Boiled Chicken Legs (How To Boil Chicken Legs)

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Learn how to boil chicken legs that are flavorful, tender, and delicious. This boiled chicken legs recipe is easy, quick, and simple. Boiled chicken drumsticks can be eaten as is, fry, bake in the oven afterward, or toss in sauces like bbq and buffalo sauce.

Serve with side dishes like potatoes, steamed veggies or rice for a satisfying meal.

Related post – How to boil chicken thighs.

Boiled Chicken Legs Recipe

This boiled chicken legs recipe is simple and straightforward that anyone can cook it to perfection. You will love this recipe because:

The chicken are well seasoned, flavorful, juicy and tender.

This recipe is easy and budget friendly.

It requires minimal prep and cleaning up is easy.

The broth from boiling the chicken legs is so tasty and can be thickened to make gravy or you can store it and use to cook dishes that requires chicken broth.

It’s a quick recipe as it takes less than 30 minutes to boil chicken drumsticks. Let me show you how to do it.

Ingredients

Chicken legs – Drumsticks or leg quarters.

Onion

Garlic powder

Bouillion cube

Thyme

Paprika (Optional)

Bay leaves (optional)

Salt

Water

How To Boil Chicken Legs

Pat the chicken legs dry then add in a pot.

Add in onion, thyme, bouillion cube, garlic granules, paprika and salt.

Add water to cover the chicken at least 1 inch above the chicken in the pot.

Cover the pot with a lid and cook the chicken legs on medium heat for 20 minutes or till it’s cooked tender.

Remove the legs from the broth then serve or you can then brush with sauces like bbq sauce, or buffalo sauce then bake, grill, or broil if desired.

Use the water from boiling the chicken to make gravy or store to use to cook other dishes that require broth.

How Long to Boil Chicken Legs

This depends on if you’re cooking it from fresh or frozen, and the size of the chicken. Below is a guide to follow:

To boil chicken drumsticks from fresh: Using this recipe it takes 20 minutes for medium-sized drumsticks.

If to boil frozen chicken drumsticks : This will take between 25 – 30 minutes.

To boil chicken leg quarters: This will take 25 minutes for average sized ones

For Frozen chicken leg quarters: It will take 25 – 30 minutes for average sized ones.

Note: As cooking time varies, check on the chicken after 15 minutes then every 5 minutes afterward.

Boiling Before Baking

Boiling chicken legs before baking reduces the total cooking time.

It also gives you flavorful, moist and tender chicken as they are boiled tender before crisping in the oven.

It produces the crispiest chicken skin as you can bake at a high temperature to quickly brown and crisp the skin. Here’s how to do it:

To bake, grill, or broil after boiling, arrange the chicken legs on a parchment paper-lined baking tray.

Preheat the oven at a temperature of 220C/440F.

Put the baking tray in the oven and bake for 10 minutes (Turn the chicken after 5 minutes so all sides are browned) or till brown and crispy.

Serve and enjoy.

What to Serve with

Potatoes such as boiled potatoes, or air fryer potatoes.

Vegetables like boiled broccoli, or boiled carrots.

Rice

Dips

Drinks

How To Store

After letting it cool completely, you can store in the fridge where it’ll last up to 3 days or store in the freezer where it’ll last up to 6 months.

You can reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.

To reheat on the stove, add a cup of water in a pot, and bring to boil. Put the chicken legs in, cover the pot and let it cook for 3 minutes or till heated through.

To reheat in the microwave, cook on high heat for 2 minutes or till heated through.

Tips

• It’s best to use chicken that are similar in size so they cook evenly.

• You can take the skin off the chicken legs to reduce fat and calories.

• Let the water be at least an inch above the chicken so all parts can cook evenly.

• You can add vegetables like carrots to get a more flavorful broth.

• The smaller the chicken parts, the quicker they cook so check the chicken if it’s cooked before taking off the stove. 

• Arrange the chicken in a single layer. Try not to overlap them so they cook evenly. 

• Cook the chicken thoroughly to prevent food poisoning. You can use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature to determine if it’s safe to eat. Internal temperature should be at least 165F/75C. 

More Easy Chicken Recipes

Chicken bolognese recipe

How to mince chicken

Healthy chicken seasoning

Teriyaki chicken thighs

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