If you haven't made chicken wings in the air fryer yet - now is definitely the time to start! These Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings are so crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with zesty lemon pepper seasoning punched up with additional garlic powder.
Why you'll love this recipe
- Using the air fryer is incredibly easy
- The chicken wings get so crispy
- So much flavor with so few ingredients - only 4!
- Easy finger foods that you can use for so many different meals and occasions - weeknight dinner, appetizers, after school snacks, football Sunday, and more
Ingredients
Another plus of these air fryer lemon pepper chicken wings – they only use for ingredients! Four.
- Chicken wings: The star of the show. I buy chicken wings already trimmed/cut (mine specifically was called "party style"). If you buy the whole wings, using a sharp knife cut to separate the drumette, wingette, and wing tip (tips on how to do so here). We won't be using the wing tips for this recipe, but you can save them to make chicken stock.
- Lemon pepper seasoning: Such a great, flavorful shortcut. I used Simply Organics.
- Garlic powder: A little added flavor to the lemon pepper seasoning.
- Avocado oil: This is a great oil to use in the air fryer because it has a high smoke point. You could also use canola, grapeseed, or any other high smoke point oil.
Instructions
For reference, I have the Ninja Foodi 5-in-1.
- Prep the air fryer. Put the crisper basket in your air fryer and preheat it to 400℉.
- Prep your chicken. Pat dry your chicken then put them in a mixing bowl. To the mixing bowl, add the lemon pepper seasoning, garlic powder, and avocado oil. Mix to combine.
- Air fry. Once your air fryer is preheated, add your seasoned chicken wings in a single layer (no overlapping!) with a little bit of space between each piece of chicken. Cook for 10 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook 8-10 more minutes.
Tips and tricks
- Buy in segments: I prefer to buy chicken wings already cut into segments to just skip that step for myself. I find it saves a decent amount of prep and cleaning up.
- Dry your chicken: It's important to dry your chicken to make sure you get crispy skin and to make sure that the seasoning sticks.
- Preheat your air fryer: this tip might vary based on the type of air fryer you have, but if this is an option definitely do it.
- Flip the chicken: Regardless of the way your air fryer works, to make sure you get crispy skin on both sides definitely flip the chicken pieces halfway through cooking.
- Cook in a single layer: In the same vein as most of these tricks, to make sure you get crispy skin, cook the chicken in a single layer, leaving a little bit of room between each piece.
How to serve lemon pepper chicken wings
There are SO many serving opportunities for lemon pepper chicken wings.
Dipping sauces:
- Creamy lemon herb dipping sauce(as seen in the photos) - combine sour cream, plenty of chopped herbs (parsley, chives, cilantro, any of your favorite soft herbs), lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Blue cheese dip
- Ranch dipping sauce
Veggies: Celery, carrots, broccoli, or snap peas would all be great.
Other appetizers to serve with chicken wings:
FAQs
You can store the cooked chicken wings in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Preheat your air fryer to 350℉ and heat the wings for 2-3 minutes, until warmed through.
You can! However you'll want to add the seasoning after you cook them. To cook them, you'll want to preheat your air fryer to 375℉ and cook the wings for 25 minutes. Then increase the heat to 400℉, flip the wings, and cook them for another 5 minutes.
Depends on the size of your air fryer! Just make sure you cook in a single layer and with a little bit of room between each wing.
Yes you can - preheat to 400℉, place an oven-safe wire rack on your a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165℉ internal temperature.
Simply put, they use rapid circulation of very hot air to cook and crisp food without the oil. More info here!
You can! Follow all the same steps but the cooking time will be a little shorter, about 5-6 minutes on each side.
Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb chicken wings
- 2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
Creamy Lemon Herb Sauce (optional)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp fresh soft herbs chives, parsley
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put the crisper basket in your air fryer and preheat it to 400℉. Prep your chicken. Pat dry your chicken then put them in a mixing bowl.
- To the mixing bowl, add the lemon pepper seasoning, garlic powder, and avocado oil. Mix to combine.
- Once your air fryer is preheated, add your seasoned chicken wings in a single layer (no overlapping!) with a little bit of space between each piece of chicken.
- Cook for 10 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook 8-10 more minutes.
- To make the sauce: put all ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.
NOTES
- Nutrition facts do not include optional Creamy Lemon Herb dipping sauce.
- 2 servings is if you were to eat this more as a meal. If you're serving as an appetizer among other dishes, it'll serve more around 3-4 people.
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