Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings

Name: Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ pounds bone-in chicken wings (I used both wings and drumsticks); 3 tablespoons olive oil; salt and pepper to taste; 6 tablespoons butter (melted); ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper; juice from ½ lemon (about 3 tablespoons); 2 teaspoons honey

Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings are great for the family, a party, or when you just want a yummy snack. It’s nice to break from the ordinary wings and try something lemony, peppery, crispy, and delicious once in a while, don’t you think?

If you love chicken wings, then you’ll also love my recipes for Spicy Korean BBQ Chicken Wings, Spicy Honey Lime Chicken Wings, and my Slow Cooker Honey Chipotle Chicken Wings.

top view of baked lemon pepper chicken wings with lemon wheels underneath some of the wings all on a cooling rack on a baking sheet.

Why This Recipe Works

Easy appetizer or main protein — A staple of American households everywhere, the chicken wings are ubiquitous with sports bars, appetizers, the Super Bowl, and any other time and place that people want to have fun and eat finger foods. These lemon pepper wings are great to make if you need to bring an app to any gathering or even to make as a main “protein” for dinner.

Simple to make — These wings only take about 30 minutes to make and require no crazy ingredients. You simply add the wings to a baking sheet, brush with oil, add salt and pepper and pop in the oven. Season again with the honey/butter/lemon sauce after baking and you’re done!

Healthier than takeout — These wings are lighter, crispier, and fresher than what you are typically served. I feel like you could eat 20 of these and feel a-okay, whereas maybe not so much if you ate 20 hot Buffalo wings at the local wings joint. Baked > fried any day.
Feeds a crowd — Got a lot of people to feed? Double/triple/quadruple this recipe for baked lemon pepper wings. Or if you want to make these and another wing, you can also make (and double) these Crispy Korean BBQ wings too.

baked lemon pepper chicken wings and lemon wheels on a plate.

Ingredients

All of these ingredients are so easy to procure, and you might even have all of them in your freezer/pantry now.

Bone-in chicken wings — I used both wings and drumsticks but you could use just one or the other if you have a preference.
Olive oil — I nearly alway use extra virgin olive oil because that’s what I have in my pantry but you can use any kind of olive oil you have. Or substitute vegetable or canola oil.
Salt and pepper — Salt and pepper your wings as much or as little as you like.

Butter — I generally tend to use unsalted pepper because I like to add salt back in on my own, eyeballing the amount I use so that it’s not too salty with salted butter and adding more salt.
Cracked black pepper — I like the texture and taste of freshly cracked black pepper on these wings. But if you don’t have a pepper grinder, feel free to use more ground pepper.
Lemon juice — Freshly squeezed always tastes best, but use what you have.
Honey — Any brand of honey works great in these baked wings but if you want a little bit of heat to these wings, try adding some hot honey instead of regular. So. Good.

Here’s How You Make It

First, make sure the wings are thawed (if frozen) and then preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and then top it with a cooling rack. Arrange the wings on top of the cooling rack. This allows the wings to cook and get crispy on all sides.
Then, brush the wings with olive oil (turning the wings to get both sides) and season with a lot of salt and pepper (also on both sides). Pop these in the oven for 25-35 minutes until they are nice and crispy.
While the wings are cooking, whisk together the melted butter, honey, black pepper, and lemon juice. When the wings are done, take them out of the oven and brush the butter mixture over the wings, then serve them right away.

close up of baked lemon pepper chicken wings and lemon wheels on a cooling rack on a baking sheet.

Serving Suggestions

Sides, sides, all the sides. Or, I guess if you’re just having a finger food/appetizer meal then the sides are really all just part of the meal, aren’t they? However, there are many foods that go great with wings, no matter how you choose to serve them:

If you’re going all-in on the finger foods, then what could be better than serving fries or potato wedges alongside them?
These Crispy Parmesan Green Beans are easy to eat with your fingers and are so delicious!
How about a big, heaping spoonful of Creamy, Sweet Macaroni Salad to temper the peppery wings?
Easy Focaccia Bread is another appetizer food that we all love tearing into and dipping around here.
A Grilled Corn Salad is a refreshing side to dig into on those lazy summer nights where you want to throw together an easy veggie dish.
Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms complement the wings so nicely, you’d think they were BFFs.

top view of a hand holding a plate of baked lemon pepper chicken wings with another hand grabbing a wing.

Expert Tips and Tricks

This recipe makes 1.5 pounds chicken wings. For me, this was about 16 wings. At 2 – 4 wings per serving, this would serve 4-6 people as an appetizer or 2-4 as a main dish.
These wings will keep in the fridge in a lidded container for up to 5 days. For best warming results, crisp the wings back up in the oven or toast on the stove in a grill pan.

Are boneless wings really chicken wings?

If you’re ordering boneless chicken wings, you know they are not really wings made from boneless chickens right? The “wings” that are served boneless-style are basically chicken nuggets in a wing shape. They will taste more like chicken fingers, too, with all that breading on them.

How to turn this recipe into lemon pepper chicken

If you’re not into wings or want to make this recipe with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, then you can make this sauce for other types of chicken too. To make this with chicken breasts, oil and salt and pepper the breasts and cook for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. When they are done, brush with the lemon-butter sauce and sprinkle liberally with cracked black pepper. Serve over noodles with extra sauce (if you have any!).

a hand holding a baked lemon pepper chicken wing above a plate of more wings.

More Tasty Appetizer Recipes

Did you make these Lemon Pepper Wings? YAY! Please rate the recipe below and be sure to tag me on social when you share a photo of your CDLC creation – I love getting to see what you’re up to in the kitchen!