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    Home » Chicken

    Honey Lemon Pepper Wings (crunchy & crispy)

    Published: Oct 2, 2022 by Genevieve

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video

    There's so much to love about these ultra crunchy, crispy honey lemon pepper wings.

    First, these crispy chicken wings STAY CRISPY FOR HOURS. Truly. I've tested this recipe multiple times to make sure of this (you're welcome ;)).

    Then, it's juicy, lemony, sweet and garlicky with a delightful peppery finish. These mouthwatering, addictive honey chicken wings are so good that I think you're going to want to make them again and again!

    Since the wings hold their crunchiness so well, they are perfect for entertaining.

    For more crispy goodness, also try my aromatic salt and pepper squid! Love chicken wings? Try my 5 ingredient oven-baked sticky soy garlic chicken wings.

    Close up of crispy chicken wings coated with honey sauce and sesame seeds
    Crispy chicken wings on a white plate
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Cooking instructions
    • Reducing the glaze is key
    • Useful tips and tricks
    • Good to know
    • Leftovers/storage
    • 📖 Recipe
    • More party foods (finger foods)

    Ingredients

    Ingredients required to make this recipe, labeled
    • Deep frying oil - opt for neutral flavoured oils with a high smoke point. Here are some good oils for deep frying: sunflower oil, canola oil, vegetable oil and rice bran oil. You can use peanut oil too if you like the slightly nutty flavour. Stay away from flavour-rich, expensive oils such as extra-virgin olive oil.
    • Cornflour (aka cornstarch) - key ingredient in making ultra crispy and light coating!
    • Chicken wings - cut into drumettes and winglets. Tip: save the wing tips in the freezer to make chicken stock in the future.
    • White pepper - adds a gentler, earthy flavour compared to black pepper.

    Cooking instructions

    Another appeal of these delightful crispy honey lemon pepper wings is that they take about just 25 minutes to make (excluding marinate time)!

    Although, marinating the wings for about 1 hour or longer can make a difference to the overall flavour of the wings. Yummier, of course.

    Marinate

    To start, marinate the chicken wings with lemon juice, soy sauce, minced garlic, salt and white pepper.

    2 step collage of marinating chicken wings with captions

    Mix well then cover and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for 1 hour or longer (if you wish).

    If you're planning on making these for a party, I suggest marinating the wings the night before to ease the workload on the day!

    Prepare the batter and flour coating

    When ready to cook, prepare a thin batter and flour mixture coating. This combination is the key to super crispy chicken wings!

    2 step collage of preparing frying batter with captions

    First, make the thin batter mixture. In a small bowl, combine cornflour (cornstarch), plain flour and a little water. Mix well until the batter is smooth and lump-free. Set aside.

    2 step collage of preparing flour coating with captions

    In a separate large bowl, combine cornflour, plain flour, salt and white pepper. Mix well. This will be the dry flour coating for the chicken wings. Set aside.

    Batter and flour the wings

    Preheat the oil for deep frying. Opt for a large pot, wok or fryer.

    Meanwhile, pour the prepared thin batter into the marinated chicken wings. Mix well.

    Then, coat the chicken wings with the dry flour mixture, working in batches of ~4 pieces at a time. Gently shake off any excess flour mixture once the wings are coated.

    3 step collage coating chicken wings with captions

    Once all of the wings have been coated, check that the frying oil is hot enough.

    An easy way to see if the oil is hot enough is by dipping the tip of a wooden chopstick into the oil. If the tip starts to sizzle straight away then the oil is hot enough.

    Alternatively, the oil is hot enough when it reaches about 170°C - 180°C (340°F to 360°F) when tested with a food thermometer.

    2 step collage of deep frying chicken wings with captions

    Double fry for truly crispy wings

    The most important trick to crispy chicken wings that STAYS CRISPY is to double fry them.

