Crispy chicken wings covered in a mouthwatering honey lemon pepper glaze. They’re the perfect balance of savory, sweet, and tangy!

Glazed honey lemon pepper wings on a black background.

Honey lemon pepper wings are going to be your newest obsession! Or maybe you’re here because they already are.

I firmly believe there are two kinds of people in this world – those who are obsessed with honey lemon pepper wings and those who haven’t had them yet!

Whichever you are, you’re in the right place. I’m going to share my personal recipe for crispy chicken wings that are covered in a sweet, slightly tangy, and a a little bit savory glaze.

Close up of honey lemon pepper chicken wings.

You can serve them as an appetizer, I often do when we have people over to watch football. It’s a wonderful option for those who can’t handle a spicy sauce.

They can also be served as a main dish. They work well when paired with BLT waffle fries, Instant Pot mac & cheese, and smoked corn.

And if you want to serve another wing flavor, try these Old Bay hot honey wings. They have a similar sweet glaze, but with an added mild heat and Old Bay flavor.

Ingredients

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Chicken Wings – You’ll need fresh chicken wings or frozen wings that have been thawed.
Lemon Pepper Seasoning – This helps season the glaze. I use this brand.
Salt – A little bit of extra salt helps to season the wings and bring out the lemon pepper flavor in the glaze.
Lemon Juice – Fresh squeezed lemon juice is best. Store-bought has preservatives that negatively alters the flavor.
Butter – I used unsalted butter. If you use salted, adjust the amount of added salt to taste.
Honey – Any honey you have on hand will work. I used a clover honey.
Oil – If you are frying these wings you’ll need a lot of oil – however much your deep fryer requires. I like to use canola or peanut oil. If you’re baking them you’ll only need a few tablespoons.

Baked vs Fried

You can make delicious wings by deep frying or baking them. But each way has its own advantages.

Deep Fried

Deep frying chicken wings produces the crispiest possible skin. It is my preferred method.

One disadvantage to frying – consumer deep fryers are small and if you add too many wings at once, you’ll lower the oil temperature too quickly which won’t allow your skin to get to it’s crispiest potential. This means you’ll have to fry in batches which can take a long time if you need to make a lot of wings.

I use this deep fryer, but you can also use a deep pot like a dutch oven.

Baked

When using the oven, you can bake two large pans of wings at once. This makes it, in my opinion, the best way to serve wings to a crowd.

Even though I think wings get the crispiest when deep fried, you can still get crispy skin in the oven. Be sure to pat the skin dry really well before seasoning. Then toss them in oil (I use canola) before baking.

You’ll want to cook them on a rack (like a metal cooling rack) on top of a baking sheet. This keeps them out of cooking in their own fat, which can make the skin soggy.

Tips

Be sure to accurately measure out the honey, butter, and lemon juice. If the ratio of honey to other liquids is off you’ll wind up with a runny sauce instead of a glaze.
If you like garlic, add 1-2 tablespoons of freshly minced garlic to the glaze before you boil it.

If you’re looking for more chicken wing recipes, try our smoked chicken wings, Nashville Hot chicken wings, or honey sriracha lime chicken wings.

Close up of a Honey Lemon Pepper Wing held up over the basket of them.

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