Sticky honey lemon chicken wings

Sticky honey lemon chicken wings are made from crispy fried chicken wings, smothered in a sticky honey lemon glaze. They make the perfect appetiser or barbeque side dish and are delicious as a light meal when paired with a crusty bread roll.

I've got quite a few chicken wing recipes on my website, but I think these sticky honey and lemon chicken wings will take some beating!

The wings are coated in seasoned cornflour before frying, creating a crispy exterior while keeping the inside moist and juicy.

Once fried, the wings are smothered in a thick tangy lemon and honey sauce which clings to the wings, coating them in the delicious flavours.

The honey lemon sauce is made with only 3 ingredients - honey, lemon and a small amount of cornflour for thickening - and takes only minutes to put together. And even though I say it myself, it's absolutely delicious - sweet and tangy all at the same time!

The wings must be marinated for half an hour before cooking, so you should allow about an hour if you intend to make them. However, you can whip up the sauce while the wings are marinating, then it's just a matter of frying the wings, which only takes around 8 minutes per batch.

Just take a look at how crispy the wings turn out once they've been fried.

If you'd like to try my other chicken wing recipes, here are the links:

• crispy air-fryer chicken wings with blue cheese sauce
• crispy chicken wings with barbeque sauce
• honey-glazed chicken wings

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Tips for a perfect outcome
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• FAQ
• Save for later
• Related recipes
• 📋The recipe

Ingredients

These honey and lemon chicken wings will easily feed 2 people as a main meal or 4 to 6 people as a starter or appetiser.

• Chicken wings - the chicken wings should be jointed to separate the drumette from the flat. One kilogram (or 2.25 pounds) of chicken wings should give you about 12 complete wings which will provide 24 portions.
• Soy sauce - this is used for the marinade. I used dark soy sauce, but you can substitute it with light soy if you prefer. Dark soy is sweeter whereas light soy has a more salty taste so you should bear this in mind when seasoning the chicken wings.
• Sugar - one teaspoon will be sufficient. The addition of sugar aids in the caramelisation of the chicken wings.
• Stock cube - this is also used in the marinade and should be crumbled into the chicken pieces. You can substitute this with chicken bouillon powder
• Honey - this is used for making the sauce.
• Lemon - both the juice and the zest will be added to the sauce. Use a zester to remove the zest from the lemon then cut the lemon in half and squeeze out the juice.
• Cornflour - this should be mixed with a little water and it is used to thicken the sauce. You will also need cornflour (seasoned with a little salt) to coat the chicken.
• Sunflower oil - this is used for frying the chicken. You can use any neutral-flavoured oil (such as Canola), but I wouldn't use olive oil as the smoke point is too low.
• Sesame seeds - these are used for garnish but are optional.

**You can find the exact measurements for the ingredients on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

Instructions

In a nutshell, here are the steps for making honey lemon chicken wings:

• marinate the chicken
• make the sauce
• coat and fry the chicken wings
• combine the wings with the sauce

And here are the details:

Transfer the cooked chicken to a serving dish and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Optionally garnish with chopped parsley and slices of lemon. Serve immediately. If the chicken stands for any amount of time in the sauce it will lose its crispiness.

Tips for a perfect outcome

Here are my top tips and notes to ensure your meal turns out perfectly:

• Ensure you rub the marinade thoroughly into the chicken. Leave the chicken for at least half an hour in the refrigerator. You can leave the chicken to marinate for as long as overnight.
• When making the sauce, do not allow the honey and lemon juice to boil or you may end up with toffee. The moment it starts to boil remove it from the heat and stir in the cornflour and water mixture.
• The sauce will look as though it is too thick, but once you stir it into the hot chicken it will thin out and coat the chicken.
• This recipe will make approximately half a cup of sauce which is more than sufficient to coat the chicken. The idea is to have enough honey lemon sauce to coat each chicken wing without any sauce remaining.
• Before coating the chicken pieces, dab them with a paper towel to soak up any excess marinade. If you don't do this you will end up with a sticky mess then you try to coat the chicken in cornflour.
• You will need at least one inch of oil in your wok or frying pan.
• If you do not have a thermometer you can test the temperature of the oil by dipping the handle of a wooden spoon into the hot oil. If bubbles form around the handle, the oil is hot enough.
• Shake off any excess cornflour before putting the chicken in the hot oil.
• When frying the chicken turn the pieces often so they brown evenly on all sides.
• The chicken should be fully cooked after 8 to 10 minutes (depending on the size of the pieces). The internal temperature of cooked chicken is 74C or 165F. If you are unsure, cut a piece of chicken - there should be no pink juices showing and the chicken should be completely white.
• Fry the chicken in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan and consequently lowering the temperature of the oil.
• Because the drumettes are larger than the flats, I would advise that you fry the drumettes in one batch and the flats in a second batch.

Variations

Here are a few ideas to vary the recipe.

• Oriental flavour - instead of using a chicken stock cube in the marinade, substitute it with half a teaspoon of 5-spice powder.
• Orange - make this into orange chicken by swapping the zest and juice of the lemon for the zest and juice of an orange.
• Use chicken breasts - substitute the chicken wings for cubes of chicken breast. Follow the recipe but reduce the frying time to around 5 minutes. Serve coated in sauce and spooned on a bowl of white rice or Chinese egg fried rice.

Equipment

I don't make enough deep-fried food to justify buying a deep-fat fryer. If you have one you can certainly use it.

If you don't have a deep-fat fryer I recommend using a wok. Because a wok has a narrower base than a flat frying pan you will need less oil to get the depth required.

You will need a small saucepan to make the sauce.

To marinate and coat the chicken you will need 2 shallow bowls or dishes.

Storage

The chicken wings can be frozen in the marinade for up to 3 months. Once the chicken has been coated in marinade, transfer it to a ziploc bag or similar before freezing Allow it to defrost before cooking it according to the recipe instructions.

Leftover honey and chicken wings can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Enjoy cold or reheat for a few seconds in the microwave. Note that because it has been coated in honey lemon sauce, reheated chicken will not be crispy although it will still taste good!

FAQ

Save for later

If you want to make these honey lemon chicken wings why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click on the image below.

Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Related recipes

Visit my chicken recipes page for many other ideas for using chicken. Here are a few recipes you might enjoy:

📋The recipe

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