Easy Pan Fried Chicken Wings with Bulgur

Pan Fried Chicken Wings with Bulgur is a satisfying Mediterranean-inspired dish with minimum washing up. It makes a perfect weeknight dinner.

The happy marriage of chicken and bulgur is a common way of cooking chicken in the Middle East cuisine. My family always welcomes it no matter how I combine these two. Why I love this Pan Fried Chicken Wings with Bulgur recipe is that it’s super easy and everything is cooked in one pan. Who doesn’t love it when there is less mess to clean up?

This garlic lemon chicken wings with bulgur is not only one of the easiest weeknight dinners I’ve made, but it’s also so flavorful and filling. We almost always enjoy this meal with Creamy Cucumber Salad, which you see on the side of the pan in the pictures here. Everyone (including kids) eats it so heartily that I feel like a professional chef. I can proudly say that this is one of those recipes my family would never get bored of.

Mom's Method of Cooking Chicken Wings

I learnt the method of cooking chicken wings in pan from mom. The recipe is easy to make and they taste like fried wings with little oil. It never disappoints me, so I mostly cook chicken wings in her way. On the other hand, I love to add my own twist on her basic recipe for chicken wings. That’s how I created this garlic lemon chicken wings with bulgur recipe.

Mom has been here with us for a few days and luckily she had a chance to witness how her own recipe was developed when we made this together for dinner. Can you imagine how I felt proud of myself when she LOVED my version of pan fried chicken wings?

This is a mom and kid approved recipe, you have to give it a try!

How to Make Pan Fried Chicken Wings

• It’s important to steam the chicken wings first. To do this, heat the pan, place the wings and pour a little water over them. Let them cook covered over medium low heat. You will see how the wings  first release their water and then absorb it. This helps the chicken wings to get tender and juicy.
• Don’t overload the pan with the wings, otherwise you can’t give them a frying effect. You can use two pans if you want to double the recipe.
• When there is little water left in the pan, drizzle olive oil over the wings, sprinkle the spices you like, toss in garlic cloves and squeeze half lemon. Bring the heat to the lowest and cook them covered shaking the pan and flipping over the wings occasionally so that both sides get wonderfully golden.
• It could be better if I used garlic, lemon and olive oil to marinade the chicken wings and refrigerate it beforehand, but we are after easy and quick recipes during weekdays, right? Believe it or not, these garlic lemon chicken wings are finger lickin’ good already.
• If you have time though, you can try marinading the wings first. I’d love to hear how it turns out. Please share it in the comments section below.
• I only use the juice of the lemon, but you can slice the lemon and add them in the pan.
• You can add little water when you feel that they will get too sticky.

How Long To Pan Fry Chicken Wings

This is not a deep-fry method, so we use less oil and it takes longer to cook these. We need about 20 minutes to cook both sides. The first step in this method is to cook the wings covered first so that they release some water. Turn them over or shake the pan covered when some of the water is gone. Do this occasionally and then add in oil, lemon juice, garlic and spices. Cook until tender. So this will take about 20 minutes to cook them completely.

What to Serve With This One Pan Chicken Dinner

We love to pair it with the following recipes:

• Turkish Roasted Eggplant Salad
• Simple Chopped Turkish Salad
• Turkish Cucumber Dip Cacik

To Garnish Pan Fried Wings with Bulgur

As I love seasonal produces, how I serve this meal depends on the season. To give it a little refreshing touch, I always garnish it with some fresh veggies or fruit that we have on hand.

I use cherries and cherry tomatoes this time to feel the summer, but I’d use spinach or cauliflower if we were in winter.

What else do you think we can use to garnish it depending on the season? I’d be more than happy if you share your ideas in the comments section!

More Easy Chicken Dinner Ideas

• Lemon and Garlic Baked Chicken Thighs 
• Roast Chicken Thighs Recipe
• Easy Chicken Kabobs Turkish
• Herbed Chicken Drumsticks In Oven
• Herb Lemon Chicken In Skillet

More Chicken Wing Recipes

• Sticky Chicken Wings Roasted In Oven
• Sesame Honeyed Chicken Wings
• Pressure Cooker Teriyaki Chicken Wings
• Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings

Pan Fried Chicken Wings with Bulgur

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

Garlic lemon chicken wings with bulgur is not only one of the easiest weeknight dinners I’ve made, but it’s also so flavorful and filling. Plus, everything is cooked in one pan.

• Author: Zerrin Gunaydin
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 30
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Cooking
• Cuisine: Middle East

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Chicken Wings:

• 12 pieces chicken wings
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon sweet chili powder
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Bulgur:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• ½ cup bulgur
• ¾ cup hot water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup parsley, chopped

To Garnish:

• Handful of cherry tomatoes
• Handful of cherries
• Fresh Parsley Leaves

Instructions

1. Heat a non-stick pan. Place chicken wings and pour water over them. Cook it covered over medium low heat until there is little water left.
2. Bring to the lowest heat. Drizzle over the olive oil, add in the spices, garlic cloves and lemon juice. Keep cooking them covered flipping them over occasionally until both sides are golden. Transfer the chicken wings on a plate.
3. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil in the pan and saute diced onion.
4. Add in the bulgur and salt and cook it over medium low heat for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
5. Pour the hot water and cook it covered over the lowest heat until it absorbs all the water. Remove it from the heat.
6. Add in the chopped parsley and stir gently.
7. Place the chicken wings on bulgur, put the lid back on the pan so that they are heated.
8. Top with halved cherry tomatoes, cherries and fresh parsley leaves right before serving.

Keywords: easy chicken wings, pan fried chicken wings, chicken wings recipe