    First fry: deep fry the coated chicken wings for 4 minutes on medium heat. You most likely will have to work in 2 batches to avoid overcrowding. Once 4 minutes is up, the colour of the wings should be lightly golden. Set the wings aside on a paper towel lined plate.

    Once both batches have been fried once, allow the oil to come back to a hot temperature of 170°C - 180°C (340°F to 360°F) or when it passes the chopstick test.

    Second fry: deep fry the wings (again, in 2 batches) this time for 2 minutes on high heat. After 2 minutes, the wings should be deep golden in colour and crispy. Set the wings aside on a paper towel lined plate.

    2 plates of chicken wings, 1 fried once and 1 fried 2 times with captions

    A total of 6 minutes of deep frying should be sufficient for the chicken wings to be fully cooked. If you're using extra large wings, add an extra 1 minute when frying for the second time. You can test the doneness of the wings by cutting a piece open with a knife to make sure.

    Avoid over-frying the wings as they can turn out a little dry.

    A large plate of fried wings surrounded by honey sauce ingredients

    Now that the wings are golden, crispy and cooked, it's time to coat them with a mouthwatering, appetising honey lemon glaze!

    Coat with honey lemon glaze

    To make the glaze, simply combine honey, lemon juice, soy sauce and salt in a large wok (or a large frying pan).

    Mix the ingredients well and bring them up to a bubbling simmer (just like the picture below). Simmer the glaze for about 3 minutes to let the glaze reduce to a thick, sticky consistency. Turn the heat off.

    3 step collage of coating fried wings in honey sauce

    Add double-fried chicken wings into the wok and coat well with the sweet, zesty glaze.

    Look at how crispy and yummy these honey lemon pepper wings are! A crowd pleaser for sure.

    golden crispy wings in a wok

    Reducing the glaze is key

    You've doubled-fried the chicken wings, they're crispy, a little crunchy and perfect. Juicy on the inside.

    The last thing you want is to cover it with a sauce that will soften the crispy coating and ruin all that hard work!

    This is why reducing the honey lemon glaze to a thick, sticky consistency is super important. This step will evaporate the excess liquids (killer of crispiness) from the lemon juice and soy sauce.

    The result is mouthwatering, crunchy, crispy, sweet, zesty, garlicky, lemon honey glazed chicken wings!

    Close up of a plate of crispy golden wings

    Useful tips and tricks

    • Do not overcrowd when deep frying. Overcrowding will quickly lower the temperature of the oil and stops the chicken from crisping up. There are 2 ways to avoid this:
      1. Use a large pot or wok to deep fry the chicken wings with plenty of oil, allow plenty of wiggle room.
      2. Deep fry in batches. Roughly fry 500g/1 pound at a time.
    • Firmly press the flour coating onto the chicken before deep frying for extra crispiness.
    • Marinate the chicken wings the night before for extra flavoursome wings.
    • Reduce the honey lemon glaze to draw out excess liquids. This is super important for the wings to stay crispy and not soften up!
    close up of crispy chicken winglet

    Good to know

    How do I make my wings more crispy?

    Double fry the chicken wings for these honey lemon chicken wings to be extra crispy.

    How long does it take to deep fry wings?

    6 to 8 minutes is all it takes.

    What is the best oil to deep fry chicken wings?

    High smoke point oils such as sunflower, canola or vegetable oil.

    A winglet half eaten

    Leftovers/storage

    In the unlikely scenario of any leftovers, these finger-licking crispy honey lemon pepper wings last in the fridge for up to 4 days. Always store in airtight containers.

