chicken wings in the air fryer uniformly. After a few minutes of cooking, flip the wings and increase the temperature.
The increased heat is required to crisp up the exterior skin and flipping halfway through aids cooking.
- Verify the temperature inside: Using an instant thermometer to ensure the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F is the best way to determine when the wings are done.
Nutritional Information
| Nutrients | Amount (g/mg) |
| Carbohydrates | 1g |
| Protein | 17g |
| Fat | 15g |
| Cholesterol | 71mg |
| Sugar | 1g |
This recipe contains 208 kcal per serving. I have given the breakdown of some of the major nutrients of lemon pepper chicken wings. It also contains trace amounts of sodium, potassium, vitamin, and calcium.
What to Serve With Air-Fried Chicken Wings?
Dipping sauces: Ranch dressing, keto teriyaki sauce, and BBQ sauce go well with the wings. You can also go with blue cheese dressing.
Raw vegetables: Serve the tastiest chicken wings with air-fried vegetables like air-fried zucchini chips, brussels sprouts, or air-fried eggplant. The traditional sides are carrots and celery sticks. Cucumber, radishes, or bell pepper strips are more options.
Salads and Veggies: Try wedge salad, coleslaw, or creamy cucumber salad. Serve Caprese salad skewers, zucchini pizza bits, or wings with Rotel dip as additional appetizers.
Seasoning For Saucy Chicken Wings
Consider the following variety of seasoning options available:
The Ranch Sauce: A flavorful homemade ranch is the ideal creamy sauce to calm the spiciness of these wings. Dip the wings in ranch dressing for a tasty combo, and serve them with carrot and celery sticks.
French Seasoning: It is a fragrant blend of dried herbs and spices from the Provençal region that frequently contains thyme, basil, rosemary, tarragon, savory, marjoram, oregano, and bay leaf. It provides an herbal and organic blend to your dish.
Italian seasoning: Made with marjoram, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, savory, and sage Italian seasoning takes the flavor to the next level. Add a sprinkle of salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to give it a personal touch.
Blue Cheese Dressing: There’s a reason why this sauce works so well with chicken wings. It has a lot of savory flavors and will cut through the heat. It is tangy and a bit stinky from the cheese.
Taco Seasoning: Most taco seasoning blends include salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and warming spices (such as paprika, oregano, and chili). A perfect match for lemon pepper wings.
Nashville Hot Chicken Dip. Try this hot dip if you want an extra kick of spice and the heat up to the notch.
FAQs
Can I use an air fryer for cooking saucy wings?
Yes! You can cook saucy wings in the air fryer. The wing’s skin will probably burn if you leave the dressing on for the entire cooking time. So It’s better to cook the wings almost completely without sauce first because this helps the skin to get crisp.
Once cooked, take them out and apply the sauce. If necessary, grease the air fryer with olive oil, and coat it with cooking spray before adding the wings. Return the sauce-coated wings to the air fryer so the sauce can cling to the wings and caramelize them.
The wings taste better if cooked with the sauce for 2-3 minutes.
Can we stack chicken wings into the air fryer basket?
You can stack the wings in the air fryer, but I recommend not doing so! Chicken wings are crispier with the skin exposed.
Keep in mind that the air fryer cooks by rapidly passing air over the food. If you overcrowd the basket, it will result in uneven frying and browning.
Preparing them in two separate batches rather than stacking them in the basket at once is better.
How do I get crispy air-fried wings?
The fundamental secret to extra-crisp skin is adding alumina-free baking powder. It has alkaline, which breaks down peptide bonds and rivals the texture and crips of the wings.
How to reheat chicken wings in the air fryer?
Reheating leftover wings in the air fryer is quite easy.
Preheat your air fryer to 350 F, then place the wings in the basket in a single layer. Let them cook for 3-4 minutes or until they get brown properly. You can increase the cooking time based on the number of wings.
Final Thoughts
- To make air-fried lemon pepper wings, you need a small number of ingredients. You can prepare them for a snack within 20 minutes.
- Just air fry the wings at 380 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s better to purchase already cut wings from the butcher. The lemon pepper spice is already available on the market, but you can also prepare it at home.
- Many sauces, such as buffalo and ranch sauce, add more flavor to your lemon pepper wings. Blue cheese dressing works great for serving your wings alongside air-fried veggies.
- Wings should be cooked thoroughly and unhurriedly rather than in a hurry.
To achieve perfection, follow the tips and guidelines already discussed.