Lemon Pepper Seasoning
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Create the perfect blend of salty and zesty flavors with this easy homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning recipe! It’s perfect for breading chicken, making tasty marinades and sauces, or simply sprinkling over roasted vegetables, or avocado toast. Making this seasoning blend at home gives you the option to customize it how you like, it’s sugar free, gluten free, and contains no artificial ingredients!
Table of contents
I love making my own seasoning blends at home. It’s one of my secrets for making the most flavorful recipes that taste amazing! With over 20 homemade seasoning recipes on the blog, it’s easy to mix up a bunch of these homemade spice blends and store them in the pantry to make easy recipes even more flavorful.
This lemon pepper seasoning recipe is the latest addition to my pantry, and I love it so much! It’s an incredibly versatile seasoning blend that can be used to season everything from meat, to veggies, to avocado toast. It can also be used to make delicious sauces and marinades.
I’d make a double batch of the seasoning if I were you, because you’ll want to use it over and over again!
Ingredients
For the full detailed recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Granulated lemon peel (or dried lemon zest) – I purchased the bag of dried lemon peel pictured above on Amazon. You can do the same, or you can find McCormick California lemon peel bottled on the spice aisle at most major grocery stores. You can also make your own dried lemon zest, and I’ll show you how in the blog post below.
- Black pepper – I recommend a coarse-ground pepper for this recipe, as it adds great texture to the seasoning blend.
- Sea salt (or kosher salt) – both sea salt and kosher salt can be used interchangeably when cooking. I prefer either kosher or sea salt, over table salt, in this seasoning mix because of their coarse texture and superior flavor.
- Garlic powder (or granulated garlic) – the only difference between granulated garlic and garlic powder is that the powder has been ground finer, than the granulated garlic. I prefer to use granulated garlic because it’s less likely to clump over time, than garlic powder.
- Onion powder (or granulated onion) – the only difference between granulated onion and onion powder is that the powder has been ground finer, than the granulated onion. I prefer to use granulated onion because it’s less likely to clump over time, than onion powder.
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
- Store in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 6 months.
Easy as that, in 5 minutes or less, you have homemade lemon pepper seasoning, ready to add flavor to so many different recipes!
How to make dried lemon zest
If you have an abundance of fresh lemons and would like to make your own dried lemon zest, simply follow these instructions.
- Preheat your oven to 170°F, or the lowest temperature setting on your oven. Most “warm” settings on an oven will be between 170°F – 200°F. This will work for drying out the lemon zest.
- Use a microplane to zest 3-4 large lemons to make 3 tablespoons lemon zest. You can always make more if you’d like!
- Spread the fresh lemon zest out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet of lemon zest in the oven for 20-25 minutes to dry it out.
- Remove the lemon zest from the oven and let it cool before preparing the lemon pepper seasoning.
How to make lemon pepper marinade
Turn this tasty seasoning blend, into a marinade! It’s super easy by following this simple recipe.
- Combine 3 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning, 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1/4 cup olive oil to marinate up to 2 pounds of chicken breasts or thighs, pork chops, or shrimp.
- Marinate the protein for at least 30 minutes, or up to 4 hours.
- Remove the protein from the marinade and cook as you’d like.
How to make lemon pepper sauce
Make a delicious sauce to toss with wings, drizzle over vegetables, or add to pasta. Simply combine 1/4 cup melted butter with 3 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
Make delicious lemon pepper wings by tossing two pounds of air fryer chicken wings, smoked chicken wings, or grilled chicken wings in this flavorful zesty sauce.
You can also drizzle the sauce over roasted or steamed vegetables, like steamed broccoli. Or you can toss it with cooked pasta for an easy meal.
Other ways to use it
- Use this seasoning to make the best Lemon Pepper Chicken! (Pictured above, click the link for the recipe.)
- Use it to season the juiciest Air Fryer Chicken Thighs!
- Make flavorful roasted veggies by tossing vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower or zucchini, in olive oil and lemon pepper seasoning before roasting.
- Sprinkle it over avocado toast. My go-to homemade avocado toast is topped with this lemon pepper seasoning, everything bagel seasoning, and a drizzle of lemon olive oil.
- Make grilled asparagus by tossing 1 pound of fresh asparagus with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning. Grill the asparagus over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes, rotating throughout the cooking process. Visit this blog post for more tips and tricks on how to cook asparagus.
- Season cooked corn on the cob with it. Follow this blog post to learn how to cook corn on the cob 6 different ways, then slather butter over the cooked corn and season it with this lemon pepper seasoning.
- Season seafood, like scallops, salmon, or red snapper, with this lemon pepper seasoning before cooking it.
- Use it as a topping on these tasty pesto eggs.
Recipe tips
- This recipe makes 8 tablespoons of homemade lemon pepper seasoning. If you’d like to make a double batch of the seasoning, simply click on the 2X button in the recipe card below. The ingredient amounts in the recipe card will automatically update for the new serving size.
- The lemon pepper seasoning will stay good, stored in an airtight container in the pantry, for up to 6 months. After that the spice blend will not “go bad”, but both lemon peel and black pepper contain essential oils that will lose their flavor over time, once exposed to air.
- I recommend storing the seasoning mix in an 8 ounce mason jar or large spice jar. Label the lemon pepper seasoning with a date and use the seasoning mix within 6 months.
- This recipe is gluten free, and contains no added sugar, making it perfect for a whole30 or keto diet.
- To spice up the seasoning blend, add 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes.
More homemade seasonings
Stock your pantry with all of my homemade seasoning recipes to add flavor to every meal!
Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons dried lemon zest, or granulated lemon peel
- 3 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
- Store in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 6 months.
Notes
- To make your own dried lemon zest:
- Preheat your oven to 170°F, or the lowest temperature setting on your oven. Most “warm” settings on an oven will be between 170°F – 200°F. This will work for drying out the lemon zest.
- Use a microplane to zest 3-4 large lemons to make 3 tablespoons lemon zest. You can always make more if you’d like!
- Spread the fresh lemon zest out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet of lemon zest in the oven for 20-25 minutes to dry it out.
- Remove the lemon zest from the oven and let it cool before preparing the lemon pepper seasoning.
- Refer to the blog post above for ways to use the seasoning and how to make lemon pepper sauce and marinade.
- This recipe makes 8 tablespoons of homemade lemon pepper seasoning. If you’d like to make a double batch of the seasoning, simply click on the 2X button above. The ingredient amounts will automatically update for the new serving size.
- The lemon pepper seasoning will stay good, stored in an airtight container in the pantry, for up to 6 months. After that the spice blend will not “go bad”, but both lemon peel and black pepper contain essential oils that will lose their flavor over time, once exposed to air.
- This recipe is gluten free, and contains no added sugar, making it perfect for a whole30 or keto diet.
Nutrition Facts
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