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Home Quick and Easy

Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks

By:Nagi
Published:28 Jul '22Updated:10 May '23
172 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

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. Don’t believe me? Read the reviews in my Truly Crispy Baked Chicken Wings which uses the same trick!

Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks on a tray, fresh out of the oven

Crispy Baked Chicken Legs

If you ask me, on a sheer scale of munchability (new word) chicken drumsticks beat out chicken breasts any old day. I’d rather be grabbing a drumstick with my fingers and chomping that meaty flesh off the bone than daintily nibbling a chicken breast with a knife and fork!

But, maybe that’s just me.

So if you’re in my camp – or actually, even if you’re not (!) 😇 – here’s a terrific everyday chicken drumsticks recipe to try. It’s flavoured with a simple, BBQ rub-like seasoning made with just paprika, onion and garlic powder (bet you’ve got all 3 in your pantry!!) bulked out with flour to coat the legs all over.

As for a little trick to get the skin nice and crispy? A touch of baking powder. Yep, really. Read on!

Showing the juicy inside of Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks
Seasoned, baked chicken legs. Crispy skin, juicy insides!
Pile of Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks
Don’t you just want to reach through your screen and grab one of these??

Seasoning for Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Here’s what you need to make these drumsticks. Baking powder is the secret ingredient that makes the skin crispy. Meanwhile flour is used to bulk out the seasoning mix so we can coat the chicken legs all over.

Ingredients for Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks seasoning
  • Chicken drumsticks – While I’m using chicken legs for this recipe, chicken wings and skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs can also be used.

  • Baking powder (for crispy skin!) – NOT to be confused with baking soda / bi-carb which is different! Baking powder is a tried and proven ingredient used in my baked chicken wings to make chicken skin crispier. There’s a bunch of science behind why it works, but all you need to know is that it does!

    For complete transparency, I will be upfront in saying the skin in this recipe isn’t as shatteringly crisp as it is in the wings. This is because the wings have just plain skin whereas these legs are coated in seasoning, which does inhibit crisping (in return for more flavour coating!) However, without any baking powder at all, the drumstick chicken skin is just borderline soggy. Non-crispy chicken skin is fine in itself if you’re baking drumsticks with a glaze, like my Sticky Honey Soy Baked Chicken or Honey Mustard Baked Chicken Drumsticks. But for this recipe, it is SO much nicer when the skin is a little crisp!

  • Spice mix – We’re using a combination of smoked or plain paprika, onion and garlic powder here. These 3 spices are a classic, American barbecue rub-like seasoning combination I use in many dishes (such as my rub for pork chops and baked chicken breasts). Onion and garlic powder can be substituted with more of the other, if you don’t have both.

  • Flour – This is used to bulk out the seasoning so we can coat the chicken legs evenly all over.

Seasoning for Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks
Bulking out the seasoning with flour means we can coat the legs evenly all over.

How to make Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks

The trick to crispy baked drumsticks is to stretch the skin over the drumsticks as much as possible (because flesh won’t go crisp!) and then coat the skin evenly all over with the seasoned flour.

How to make Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks
  1. Seasoning – Mix the spices and flour together in a bowl. Use a shallow bowl as it’s easier coat the chicken legs in the seasoning.

  2. Coat drumsticks in oil – The oil makes the seasoning stick to the chicken as well as helping the skin go nice and brown as it bakes. I find it’s easiest to rub it all over using my hands to ensure each drumstick is well-coated.

  3. Stretch skin – The more skin that stays put over the flesh, the crispier your drumsticks! So pull and stretch the skin to cover the flesh as best you can. Some of the skin will still shrink back as it bakes anyway, but if you skip this step totally you’ll end up with a mostly naked drumstick 😭

  4. Coat legs in the seasoning – Dip, turn, use fingers for sprinkling on top as needed. Then shake off the excess, otherwise you end up with quite a thick layer of pasty-ish coating on the chicken legs.

  5. Rack on tray – Place the legs on a rack on a foil-lined tray. Why foil-lined? It makes your clean up life easier. Why rack? For crispy undersides! Don’t have a rack? Line with paper instead and turn the drumsticks halfway, and expect to add an extra 5 to 10 minutes to the bake time to make the top crispy.

