Learn how to bake chicken legs in the oven in three easy steps with my Easy, Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks! Simple to whip up and so much healthier than frying, these crispy chicken legs will be your new go-to for dinner.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner! We love chicken for dinner and have lots of different methods on the site, from baked chicken breasts to grilled chicken thighs, to stovetop chicken. Everyone loves my Crispy Baked Chicken Wings so we put that method to the test to make these juicy baked chicken legs!
CRISPY BAKED CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS
Growing up, fried chicken was always a staple for dinner. I remember how much my grandma loved her fried chicken and mashed potatoes. She’d make it for dinner at least once a month, and the family would come running. What’s not to love? Crispy, crunchy, juicy and flavorful fried chicken is pretty much the bomb diggity of chicken.
Unfortunately, fried chicken isn’t exactly the healthiest, though not too bad in moderation. But if you’re like us and want to enjoy that crispy, juicy chicken more often, my Easy Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks recipe is the way to go.
Tons of people who love my Crispy Baked Chicken Wings have asked how the recipe would translate to larger pieces, like drumsticks. Well I’m here to tell you it works and it is delicious! I didn’t change the recipe much other than increasing the ingredients to account for the larger pieces of chicken. I also swapped out the paprika for chili powder because it’s what I had available.
How to make Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Legs in three easy steps:
- Coat chicken in flour/baking powder/seasonings. The baking powder reacts with the skin and draws out the moisture, which in turns helps the skin get nice and crispy.
- Use a wire baking rack oven a cookie sheet to ensure even crisping. If you don’t have a wire rack, you can place the chicken legs right on the foil that’s been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. The wire rack helps air to circulate around the pieces of chicken so they can cook more evenly.
- Spray with butter flavor cooking spray before baking for that golden skin. I recommend the butter one here for the flavor factor, but you can use regular cooking spray, or avocado, coconut, etc.
Easy Customization
- The coating is a simple mix of basic seasonings, flour and baking powder. You could easily swap out the seasonings I used for anything you like. If you have poultry seasoning on hand that would certainly taste (and small) amazing on these baked chicken legs.
- I like to keep my recipes simple, not requiring a ton of steps, but for even juicier chicken you could soak the drumsticks for a couple of hours in buttermilk.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR DRUMSTICKS TO COOK IN THE OVEN?
While the coating will help the chicken retain some crispiness, I sprayed my drumsticks with a butter based cooking spray to help them get nice and golden and crispy and laid them on a baking rack over a cookie sheet. Spraying them instead of coating them in butter helps to keep the calories and fat down which is always a plus, especially when you’re talking about fried chicken!
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and bake the chicken drumsticks for about 40-45 minutes, turning them over after about 30 minutes. You’ll know they are done when the meat is no longer pink at the bone and the juices are clear. A meat thermometer inserted near the bone should register 165 degrees.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHICKEN LEGS AND DRUMSTICKS?
A chicken leg refers to the entire upper leg portion of the chicken, which is the drumstick and thigh. A drumstick is strictly the lower leg.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH BAKED CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS
We love to serve our crispy baked chicken drumsticks with classic comfort food recipes:
- Easy Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Cheesy Broccoli Casserole
- Best Ever Cheesy Garlic Bread
- Baked Macaroni and Cheese
- Honey Roasted Carrots
For more easy and delicious baked chicken recipes, try this one:
- Crispy Garlic Parmesan Baked Chicken
- Crispy Cheesy Baked Chicken Tenders
- Parmesan Ranch Baked Chicken
- Easy Baked Chicken Breasts
Eat More Chicken!
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 4 pounds chicken drumsticks bone-in, skin-on
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons baking powder
- butter flavor nonstick cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and set a baking rack on top if you have one. If you don’t have a baking rack just spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
- Pat chicken dry, leaving skin in tact, and set aside.
- In a large zip-top bag, combine flour, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, paprika and black pepper. Place the chicken in the bag a few pieces at a time and shake to coat. Set chicken pieces skin side down on the baking rack that has been placed on top of the baking sheet (or on the foil lined baking sheet that’s been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray). Place larger pieces toward the outside; pieces can be close together but should not touch. Spray pieces generously and evenly with butter flavored non-stick cooking spray.
- Bake in the preheated 425 degree oven for 45-50 minutes, turning over after 30 minutes. Spray again with the cooking spray after turning. Juices should be clear and temperature should register 165 degrees. If you are not happy with the color you can turn on the broiler for a few minutes, just watch closely to ensure the chicken doesn't burn.
- Cool slightly before serving.
Video
Nutrition
I loved this! My daughter is on a GF diet so I substituted in almond flour and gf baking powder. We all loved it!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Paula.
Can you use this recipe for chicken thighs?
Yes you can use this recipe for any skin-on cut of chicken.
Made your baked chicken legs today just put in oven will let know how turned out
Has anyone tried it without the skin? I am not a big fan of skin/fat on chicken, even when I fry them.
If you want to do it without the skin, don’t bother with the flour and baking powder because they are to crisp up the skin. the seasonings will still work though.
Loved it! I was hesitant at first wondering if it would turn out crispy but omg it turned out delicious. Definitely going to be making this again.
Nice! So glad you loved it, thanks for stopping by.
tried it loved it, gonna do always like this from now on,
seen friends in air fryer and they just dont evenly crisp chicken all around,
oven rules!
loved the baking soda trick!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Rob.
The recipe says baking powder, but his comment said he used baking soda. Which is the correct ingredient?
Always follow the recipe – looks like he probably just mis-typed.
You are very welcome. I saved this recipe to my pintrest board so that I can make it again sometime for dinner.
I made this recipe for tonight’s dinner. It was a crowd pleaser. Thank you for sharing this tecipe.
You are so welcome Doris, thank you so much for taking the time to leave some positive feedback
Do you have to use baking powder?
Baking powder is what reacts with the skin to make it crispy.
Made this for dinner tonight thank you for the recipe
Your so welcome Lowanda! Thank you for stopping by.
Can you recommend a substitute for the flour? For a gluten free option? Looking forward to trying your recipe.
The flour is what gives the crispy coating. You could use only baking powder but I don’t know how well that will work. I haven’t tried gluten free either, however it would be worth a shot.
Is corn starch gluten free? That’s a good sub for flour in coating. It’s very popular in Asian frying/baking.
I haven’t tried cornstarch, but it would be worth trying.
Very easy and very good! I placed directly on the foil. Will buy a rack for next time. Thanks for the recipe.
You are so welcome Pamela, thank you so much for taking the time to leave some positive feedback.
Wonder if lemon pepper would be good I love lemon pepper wings!
Yes that would be great, just mix with the flour.
What is the Kosher salt for?
You add it to the flour in step 3.
Looks like you know all about cooking. Nice to read your recipes. Delicious. Love this recipe. Love life.
Thank you Tony!
Kristen, the chicken legs turned out to be absolutely delicious. The temp was a little over what you recommend, but they were still juice. You obviously know your stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Tony
Thank you Tony! Ovens do vary so that could cause the discrepancy in temperature. But it’s really hard to overcook this type of chicken. Glad you enjoyed it!
can not wait to try it! Love chicken do not like frying!B
Thank you for this! I love oven fried chicken and the baking powder trick is so cool. THESE make a suitably great replacement to fried chicken …in our household. We have Company are on the way over (as I am typing) and a platter of drumsticks will be served … along with my black beans/rice and a dinner salad!
You are so welcome Susan, thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave some positive feedback.
i will have some chicken and salad only please thx!!!