    Made this recipe? Let me know your thoughts or questions by dropping a note in the comments section below! I'd love to hear from you. 🙂

    - Gen

    📖 Recipe

    Golden fried chicken wing

    Honey Lemon Pepper Wings (super crispy)

    Juicy, lemony, sweet and garlicky with a delightful peppery finish. These mouthwatering, addictive, crispy, crunchy honey lemon chicken wings are so good that I think you're going to want to make them again and again!
    4.80 from 5 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dinner, Side Dish
    Cuisine: Western
    Keyword: Crispy honey chicken wings
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Marinate Time: 1 hour
    Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
    Servings: 20 pieces
    Calories: 158kcal
    Author: Genevieve

    Ingredients

    • 1 kg / 2 pounds chicken wings cut into drumettes and wingettes
    • deep frying oil sunflower, canola, vegetable oils are all good

    Chicken marinade

    • 2 tablespoon lemon juice
    • 2 teaspoon soy sauce
    • 4 cloves garlic minced
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon white pepper

    Wet coating

    • ¼ cup plain flour
    • ¼ cup cornflour/cornstarch
    • ½ water room temperature or cold

    Dry coating

    • 1 cup plain flour
    • 1 cup cornflour/cornstarch
    • 2 teaspoon salt
    • 2 teaspoon white pepper

    Honey lemon glaze (sauce)

    • ½ cup honey
    • 2 tablespoon soy sauce
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • 2 tablespoon lemon juice
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    Marinate + coat wings

    • Combine chicken wings with the marinating ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well, cover and marinate for 1 hour or longer in the fridge (note 1).
    • When ready to cook, combine wet coating ingredients in a small bowl then pour it into the marinated chicken wings. Mix well.
    • In a separate large bowl, combine the dry coating ingredients. Mix well.
    • Working in batches (4 or 5 wings at a time), coat all of the chicken wings with the dry coating mixture. Lightly press down the coating into the chicken wings (note 2).

    Deep fry

    • Preheat frying oil in a large pot/wok/fryer. The oil is hot enough when the tip of a chopstick sizzles when dipped in oil. Otherwise, when the oil is at 170°C to 180°C (340°F to 360°F) if using a deep frying thermometer.
    • Frying #1: deep fry the chicken wings in 2 batches, for ~4 minutes per batch on medium heat then remove and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Make sure to shake off excess flour coating before adding the wings into the oil.
    • Frying #2: allow the oil to reach frying temperature again. Deep fry the wings for the second time in 2 batches. Fry for ~2 minutes per batch on high heat or until fully cooked and golden. Set aside on a paper towel-lined plate.

    Coat with honey lemon glaze

    • In a large frying pan or wok, combine honey lemon glaze ingredients. Bring the glaze up to a bubbly simmer then reduce the glaze over medium-low heat whilst constantly mixing. About 3 minutes (note 3). Turn the heat off.
    • Add all of the crispy wings into the wok/pan and coat the wings well with the glaze using a spatula. Serve.

    Video

    Notes

    1. Marinate the chicken wings the night before for extra flavoursome wings.
    2. Firmly press the flour coating onto the chicken before deep frying for an extra crispy, crunchy outer layer.
    3. Reduce the honey lemon glaze to draw out excess liquids. This is super important for the wings to stay crunchy, crispy and not soften up!
    Do not overcrowd when deep frying. Overcrowding will quickly lower the temperature of the oil and stops the chicken from crisping up. There are 2 ways to avoid this:
    • Use a large pot or wok to deep fry the chicken wings with plenty of oil and allow plenty of wiggle room.
    • Deep fry in batches. Roughly fry 500g/1 pound at a time.
    Leftovers in the unlikely scenario of any leftovers, these finger-licking crispy honey lemon chicken wings last in the fridge for up to 4 days. Always store in airtight containers.
    Nutritional values below are estimates and roughly represents 1 piece (either a drummette or winglette 
    For more crispy goodness, also try my aromatic salt and pepper squid!
    Love chicken wings? Try my 5 ingredient oven-baked sticky soy garlic chicken wings.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @Casuallypeckish or tag #casuallypeckish!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 158kcal | Carbohydrates: 12.2g | Protein: 7.1g | Fat: 7.8g | Saturated Fat: 1.6g | Sugar: 7.5g

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    All in for a "what's for dinner" conversation. When I'm not at the gym exercising or grocery shopping, I'm making a mess in the kitchen and creating something yum along the way.

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