• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Hangry Economist logo
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • 30 Minutes or Less
    • Healthy-ish
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Sides
  • Lifestyle
    • DC/MD/VA Local Finds
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • About Us
  • Lifestyle
  • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • About Us
    • Lifestyle
    • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Recipes

    Fast Lemon Pepper Chicken Nuggets

    Published: Dec 31, 2021 · Modified: Mar 24, 2023 ·

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Michael and I love Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks from Costco. They taste great in the air fryer, and they're perfect for a quick meal when I can't be bothered to actually cook. Michael loves them for football games, and has even mentioned that they taste a lot like Chick-fil-a nuggets. At the beginning of the football season, I was serving these chicken nuggets in a different way every week, inspired by popular food in the geographical region that the Washington Football Team's opposing team was from. When they played Atlanta, I made these lemon pepper chicken nuggets, inspired by Atlanta's popular lemon pepper chicken.

    This is a picture of a plateful of lemon pepper chicken nuggets with one on a fork. The Hangry Economist.

    Like I said, we use these lightly breaded chicken nuggets from Costco, but you can use whatever chicken nuggets you're fond of (or you can make your own!).

    This is a picture of a bag of frozen chicken. The Hangry Economist.

    What is lemon pepper chicken?

    Lemon pepper chicken generally consists of a lemon pepper seasoning (which has dried lemon zest and pepper, among other seasonings), lemon juice, butter, and extra pepper. It's a "wet" chicken, due to the buttery sauce that it's drenched in. I didn't stick to the script exactly, but I think my quick version is pretty dang good.

    This is a picture of lemon pepper chicken nuggets on a plate with sliced lemons. The Hangry Economist.

    Here's what you need.

    • Chicken nuggets. We use these from Costco. I like them because they're lightly breaded and not too heavy. Feel free to use your favorite chicken nuggets (or make your own!). Here are some made by Purdue.
    • Fresh lemon juice
    • Lemon zest
    • Lemon pepper seasoning. I bought mine at the grocery store. You can also make your own.
    • Pantry ingredients/spices: butter, garlic, onion powder, and ground cayenne.

    Here's how I made these nuggets.

    I heat my chicken nuggets in the air fryer at 350 degrees until they're crisp, about 10 minutes, but you can cook them according to package directions or whatever is easiest for you.

    While the chicken is cooking, combine butter, garlic, lemon juice, lemon pepper seasoning, onion powder, ground cayenne, and lemon zest in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the butter is melted and the sauce is hot, stirring to combine everything. Add the cooked chicken to the sauce and stir/toss until all the chicken is covered. Remove the chicken from the pan and place it into a serving dish. Serve and enjoy!

    This is a picture of a lemon pepper chicken nugget on a fork. The Hangry Economist.

    Serve these chicken nuggets with...

    • Copycat Kraft Mac and Cheese
    • Fall Harvest Salad with Sweet Potato, Apple, and Halloumi Cheese
    • Quick Sweet and Spicy Crispy Thai Brussels Sprouts

    You might also like...

    • Buffalo Chicken Nuggets with Blue Cheese Dressing
    • Tajín-Seasoned Chicken Nuggets with Avocado and Jalapeño Lime Ranch
    • Instant Pot Lemon Pepper Rice with Chicken
    Fast Lemon Pepper Chicken Nuggets

    Fast Lemon Pepper Chicken Nuggets

    Recipe by Mollie

    These frozen lemon pepper chicken nuggets are quick, easy, and SO SO good. The lemon pepper sauce is buttery and flavorful and really takes these frozen chicken nuggets to the next level.

    Course: Appetizers, DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
    4 from 12 votes
    Pin
    Print
    Servings

    4

    servings
    Prep time

    5

    minutes
    Cooking time

    15

    minutes
    Calories

    317

    kcal
    Total time

    20

    minutes
    Cook Mode

    Prevent your screen from going dark!

    Ingredients

    • 16 oz 16 frozen chicken nuggets (see note)

    • 4 tablespoons 4 butter

    • 2 cloves 2 garlic, minced

    • Juice of Juice of ½ a lemon

    • Zest of Zest of ¼ lemon

    • 1 teaspoon 1 lemon pepper seasoning

    • ¼ teaspoon ¼ onion powder

    • ⅛ teaspoon ⅛ ground cayenne

    Directions

    • Cook chicken according to package directions.
    • While the chicken is cooking, combine butter, garlic, lemon juice, lemon pepper seasoning, onion powder, ground cayenne, and lemon zest in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the butter is melted and the sauce is hot, stirring constantly.
    • Add the cooked chicken to the sauce and stir/toss until all the chicken is covered. Remove the chicken from the pan and place it into a serving dish. Enjoy!

    Notes

    • We recommend Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks.

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag and follow @hangryeconomist on Instagram

    Like this recipe?

    Follow @hangryeconomist on Pinterest

    More Recipes

    • Air fryer baby carrots in a serving bowl topped with green garnish.
      Air Fryer Baby Carrots
    • Brown butter sage ravioli in a bowl with peas and parmesan cheese.
      Brown Butter Sage Ravioli
    • Two purple rain cocktails garnished with lime.
      Purple Rain Cocktail
    • Strawberries, basil, and halloumi on skewers on a serving plate.
      Strawberry and Halloumi Skewers

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Alias says

      October 10, 2022 at 10:41 am

      I do not love the bare nuggets from Costco but I have a whole bag. I was looking for ways to cook them into a meal and found this. This sounds delicious and I'm going to cook it tonight with a spinach orzo side.

      • Mollie says

        October 10, 2022 at 6:32 pm

        Great! Hope you enjoy!

    Primary Sidebar

    hi, we're Michael and Mollie

    Welcome! We are Michael & Mollie, a hangry economics enthusiast and her husband. Our goal is to provide you with delicious, accessible, and healthy-ish recipes that are both time- and money-efficient.

    More about us →

    trending Recipes

    • A bowl of creamy red pepper and tomato pasta garnished with basil.
      Creamy Red Pepper and Tomato Pasta
    • Escabeche Vegetable Salad
    • A grilled cheese burger in a basket with chips and tomato slices.
      Grilled Cheese Burger
    • Coconut Water Mocktail

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Info

    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Statement

    Contact

    • Email us

    Copyright © 2022 The Hangry Economist

    We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website. Learn more here.

    The Hangry Economist
    Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

    If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.