Bake Chicken Legs In The Oven

Is There A Defined Degree Of Doneness For Baked Chicken Legs

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken The Right Way| Juicy and Delicious

Raw meat is not safe for human consumption.They tend to carry worms and viruses that are that not immediately evident tothe human eyes. That is why you have to make sure to bake your chicken legs tothe minimum required degree of doneness.

For chicken, the required degree ofdoneness is 165 degrees F. Use a meat thermometer to check as that is morefoolproof. Its very easy to assume that chicken is done only to bring it outand see that it is all fresh on the inside.

If you are checking the doneness of bone-inchicken, make sure to take the thermometer close to the bone and meat aroundthe bone will take longer to cook.

Why Make This Recipe

Chicken drumsticks are an inexpensive cut of chicken making this dish budget-friendly.

The BBQ sauce is easy to make and gives the chicken a sweet and smoky flavor. Feel free to use store bought barbecue sauce instead!

Cooking the chicken legs in the oven with a cover results in a juicy tender meat that isn’t dry.

The bbq drumsticks can be served as a main course with any side, or as a high protein snack.

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Legs

Season: Mix the spices in a small bowl and then rub it all over the chicken legs.

Sauce: Place the chicken in the slow cooker and pour some of the sauce over the top. Turn the chicken pieces so they are evenly coated.

Slow Cook: Cook them on low for 5 to 6 hours. Or, you can cook them on high for 3 to 4 hours.

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Ways To Serve Baked Chicken Legs

For a comforting lunch or dinner, serve baked chicken legs alongside your favorite salad, grain, or veggie dish. A homemade caesar salad, quinoa, or creamy cauliflower rice are all great options. If youre on the hunt for a super kid-friendly meal, opt for air fryer french fries. For a heartier meal, serve with scalloped potatoes.

The Simplest Crispy Skin Baked Chicken Legs Drumsticks

Super CRISPY Baked Chicken Legs Drumsticks Recipe

Oven-baked chicken drumsticks ) are a simple, easy, and delicious weekday dinner! These are baked drumsticks, and then broiled in the oven on a baking sheet to achieve that crispy skin. Flavorful, juicy, and oh so tender drummies are a family favorite! I serve these baked chicken legs alongside my brown sugar-glazed carrots and my family goes nuts!

School is in full swing in our home, fall is in the air, and schedules have turned from the lazy days of summer to the busy days of another school year. Truthfully, I like schedules and knowing what is happening from day to day. But I don’t like how busy it can be and how difficult evenings are on getting a decent meal on the table.

Eating a decent meal together as a family at least a couple of times a week is important to me, but gosh darn…it can be hard! Everyone seems to be off in their own directions, these days. These chicken drumsticks in the oven is an easy meal idea that is perfect for those busy weeknights. Serve it with mashed cauliflower and a quick salad and you have a delicious and healthy meal. Score! High-five. Go you!

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Can I Use Chicken Thighs To Make This Recipe

Yes, you can. I suggest using bone-in chicken thighs. I prefer skin-on chicken for this type of dish. The skin serves as a layer of protection to prevent the meat from drying out and creates a crispy exterior. Thats a win-win!

You can also use whole chicken legs with the thigh attached .

If you love baked chicken try my Oven Roasted Blackened Chicken.

Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks

This is just a great, simple baked chicken drumsticks recipe you can get in the oven quickly. A 3-ingredient seasoning adds terrific flavour and colour. Meanwhile, the secret to a lovely crispy skin is a touch of baking powder. Dont believe me? Read the reviews in my Truly Crispy Baked Chicken Wings which uses the same trick!

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How To Make Chicken Legs At 375

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper should be mixed in a small dish.
Olive oil should be poured into a baking dish measuring 13 by 9 inches and used to cover the whole bottom of the dish.
Chicken legs should be rubbed with the seasoning mixture before being placed in the baking pan. Keep a safe distance between them.
Bake the chicken legs for 20 minutes, then flip them over and bake them for another 15- 25 minutes. When the meat is done, the internal temperature should be at least 160 degrees F.

Making Ahead Storage And Reheating

Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks Recipe

Making Ahead: Because this recipe doesnt use any acid, you can season the chicken and store it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before baking so it comes to room temperature before its placed in the oven

Storage: Leftover baked chicken drumsticks will keep, stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Reheating: Although you can enjoy chicken legs cold or at room temperature, drumsticks can be reheated in the microwave or uncovered in a preheated 350ºF oven for about 10-15 minutes. You can also use an air fryer for about 5-7 minutes at 375ºF

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How To Make Baked Chicken Legs In The Oven

This section shows how to cook chicken legs in the oven, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique. For full instructions, see the recipe card below.

