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’re Going to Love!
- Grilled Dry Rub Chicken Wings
- Garlic Ginger Chicken Wings
- Drunken Chicken Wings
- Chinese Sticky Wings
- The Best Buffalo Wings
Dry Rub Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings split at first joint. *remove wing tip if desired
- 2 tbsp packed brown sugar
- 4 tsp lemon pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 ½ tsp granulated onion
- 1 ½ tsp granulated garlic
- 1 ½ tsp sweet paprika
- ½ – 1 tsp ancho chili powder (optional) if you like spicy go with 1 teaspoon ancho
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- 1 tsp 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.
Notes
Nutrition
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 can very easily become our favorite wings! So tasty!!
Natalie
My family loves chicken wings for dinner. This is a great new recipe to try. Looks delicious and I absolutely love the flavors. I just added this to my menu. 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
I can almost smell these wings grilling! This lemon pepper dry rub sounds amazing and we like things spicy around here so we are bumpin’ it up to 1 tsp of ancho!!
Kushigalu
Drooling over these lemon pepper chicken wings. I will be making your recipe soon. Looks fantastic.
Kate
Wondering why I ever bought store-bought frozen chicken wings. These were so easy to make and so flavorful!
Jacqueline Debono
These lemon pepper chicken wings look really good. I’ve never put brown sugar in a spice rub. I really want to try that. Can’t wait for grilling season to start!
rika
I love lemon pepper seasoning on anything! These chicken wings look so delicious and easy to make.
Catalina
Oh my goodness! How delicious these chicken wings look! Can’t wait to try them!
Jere Cassidy
I’m excited to try your dry rub for these wings. Your recipes are always easy to do and come out tasty. Now that grilled season is here I am making these wings.
Sharon
These dry rub wings with lemon pepper and grilled are my new favorite go-to’s when I want wings. So much flavor!
Monica Y
My son loves lemon chicken so I am going to need to surprise him with this recipe this week, yummy
Lynndee
We love chicken wings but I haven’t tried preparing it like this. Going to save your recipe. Looks good!
Kim Guzman
Looks great! I can’t wait to try it.
MELANIE EDJOURIAN
I really do enjoy chicken wings. this sounds like a great recipe to try over the summer.
Gervin Khan
Such an easy and delicious dish to make for our tonight’s dinner. I really love it!
Sangita
Looks really delicious. My son will definitely try it out. (I’m vegetarian)
Rose Ann Sales
My family loves wings so much. They’ll definitely love this spice.
Nikki Wayne
I haven’t heard of dry rub before. Sounds great to try.
Lavanda Michelle
Grilled Dry Rub Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings were delicious and easy to make.
Sabrina
So satisfying and delicious!
Crystal Carder
I have been craving chicken wings and this recipe sounds and looks amazing! I love how its a different take than traditional wings.
Tasheena
My son loves lemon pepper wings. Looking forward to trying this recipe.
Tara Pittman
I know that my husband would enjoy these wings. The flavor on them sounds amazing.
Raquel
Delicious recipe with just a few ingredients!
Lisa Charleston
We love lemon pepper wings but I have yet to make them myself. I will check out this recipe and I hope they look and taste just as good as yours!!
Amber Myers
We love wings here! I’ll have to make these for sure. What a tasty flavor.
melissa chapman
Those wings look amahzing. Using a rub is new to me but it looks like the result is worth the trouble.
Swathi
These lemon pepper wings were delicious love it
Gloria
YES to fire up the grill. YES to chicken wings. I can just imagine how good these will be…and I need to get hubby to make some this weekend.
Debra
Lots of great tips here to get the chicken cooked without burning!
Nora
Looks delicious! Have to try it soon! Thanks for sharing!
Audrey
Loads of great flavor!
Alexandra
Love the delicious flavour from the lemon pepper! Yum!
Elizabeth
These wings are delicious! Great recipe!