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Lemon Pepper Wings are delicious, but can you make them in the air fryer? Of course! These Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Wings start with my crispy air fryer fried chicken. Then, I top with a simple lemon pepper sauce. Enjoy these with blue cheese dressing as a dip or with my collard greens, cauliflower mac and cheese, and keto cornbread for a comfort food meal!
Why Make Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Wings
- Quick and easy: baked lemon pepper wings take nearly an hour. By making them in the air fryer, you can have the same crunch and flavor in less time
- Crispy and saucy: this recipe starts with my baked chicken wings, which gets the wings crisp enough to keep their crunch even after you top them with sauce.
- Easy low-carb meal main: these are a no-fuss main dish. Simply crisp the wings and toss them in the sauce before serving.
Ingredients Needed
- Chicken Wings: whole chicken wings, chicken wing parts or drumettes work well in this recipe
- Black Pepper
- Smoked Paprika
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Baking Powder: this helps make lemon pepper air fryer wings crispy so do not skip it!
- Olive oil or avocado oil
Lemon Pepper Sauce
- Butter: since Lemon Pepper seasoning usually has salt, I’m using melted and unsalted butter
- Lemon Juice: You can use freshly-squeezed lemon juice or bottled lemon juice
- Lemon Pepper Seasoning: I’m using a California-style lemon pepper seasoning. It’s citrusy and peppery without as much salt as other styles. It also includes garlic and onion.
How to Make Lemon Pepper Wings in an Air Fryer
- Prepare the chicken: Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and pat dry (removing as much moisture as possible helps to have a crispy wing skin). Mix the spices and baking powder in a small dish or ramekin.
- Toss the chicken to coat: Sprinkle the seasoning mixture on the wings and toss to coat (getting the wings evenly coated helps them to get crispy)
- Air Fry the chicken wings: Place the wings in a flat layer in the air fryer cooking basket and drizzle olive oil on the chicken wings. Use the Air Crisp setting for 12-15 minutes per side – the goal is for them to get crispy and browned.
- Make the lemon pepper wing sauce & toss: Add the lemon pepper sauce ingredients to a small bowl and mix. Pour the sauce on the crisped wings and toss the wings in it to coat.
Top Cooking Tips & FAQs
- Use all of the baking powder spice mix: the key to getting crispy air fryer chicken wings is to use all of the spice mixture. I toss my wings in it until the entire surface of the chicken is evenly coated.
- Save the salt: If you’ve made my oven fried wings or garlic parmesan wings, you might be wondering where is the salt. Since lemon pepper seasoning usually comes with salt, I do not add it to this recipe. This allows me to add as much lemon pepper seasoning to the wings as I wish.
- Add the sauce right before serving: to make sure the wings are crispy and saucy, add the lemon pepper sauce right before serving.
Yes. This recipe calls for raw chicken wings.
The cook time for wings in an air fryer depends on how large the wings are, whether they are thawed or frozen, and how crisp you’d like them. Generally, this ranges from 18-30 minutes.
As mentioned above, the key to making them crispy without flour or breading is to use all pf the baking powder spice mixture.
Recipes to Enjoy This With
- Best Homemade Keto Blue Cheese Dressing
- Air Fryer Roasted Broccoli
- Air Fryer Buffalo Wings
- Honey Sesame Ghost Pepper Wings
If you try this recipe, please stop back and leave it a star rating and/or a review in the comments. Stay connected & share photos of your creations with me & others on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings
Use DRDAVINAHS at checkout to save on some equipment & ingredients!
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb Chicken Wings, whole chicken wings or drumettes work
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder
- 2 tbsp olive oil, or avocado oil
Lemon Pepper Sauce
- 2 tbsp butter, Unsalted, melted
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
Instructions
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and pat dry (removing as much moisture as possible helps to have a crispy wing skin)
- Mix the black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and baking powder in a small dish or ramekin.
- Sprinkle the seasoning mixture on the wings and toss to coat (getting the wings evenly coated helps them to get crispy)
- Place the wings in a flat layer in the air fryer cooking basket.
- Drizzle olive oil on the chicken wings.
- Use the Air Crisp setting on 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes per side – the goal is for them to get crispy and browned.
- Add the lemon pepper sauce ingredients to a small bowl and mix.
- Pour the sauce on the crisped wings and Toss the wings in it to coat.
Recipe Notes
- Use all of the baking powder spice mix: the key to getting crispy air fryer chicken wings is to use all of the spice mixture. I toss my wings in it until the entire surface of the chicken is evenly coated.
- Save the salt: If you’ve made my oven fried wings or garlic parmesan wings, you might be wondering where is the salt. Since lemon pepper seasoning usually comes with salt, I do not add it to this recipe. This allows me to add as much lemon pepper seasoning to the wings as I wish.
- Add the sauce right before serving: to make sure the wings are crispy and saucy, add the lemon pepper sauce right before serving.
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