I have 3 simple, but important, tips to ensure your crispy baked chicken legs turn out perfectly each and every time:

Dry the drumsticks. This helps get the skin crispy.

Use a baking rack. This allows the hot air to circulate around the chicken.

Roast at high heat. The best baked chicken legs oven temp is fairly high , which helps crisp up the skin. Plus, I find that higher temperatures are less prone to drying out the meat.

Tips For The Best Baked Chicken Legs

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture, and then coat the drumsticks with olive oil before seasoning. These steps are very important if you want crispy, golden brown skin.
Lay the chicken legs on the baking sheet with enough room around each so theyre not touching. Having proper heat circulation while baking is key for even cooking.
If you want to boost the crispiness of the skin, you can broil the chicken during the last 2-3 minutes of cooking. Keep an eye on the legs to prevent them from burning.
If the chicken starts to brown too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil.
For a finger-licking good twist on flavor, brush the chicken with your favorite BBQ sauce during the last 5-8 minutes of baking!
This baked chicken legs recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free.

There Are A Number Of Questions And Concerns That I Often Hear Like:

Which parts of chicken should I use to roast it in the oven?
When it comes to legs, should I use thighs, drumsticks or whole legs?
How long does it take to prep the chicken ready for the oven?
Do I need to marinate the chicken before I put it in the oven?
Does the chicken need to be brined before seasoning?
What seasoning should I use to make a tasty chicken?
Do I need to pan-fry the chicken before I put it in the oven?
Does the chicken need to be placed on a rack or in the ovenproof dish?
At what temperature should I roast the chicken?
How long should the chicken stay in the oven?
How do I know that the chicken is cooked through?

Alright, lets try to answer some of the above questions/concerns.

Which parts of chicken should I use to roast in the oven?

If I have a choice I will always go for the dark meat as it is tastier and not dry at all. You may roast the chicken breast, but it can be tricky as it has a tendency to become very dry. For me, chicken legs, either whole, thighs or drumsticks, is the way to go. As a matter of fact, one of these always finds its way onto our dinner table at least once a week.

When it comes to legs, should I use thighs, drumsticks or whole legs?

I love thighs and drumsticks, but whole legs are delicious too. However, if you chose to roast whole chicken legs, youll need more time in the oven. For this baked chicken recipe I used both chicken thighs and chicken drumsticks just because that was all I had at home, but you could go either way.

What To Serve With Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks

These drumsticks are pretty universal in character and friendly with a wide range of other dishes. Try these drumsticks with Fried Rice and a simple Garden Salad, as pictured above. Else, make up a big batch of Macaroni Salad or Potato Salad these are great big batch sides that keep in the fridge for days. For something different, theres also my marinated Vegetable Pasta Salad , a Quinoa Kale Salad or a big Sweet Potato Salad.

For more ideas, have a browse through my collection of Side Dishes .

Love to know if you try this let me know what you think! Nagi x

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This Is The Easiest And Best Way To Make Great Baked Chicken Thoroughly Pat The Chicken Pieces Dry With Paper Towels Then Coat Them With Oil And Season Generously With Salt And Pepper We Like To Add A Little Fresh Chopped Rosemary As Well But You Can Substitute Fresh Thyme Or Oregano Bake The Chicken On A Wire Rack On An Aluminum

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Baked Chicken Legs With A Dark Meat

Cooking chicken legs in the oven is a great way to make dinner. The process of cooking chicken legs is fairly simple. Its only necessary to cut the bones from the meat, rinse the meat, season the meat, and then roast the meat. The length of time the chicken legs will take to bake depends on the oven you use.

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Tips And Tricks For Making The Best Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks

For really crispy skin, its a good idea to pat your chicken drumsticks dry with a paper towel before you coat them in the oil and spices. This removes any excess moisture and ensures your chicken cooks up with a crispy skin.
Be sure to preheat your air fryer. Just l like your oven, you want to make sure your air fryer is hot and at temperature, which is 400 degrees F for the chicken legs.
Dont overfill the air fryer otherwise your chicken legs wont cook evenly since the air wont be able to circulate fully. Check your air fryer manual for information about how much you should fill your particular model.
Dont stack your chicken legs in the air fryer. Place them in a single layer so the skin is exposed. This will ensure your chicken drumsticks cook evenly and get that delicious crispy skin!
Chicken is done when the internal temperate reaches 165 degrees F. I prefer to cook my chicken drumsticks to 180-190 degrees F so the meat is falling off of the bone. Also, cooking it to a higher temperature gets rid of the bloody spots around the bone.

This easy chicken drumstick recipe is just another reason to love your air fryer! I hope you give this recipe a try!

