Lemon Pepper Wet Fried Chicken Sandwich
Crispy fried lemon pepper chicken on a sandwich with lemon pepper wet sauce, cucumbers, and blue cheese! This sandwich is inspired by the city of Atlanta and the amazing lemon pepper wet wings. If you have never had lemon pepper wet, it’s time to get down here and taste this local delicacy! It was started at JR Crickets, or American Deli depending on who you ask, and it even made a cameo in an episode of the TV Show Atlanta!
The inspiration for this lemon pepper sandwich
Since moving to Atlanta, there is one food that sticks out to me as unique to this city and diabolically delicious, and that is lemon pepper wet wings. Sure you have probably had lemon pepper, but have you had lemon pepper wet? They take the usually dry rubbed lemon pepper wings and coat them in a buttery sauce. Sometimes it is more of a buffalo sauce, other times it is more buttery, but either way it is super delicious!
I tried a bunch of versions and came up with my take on the amazing lemon pepper wet sauce. Then used it on a chicken sandwich and it was the best thing I tasted in a long time.
Make the lemon pepper seasoning
You don’t need to make your own seasoning to enjoy this sandwich! I made my own because the store bought version is very salty and I wanted to make sure this sandwich had a real lemon pop! Making my own allowed me to use more seasoning so it would be extra lemon and pepper flavored with a balanced salt level. In the recipe below, I listed the different amounts to use if you use store bought or homemade.
I dehydrated all the lemon peels and blended them up with peppercorns and maltodextrin. The maltodextrin is optional but it absorbs the fat and helps the seasoning not get clumpy. After this, add some salt, celery salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. You can store this in the cabinet at room temp for a few months.
Make the lemon pepper wet sauce for the chicken sandwich
Some places make this sauce more like buffalo, and others have more of a butter sauce. I did a combo of both with a hint of honey mustard too! Lots of melted butter, some of the lemon pepper seasoning, buffalo sauce, lemon juice, honey, and mustard, then whisk it together.
Fry the chicken for the sandwich
I marinated the chicken with some more lemon pepper seasoning and lemon juice, then dredged it in a flour and cornstarch mixture that is seasoned with more lemon pepper.
Fry at 375 for about 8 minutes until crispy and cooked through.
More lemon pepper sprinkles of course.
Build the lemon pepper wet fried chicken sandwich
Bun, mayo, fried chicken, lemon pepper wet sauce, blue cheese, cucumbers, and pickled onion.
Epically delicious! I was obsessed with this sandwich.
We also put the lemon pepper wet sauce on just about everything the rest of the week. It finally ran out yesterday!
If this sandwich was on a menu, I would order it every time. The tart lemon and spicy pepper is such a great balance of flavors on a fried chicken sandwich!
Twists on this lemon pepper fried chicken sandwich
I mentioned it a few times, but you could definitely use store bought lemon pepper seasoning on this. Just make sure to go light cause it is a little more salty. I used blue cheese crumbles but you could do a ranch sauce if you prefer. You could swap out the mayo for the ranch too.
For more tasty fried chicken sandwiches, check out my honey gochujang fried chicken sandwich, blackberry fried chicken sandwich, or this general tso fried chicken sandwich!
Lemon Pepper Wet Fried Chicken Sandwich
Equipment
Ingredients
Lemon pepper seasoning
- 12 lemons
- 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon maltodextrin optional
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
Lemon pepper wet sauce
- 1/2 stick butter
- lemon pepper seasoning see instructions for amount
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons cayenne hot sauce (crystal or franks)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon dijon
Cucumbers
- 1 english cucumber sliced thin
- lemon pepper seasoning see instructions for amount
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon gochugaru chili flakes
Chicken
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- olive oil
- 2 lemons juice of
- lemon pepper seasoning see instructions for amount
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup corn starch
- oil for frying
Sandwich
- 4 brioche buns toasted
- mayo
- blue cheese crumbles
- pickled onion
Instructions
Make the lemon pepper seasoning
- Peel the lemons keeping as little of the white part as you can, mostly just the yellow peels. I made lemonade with the lemon juice, and you could save some for the chicken later.
- Dehydrate the lemon peels until dry and crisp, about 6 hours.
- Add the peels in batches to a spice grinder with the pepper and maltodextrin. Blend to a fine powder.
- Stir in the garlic, onion, salt, and celery salt. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
Make the lemon pepper sauce
- Melt the butter. If using homemade lemon pepper seasoning, add a few tablespoons. If using store bought, start with about a teaspoon. Mix all the ingredients together and whisk to combine. Store in a container in the fridge until ready to use. Shake the mixture a few times as it cools to prevent the butter from separating and solidifying.
Make the cucumbers
- Mix everything in a large bowl. If using the homemade lemon pepper, add about a tablespoon. If using store bought, start with a teaspoon and season to taste as needed. Store in the fridge until ready to use.
Marinate the chicken
- Add the chicken to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. If using homemade lemon pepper seasoning, add about a tablespoon and a pinch of salt. If using store bought lemon pepper, add about a teaspoon. Toss to combine and store in the fridge for 1 hour.
Fry the chicken and make the sandwiches.
- Mix the flour and corn starch in a shallow bowl. Season with some lemon pepper seasoning, about a tablespoon of homemade or teaspoon of store bought.
- Bring the oil to 375
- Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and gently drop into the frying oil. Repeat with as many as will fit in the pan without overcrowding it or causing the heat to drop.
- Remove chicken to a rack and season with a pinch of lemon pepper
- Build the sandwiches with the toasted bun, then some mayo, then the chicken, then the lemon pepper wet, then the blue cheese, cucumbers, and pickled onion. Top with the top bun and serve.