Lemon Pepper Boneless Wings Recipe

Lemon pepper boneless wings are chicken breast chunks that are breaded, fried, and tossed in a buttery, lemony sauce. It’s a fresher, brighter alternative to buffalo chicken wings, and especially appropriate for guests who don’t love spicy foods.

I have made these for dinner at home, but this recipe also works great for parties. You can the boneless wings out as appetizers or finger foods. Provide toothpicks, napkins, and extra sauce, and your guests will devour the wings, fast.

Lemon pepper boneless wings: What to expect

• Taste: Most of the flavor comes from the sauce, which combines olive oil, butter, lemon juice, lemon pepper seasoning, and garlic powder. You can adjust the quantity of lemon juice up or down to suit your taste. I like to add more because I like the citrusy punch.
• Texture: The finished texture of these boneless wings is a mix of crunchy, sticky, and tender. The crunchiness of the batter on the chicken pieces gets softened a bit when you add the sauce.   
• Foolproof factor: The risk in this recipe is cooking the chicken properly. Your chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165°F or 74°C without burning the outside breading. Set yourself up for success by cutting the chicken pieces as evenly as possible, using an instant-read meat thermometer, and heating the oil up sufficiently. You can tell the oil is hot enough by adding two or three popcorn kernels. Once they pop, your oil is ready.
• Timing: You’ll spend about 20 minutes prepping the chicken. The chicken will also sit in the refrigerator for another 20 minutes. Frying takes about 5 minutes per batch and you can probably get the job done in three batches (assuming you have a big, deep pot for frying). That totals just under one hour.

Ingredients and how to use them

• Boneless, skinless chicken breast: If you’re serving these wings as an appetizer or party food, plan for ¼ to ½ pound per person. Adjust depending on what else you are serving. You’ll cut each breast into 1-inch chunks (roughly) then dredge them in an egg-milk mixture and seasoned flour.
• All-purpose flour: 1 cup of unbleached flour will be enough to coat 3 large chicken breasts.
• Salt: 2 teaspoons of salt seasons the coating for the chicken.
• Ground black pepper: Freshly ground black pepper is ideal. You’ll need ½ teaspoon.
• Cayenne pepper: Add ½ teaspoon to the flour mixture. You can adjust this down if you don’t like spice. I wouldn’t add more cayenne though, as it can easily overtake other flavors.
• Garlic powder: You will add ¼ teaspoon to the flour and another ½ teaspoon to the lemon pepper sauce.
• Egg and milk: You’ll dunk chicken pieces into a mix of 1 egg with 1 cup of milk before dredging them in flour. You can substitute dairy milk for nut milk or soy milk.
• Canola or vegetable oil: You’ll need enough to cover the bottom of a deep pot to a depth of at least 2 inches.
• Olive oil and butter: 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 3 tablespoons of melted butter from the base of the lemon pepper sauce.
• Lemon pepper seasoning: Start with ¼ teaspoon in the sauce and add more to suit your taste.
• Lemon: You’ll add the juice of ½ lemon to your sauce.

Equipment

These are the tools I use to make these boneless wings:

• Large, deep pot: I use an 8-quart pot for frying. A wider pot allows you to fry more pieces at once, while a deeper pot minimizes oil spatter.
• Instant-read thermometer: If you don’t have a thermometer, take care to cut the chicken into evenly sized pieces. Then, cut one or two open to verify they’re cooked through.
• Two pie plates: Large, flat dishes work well for coating the chicken pieces. One will hold the egg-milk mixture and the other will hold the seasoned flour.   
• Two baking sheets: There are two places I use baking sheets in this recipe. First, I’ll place the coated chicken pieces on a baking sheet before I fry them. And second, I’ll place the fried chicken pieces on a different (clean) baking sheet after frying.
• Parchment paper: For easy clean up, you can line the first baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Paper towels: Line the second baking sheet with paper towels to absorb excess oil from the fried chicken pieces.
• Slotted spoon: A slotted spoon helps you remove the fried chicken from the hot oil without burning yourself. You could also use tongs, but they are less forgiving — you risk losing the grip and dropping your freshly fried chicken on the floor.
• Big, stainless steel bowl: After the fried chicken pieces have drained on paper towels, put them in a large bowl. Add sauce and toss to coat.

More boneless wings recipes

If you like boneless lemon pepper wings, here are a few similar recipes to try:

• Srirarcha boneless wings recipe: The prep process for these is the same as the lemon pepper wings. You just swap out the sauce at the end.
• Jack Daniel’s boneless wings recipe: Just like the Sriracha recipe, this one follows the same process, but uses a tangy whiskey BBQ sauce instead.
• How to make boneless chicken wings: The recipe card in this post includes the recipe for breading and frying the wings, plus five sauces to try.

How to make boneless lemon pepper wings

The recipe card below outlines the step-by-step for these lemon pepper wings.