    Spray with oil – Then spray the legs with oil. Be generous! It makes them more crispy and golden, almost like a frying effect!

  6. Bake for 30 minutes at 200°C/390°F (180°C fan), rotating the tray once to help them cook evenly. Then crank the oven up to 220°C/430°C (200°C fan) and bake for a further 15 minutes until they’re crisp and golden. You might find you need an extra 5 minutes to get the skin crispy, depending on how evenly the heat is distributed in your oven.

    Once they’re ready, serve them up straight away while they’re nice and hot!

Tray of freshly made Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks
Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks with fried rice

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, there’s also my marinated Vegetable Pasta Salad (excellent starch + veg side), a Quinoa Kale Salad (the kale is marinated!) or a big Sweet Potato Salad.

For more ideas, have a browse through my collection of Side Dishes (potato, pasta, rice, salads, veg!).

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


Watch how to make it

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Freshly cooked Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Author: Nagi
Prep: 10 minutes mins
Cook: 45 minutes mins
Mains
Western
4.88 from 55 votes
Servings5 – 6 people
Tap or hover to scale
Print
Recipe video above. This is just a great, simple chicken drumsticks recipe you can get in the oven quickly. Tossed in a 3-ingredient, barbecue rub-like seasoning, they're beautifully crispy thanks to a touch of baking powder, a tried and proven secret ingredient in my Truly Crispy Baked Chicken Wings recipe!

Ingredients

  • 12 chicken drumsticks (Note 1)
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Oil spray

Seasoning (Note 2):

  • 3 tsp garlic powder
  • 3 tsp onion powder
  • 5 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt
  • 4 1/2 tbsp plain/all-purpose flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder (makes them crispier, DO NOT confuse with baking soda / bi-carb) (Note 3)

Instructions

  • Preparation: Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan-forced). Line a tray with foil then place a rack on the tray (makes the underside of the drumsticks crispier, Note 4).
  • Seasoning: Mix the Seasoning ingredients in a shallow bowl.
  • Coat in oil: Toss the drumsticks in the olive oil. Stretch and pull the skin on each drumsticks to cover as much of the flesh as possible.
  • Coat in seasoning: Coat a drumstick in the Seasoning then shake the excess off well. Place on the rack. Repeat with remaining drumsticks.
  • Spray with oil: Spray the legs generously with oil.
  • Bake for 30 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through. Increase the oven to 220°C / 430°F (200°C fan) then bake for a further 15 minutes or until the skin is crispy. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes:

1. Other chicken cuts – You could also use chicken wings (same cook time and temp) or skin-on, bone-in thighs (bake 35 minutes at 200°C/390°F (180°C fan) then 15 minutes at the higher temp, per recipe).
2. Substitute for spices:
Garlic powder: more onion powder
Onion powder: more garlic powder
Smoked paprika: more ordinary/sweet paprika
3. Baking powder purpose – Not to be confused with baking soda / bi-carb which is like triple strength baking powder and will NOT taste nice!! 
Baking powder is a secret trick to make chicken skin crispier, a tried and proven method with chicken wings (very popular recipe on my website!). It doesn’t make these drumsticks shatteringly crispy because they’re seasoned rather than being plain skin (like the wings) but if you make these drumsticks without, they are noticeably less crispy. You can’t taste the baking powder.
4. Tray prep – Why foil-lined? It makes your clean up life easier. Why rack? For crispy undersides! Don’t have a rack? Line with paper instead and turn the drumsticks halfway, and expect to add an extra 5 to 10 minutes to the bake time to make the top crispy.
5. Nutrition per serving (ie 5 servings, 2.4 drumsticks per person 😂)

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 395cal (20%)Carbohydrates: 10g (3%)Protein: 33g (66%)Fat: 24g (37%)Saturated Fat: 5g (31%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 167mg (56%)Sodium: 893mg (39%)Potassium: 745mg (21%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 1073IU (21%)Vitamin C: 1mg (1%)Calcium: 138mg (14%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
Keywords: chicken drumsticks, chicken legs
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Life of Dozer

Self-appointed director of recipe videos. Not much directing going on. Just a lot of staring.