How To Cook Chicken Legs

Best Ever Baked Chicken Drumsticks Step by Step

Remember to remove your chicken legs out of the packaging, pat dry before cooking

Pre heat your oven to 200 oc temperature fan assisted or 215 oc without a fan

Season the chicken just prior to roasting

Choose a large, heavy based roasting tray, ideally with deep sides and handles for easy movement

Massage a little softened butter under the skin of the jointed chicken then season with good quality fine sea salt

Make a trivet by roughly chopping equal amounts of onion, carrot and celery or my preferred choice of celeriac, the root of the celery plus a bay leaf, sprig of thyme and a few black peppercorns, another nice addition can be a lemon cut in half and popped onto the tray

Place the legs skin side up onto the trivet which should line the base of the tray

Place in centre of oven and roast for 40 minutes reaching a core temperature of minimum 75 oc

Remove from oven and pop onto a clean tray and keep warm by covering with a sheet of tin foil then resting for a a few moments, leaving the roasted vegetables in the tray for the gravy

For the gravy I make up 300 ml of essential cuisine chicken stock, then deglaze roasting tray with this stock stirring all the caramelized juices from the tray, then pass through a fine sieve pushing all the juices from the vegetables into a clean sauce pan, bring to the simmer and thicken if required by whisking in a teaspoon of corn flour mixed with a little cold water and reduce till you reach a rich glossy gravy

Award winning meat

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Making Crispy Baked Chicken Legs

When you have cooked the chicken legs to your desired degree of doneness, the next thing is to cook the back to crisp.

When you are ready to crisp the back,switch to broil. You can choose to broil at high temperatures or at lowtemperatures depending on how your oven-broiler works.

If youre broiling at low temperature, yourrack is best set close to the broiler coil. If, on the other hand, you arebroiling on high temperature then your rack should be no less than 8 inchesfrom the coil.

The temperature for high broiling isusually around 425 degrees while that of low temperature is 350 degrees.

Watch The Step By Step Video For This Barbecue Baked Chicken Drumsticks Recipe Below:

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Try it and love it? Rate it, please!!! ?Seriously though a five-star rating below will make my day! If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!!

Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!

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How Long To Bake Chicken Legs:

These baked chicken drumsticks only take a few minutes of prep and just about 45 minutes of bake time.

Were baking these chicken legs at 425 degrees. If our oven isnt good and hot, the chicken skin wont get crispy and no one wants rubbery chicken skin!

The meat should reach 165 degrees in about 45 minutes and then your chicken legs are ready to devour!

Best Final Internal Temperature

Many want to cook chicken legs to 165°, which is the minimum safe internal temperature for chicken for the FDA. There is a difference between safe and done. Pork is safe at 145°, but you sure won’t want your pulled pork to be cooked to 145°. It would be terrible.

Also, a lot of recipes cook “until fluids run clear.” Excuse me, but what does that mean? You should be standing there, poking it with a knife and losing all the moisture not a good idea. Also, I suspect that it may even be below the safe minimum temperature.

While I cook my chicken breast to 165, there is way too much fibrous tissue in chicken legs. They will be tough and stringy. Just plan not done. Please use 185° as you finish temperature. Check the comments if you need confirmation.

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Is It Better To Bake Chicken Legs At 350 Or 400

The truth is that both temperatures work. Bone-in chicken drumsticks, thighs and wings can be baked at 350ºF and 400ºF. If cooking the chicken at 350ºF, you may have to add 5-10 additional minutes to the baking time. For this particular recipe, I prefer roasting the chicken at 400ºF because I want the skin to get extra crispy.

Easy Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks

I set out to make the perfect baked chicken legs and after many batches settled upon what I found to be the best suited marinade and baking method. While the others were good, things like a simple seasoning left us craving more bright flavor, and a sweet and sticky asian marinade baked in a baking dish left us wanting more browned flavor and crispy skin.

Chicken, lemon, garlic and fresh herbs are always a combination you cant go wrong with and this recipe is proof. Simple fresh flavors are usually the best flavor enhancers.

And of course youll appreciate how easy this is! Just blitz together a quick sauce in the food processor, marinate the chicken legs in it, then bake in the oven on a baking sheet until cooked through. So easy right?

With this recipe you have the option to serve them right from the oven with crispy skin, or at the end baste with the final 1/4 cup reserved sauce. Its a hard choice for me personally, thats why Ill leave it up to you.

Who can resist that crispy chicken skin, but you may also love the extra flavor of that herb sauce . So you may just opt to serve the remaining chimichurri sauce tossed with a vegetable side dish instead .

Either way you are going to LOVE this chicken!

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