Baked marinated chicken drumsticks recipe that is easy, quick, and ready in under an hour. The chicken drumstick marinade tenderizes and makes the marinated chicken legs packed full of flavor, tender, and moist inside with nicely caramelized skin.
It's absolutely delicious and we like serving it with crinkle fries, or any potato side dish, vegetables, and dips.
Marinated Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
This oven baked marinated chicken drumsticks recipe is so good. It's simple, straightforward, and requires minimal preparation.
The chicken legs are marinated in a simple but amazing drumstick marinade then baked in the oven but can also be baked in the air fryer if you have one.
This marinated drumsticks recipe is easy and you only just need to make the marinade, marinate chicken drumsticks before baking them to perfection. Yes, it's that easy that a child can do it under supervision.
Chicken drumsticks are great for hosting - game days, parties, or dinner and this is sure to be popular among your guests.
It's a quick recipe that is ready in under an hour so it's good for a weeknight dinner when time is of the essence and you need to get dinner on the table on time. My family loves chicken legs and it's often on our menu.
The marinade for chicken drumsticks is made with few ingredients that are inexpensive and can be found in most people's kitchen cupboards so no need to specifically take a trip to the store to shop for Ingredients.
The marinade tenderizes the chicken and infuses them with flavors so be ready for a delicious experience.
These oven baked marinated chicken legs are healthy, high in protein, and suitable for a low carb and keto diet.
Let me show you how to make marinated baked chicken drumsticks. In this post, I will show you how to make the marinade, how to marinate drumsticks, how to bake marinated chicken drumsticks, tips, FAQs, and more.
Related: Spicy chicken drumsticks, Oven-baked chicken drumsticks
Chicken Drumsticks Marinade
The best chicken drumstick marinade consists of spices, herbs, oil, sugar, and lemon juice, and this one contains all that in the right ratio.
This marinade is easy to make taking less than 5 minutes to put together.
It can be made in bulk and stored for use for other times but with it taking just a few minutes to make, I tend to make it fresh each time I require it.
The ingredients used for this drumstick marinade are few and less than 10 in total.
Other marinades good for chicken legs which I alternate with this one are honey soy marinade, honey mustard marinade, amongst others.
Ingredients
Chicken drumsticks
Paprika
Onion granules
Garlic powder
Parsley
Dried thyme
Brown sugar
Soy sauce
Lemon juice
Salt
Oil
How To Bake Marinated Chicken Drumsticks
In a bowl, add the paprika, brown sugar, thyme, parsley, onion granules, black pepper, garlic powder, salt, soy sauce, lemon juice, and olive oil. Mix till well combined.
Pat the chicken drumsticks dry with a paper towel, add them into a bowl and add the marinade to the drumsticks. Rub the marinade all over the chicken legs ensuring that all parts are coated in the marinade.
Cover the bowl with clingfilm, and put it in the fridge for the chicken to marinate for 60 minutes up to 12 hours.
Bring out the bowl, and arrange the drumsticks on a baking tray.
Put the tray in the oven and bake drumsticks at a temperature of 200C/400F for 25 minutes.
Flip the drumsticks with a tong and continue to bake them for additional 20 minutes.
Bring the drumsticks out of the oven, let them rest for a few minutes before serving.
How Long To Cook Marinated Chicken Drumsticks
How long to bake marinated drumsticks in the oven is 45 minutes.
To bake it in the air fryer takes 25 minutes.
The cooking times might vary slightly depending on the size of the drumsticks, and the type of oven or air fryer so you might need to adjust time accordingly.
Check for doneness with a meat thermometer. Insert it in the thickest part of the chicken, if the instant thermometer reads at least 165F/75C, then it's safe to eat.
What To Serve With Marinated Chicken Legs
Some of the foods to serve with are:
Salad
Sliced potatoes
Pasta
Rice
Fries
Coleslaw
How To Store
Let the marinated baked drumsticks cool completely then pack them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag, and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
How To Reheat
Reheat in the air fryer, oven, or in microwave.
To reheat in the oven: Arrange the chicken legs on a baking tray, then bake them at a temperature of 180C/ 380F for 5 minutes or till heated inside and outside.
To reheat in the air fryer, remove the drumsticks from the packaging, arrange them in the air fryer basket, and air fry drumsticks at 180C/380F for 5 minutes or till it's heated through. If not warmed through after this time, add an additional few minutes.
Tips
- You can substitute the brown sugar for honey.
- Adjust pepper and salt to suit your taste.
- Lemon juice can be substituted for apple cider vinegar.
- Don't marinate the drumsticks for more than 24 hours.
- For easy clean up, line the baking tray with parchment paper.
- Put the baking tray in the middle rack of the oven for even cooking.
FAQS
By rubbing the chicken drumsticks in a marinade consisting of herbs, spices, and lemon juice, then leaving them in the fridge to marinate for some hours to let the acidic nature of the lemon juice tenderize them.
Marinate chicken so that it infuses the flavor from the seasoning, the meat is tenderized during the process and when cooked, you get juicy, moist, tender, and tasty chicken. Marinating prevents the meat from drying out during cooking.
It's best to marinate for at least 60 minutes up to about 12 hours.
Lemon juice, sugar, combined with spices and herbs.
Yes, they are a good source of protein.
More Chicken Drumsticks Recipes
Frozen chicken drumsticks in air fryer
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Marinated Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Baking tray
Ingredients
- 1 kg Chicken drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon Paprika
- 1 tablespoon Brown sugar or honey
- 1 teaspoon Parsley
- ½ teaspoon Onion granules
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons Lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Oil olive oil, vegetable or sunflower oil.
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a bowl, add the paprika, brown sugar, thyme, parsley, onion granules, black pepper, garlic powder, salt, soy sauce, lemon juice, and olive oil. Mix till well combined.
- Pat the chicken drumsticks dry with a paper towel, add them into a bowl, and add the marinade to the drumsticks. Rub the marinade all over the chicken legs ensuring that all parts are coated in the marinade. Cover the bowl with clingfilm, and put it in the fridge for the chicken to marinate for 60 minutes up to 12 hour.
- Bring out the bowl, and arrange the drumsticks on a baking tray.Put the tray in the oven and bake drumsticks at a temperature of 200C/400F for 25 minutes.Flip the drumsticks with a tong and continue to bake it for additional 20 minutes.
- Bring the drumsticks out of the oven, let them rest for few minutes before serving.
Notes
- You can substitute the brown sugar for honey
- Adjust pepper and salt to suit your taste.
- Lemon juice can be substituted for apple cider vinegar.
- Don't marinate the drumsticks for more than 24 hours.
- For easy cleanup, line the baking tray with parchment paper.
- Put the baking tray in the middle rack of the oven for even cooking.
This sounds good! Why is it bad to marinade longer than 24hrs? The reason I ask is if I freeze them in the marinade, the freeze/thaw process will exceed that.....