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172 Comments

  1. Ter says

    November 24, 2023 at 5:05 am

    Made this recipe last night. Chicken did not crisp up at all, though I followed recipe and cooked for a bit longer than outlined. Not ideal, flavour is good however. But when you bring it for leftovers to work the texture is that of sand. So unfortunately I cannot back this recipe.

    Reply
  2. Yasmin says

    November 13, 2023 at 6:05 am

    5 stars
    Crispy and so juicy, a quick recipe that gives great results

    Reply
  3. Annette Thomas says

    October 23, 2023 at 8:03 pm

    4 stars
    Did these tonight in the airfryer yummy.

    Reply
  4. Christine Walker says

    October 10, 2023 at 11:22 am

    5 stars
    Had the same issue with the crispy finish, but just so delicious doesn’t really matter.
    I might try the no oil, buttermilk alternative recommended in one of the comments.
    As always, your recipes are outstanding Nagi.

    Reply
  5. Christine Walker says

    October 10, 2023 at 11:20 am

    Hi Nagi,
    Firstly, thank you for your wonderful recipes!
    Just one query, in the ingredients you say “1 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt”. What is it in grams as the size/quantity varies enormously between cooling salt and kosher salt.
    Many thanks.

    Reply
  6. Beth says

    October 1, 2023 at 4:53 am

    5 stars
    Absolutely lush. I did it in the air fryer for about 25 minutes, and it was so juicy and full of flavour. The skin wasn’t shatteringly crispy (which I didn’t expect), but it was crispy enough to eat it happily!

    Reply
  7. batak says

    September 8, 2023 at 7:35 am

    5 stars
    Thanks

    Reply
  8. Andrew says

    August 23, 2023 at 7:57 am

    Any particular reason for coating in oil rather than egg? Just curious as I have an abundance of eggs from raising chickens

    Reply
  9. Anne says

    August 20, 2023 at 7:03 pm

    Followed recipe to the letter. Flavoursome but where’s the crisp??

    Reply
  10. moviesda says

    July 19, 2023 at 8:55 pm

    tjhanks

    Reply
  11. isaimini says

    July 10, 2023 at 3:54 pm

    This recipe produces the most perfectly crispy chicken ever.

    Reply
  12. Ivonne says

    July 9, 2023 at 9:32 am

    5 stars
    Delicious and so flavorful! And very easy to make.

    Reply
  13. Franksmom says

    July 1, 2023 at 6:14 am

    5 stars
    This recipe produces the most perfectly crispy chicken ever. Follow the directions exactly and you’ll be enjoying crispy chicken in no time! Had it with a big salad and some leftover rice. The seasoning mix is awesome.

    Reply
  14. okey says

    June 25, 2023 at 11:03 am

    5 stars
    i like Crispy. Good

    Reply
  15. Diane Goffinett says

    June 8, 2023 at 9:20 am

    I’ve made these chicken legs several times, my husband and I both love them! I also add a little Cajun seasoning too.

    Reply
  16. lyn says

    May 13, 2023 at 6:35 pm

    Great recipe, for me i’d do less pepper, kid version

    Reply
  17. Sarah Bradbury says

    May 4, 2023 at 5:28 am

    Made tonight and they were delish! Bit less pepper for my kids but all gobbled up. Will remember the oil next time!! 🤦‍♀️

    Reply
  18. Cathy Field says

    April 24, 2023 at 12:28 pm

    I made the crisis baked chicken today and it’s perfect. Moist meat and crisp skin. Great flavy too.

    Reply
    • Cathy Field says

      April 24, 2023 at 12:30 pm

      Crispy not crisis and flavor, not flavy. Crazy autocorrect.

      Reply
  19. Kara Caldwell says

    April 22, 2023 at 12:59 am

    I am making this tonight!!! Cannot wait. I have made another chicken recipe of yours – the one that has the gravy – and it is delish!

    Reply
  20. Robyn Middleton says

    April 21, 2023 at 1:34 pm

    Great recipe. Family loved it

    Reply
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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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