If you love Wings my Grilled Dry Rub Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings might just become your new favorite!
Just one of caution, they are addictive! My wife almost lost a finger reaching for one off my plate!
Seriously, they are crazy delicious and the Ancho adds heat without killing you. Although if you’re not a fan of heat, I would suggest cutting back the Ancho or leaving it out altogether.
I promise the wings will still be ah-mazingly delicious!
What Ingredients do I need to make Dry Rub Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my Dry Rub Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the up cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
What’s a Dry Rub?
A dry rub is a blend of spices, seasonings and aromatics, without any wet ingredients. This mixture gets rubbed on the meat which adds an incredible amount of flavor.
Don’t get confused and think of this as a Dry Brine. Although it’s similar using the same type of ingredients, a dry brine works into the meat over a longer period of time before being cooked. A dry rub is generally applied to the meat right before you cook it.
Do I have to use the Ancho Powder in my Dry Rub?
No, you don’t. And I offer a word of caution if you’re not a fan of heat. Overall Ancho isn’t deadly hot if you don’t get carried away, and it adds a nice smokiness to the wings.
But if heats not your thing, leave out the ancho and use smoked paprika if you still want a smokey flavor in your wings.
What other spices can I use in a Dry Rub?
The simplest form of a dry rub is salt, pepper, and brown sugar. As long as use these basic ingredients, the dry rub is blank canvas for you to add your favorite seasonings to.
Some of my favorite dry rub spices include:
- paprika – smoked, hot or sweet
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- dry oregano
- dry mustard
- cumin
- chili powder – regular, ancho or chipotle
The sky’s the limit. Use flavors you enjoy eating and the rub will never disappoint. Just don’t use so many that it confuses the flavor you’re trying to achieve. More is less.
How do I make Dry Rub Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings?
Once you’ve prepare the rub, all you have to do is heat up the grill.
When the grill is ready, add the seasoning mixture to the wings and get a good coating over all of the wings. It’s really that easy.
Place the seasoned wings on the grill, letting them cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Turn the wings as needed to crisp them all over.
*They can cook longer if they don’t look crisp enough. But be careful not to burn the wings, the sugar in the dry rub can cause the wings to char.
Move the chicken wings to indirect heat and continue to cook with the lid closed for another 6-8 minutes. Or until you’ve reached an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees.
*Indirect heat is heat on the sides of the food being cooked, with the area directly under the food turned off.
Garnish the wings with chopped parsley and serve the wings with lemon wedges. You can also serve the wings with bleu cheese or ranch dressing
*People eat with their eyes and it makes the wings look pretty!
More Chicken Wing Recipes You’ll Love!
Dry Rub Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings split at first joint. *remove wing tip if desired
- 2 tablespoon packed brown sugar
- 4 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon granulated onion
- 1 ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ – 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder (optional) if you like spicy go with 1 teaspoon ancho
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- 1 teaspoon Italian parsley garnish
Instructions
- Measure all ingredients into a small mixing bowl and thoroughly mix to fully incorporate spices.*Be careful with the ancho powder it adds a nice kick to the wings, but if you are not into heat, leave it out.
- Toss the chicken wings with the seasonings to coat the wings with a generous amount of the dry rub.
- Preheat the grill to medium-high heat (350º-400ºF)*Don't get the grill too hot the wings will burn
- Place the seasoned wings on the grill allowing them to cook for 3-4minutes on each side. Turn the wings as needed to crisp them all over. *They can cook longer if they don’t look crisp enough. But be careful not to burn the wings, the sugar in the dry rub can cause the wings to char.
- Move the chicken wings to indirect heat and continue to cook with the lid closed for another 8-10 minutes.*Indirect heat is heat on the sides of the food being cooked, with the area directly under the food turned off.
- Garnish the wings with chopped parsley*People eat with their eyes and it makes the wings look pretty!
- Serve the wings with lemon wedges and squeeze a little lemon juice on the wings as you eat them. You can also serve the wings with bleu cheese or ranch dressing.
Janis
These chicken wings are just great! Family loves it! Thank you for sharing!
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the wings, Janis!
Stacie Link
Loved the flavor of these wings! I am not a sauce person but love dry rubs. I have already made these twice in one week. Thanks for a great recipe!
Albert
Which lemon pepper seasoning do you prefer chef? Going to try this recipe
Chef Dennis Littley
I like Mccormicks brand
Karen Meyerhoff
Hello Chef Dennis, I live in Montana and are unable to grill in winter. Can I cook these wings in the oven? If so, what temp and for how long. Also, should I turn them halfway through cooking time. Thank you so much, Karen
Chef Dennis Littley
Absolutely Karen. Cut the brown sugar in half and bake them at 400 degrees for 35 -50 minutes. If they are not getting too dark let them cook a little longer. The brown sugar carmazlizes and can burn, so that is why the cooking time has such a wide range. 45 – 50 minutes is the sweet spot to make them extra tender.
I would turn them halfway through, you can check then to see how dark they are getting. You can also cover them with foil for 10 minutes if they are and let them cook the full time.
Nicole
I made this exactly as directed. It tasted more like BBQ than anything else. It was good flavor, seems more appropriate for ribs, burgers, maybe BBQ beef, definitely not lemon pepper wings.
Tom
Can you use an air fryer for this
Chef Dennis Littley
you sure can, I’m just not sure of how long it will take, since I don’t have an airfryer
Loreto and Nicoletta Nardelli
These Grilled Dry Rub Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings have become our favorite wings! So tasty!!
Natalie
My family loved these chicken wings. This is a great new recipe, so delicious and I absolutely love the flavors. Thanks for the recipe.
Alex
I have no idea why I’ve never grilled wings! That’s going to be super practical in the coming months when it’s too hot to turn on the oven inside. I especially love how easy these are!
Erin
Heat without killing you! That’s what I needed to hear. 😆 I just can’t enjoy recipes if they’re too spicy. These sound perfect for us!
Tristin
What a delicious smell as these wings were grilling! This lemon pepper dry rub was amazing and we like things spicy around here so we are bumped it up to 1 tsp of ancho!!
Kushigalu
My family was drooling over these lemon pepper chicken wings. It was fantastic.