It doesn’t get much easier than these savory Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken Drumsticks. They are full of lemon and herb flavor and practically fall off the bone tender and juicy.
Most of my life I’ve been a boneless, skinless white meat kind of girl. I think it’s because meat on the bone freaks me out. But in the past couple of years I have learned to appreciate the flavor packed bone-in dark meat of the thigh and drumstick. That’s probably because my son is pretty much obsessed with chicken on the bone.
Upon hearing that dinner is “chicken again??” his next question is, “Wait. Is it on the bone?” A “yes” is met with a cheer while a “nope, sorry” is met with a rather impressive groan. So I’ve been trying to constantly come up with new ways to serve this favorite meat. Our latest favorite is this Roasted Lemon Chicken.
An overnight marinade makes this chicken practically fall off the bone tender, however if you don’t have overnight, you could go 30 minutes. Just remember that the longer it marinates, the more tender it will be. I have a lemon tree, so lemons are readily available all year round for us so I love to use them in my chicken recipes. The lemon flavor is so subtle and doesn’t overpower the rest of the marinade, which, in case you were wondering, is olive oil, salt and pepper, oregano and paprika. I am also a little obsessed with chopped parsley, partly for the fresh herbiness (yup, totally a word) and partly because it just looks so darn pretty.
Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken Drumsticks Recipe:
Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken
Prep
Cook
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It doesn't get much easier than these savory Roasted Lemon Chicken Drumsticks. They are full of lemon and herb flavor and practically fall off the bone tender and juicy.
Ingredients
- 10 Chicken Drumsticks, skin removed
- 1 large lemon, juiced and zested
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Rinse chicken and pat dry. Place into a 1-gallon Ziploc bag.
- In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour over chicken and seal the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Massage marinade into the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight. (If all you have is 30 minutes, that's fine - just remember the longer the marinade time, the more tender and juicy the chicken).
- When ready to cook, let chicken come to room temperature (about 20 minutes). Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange chicken on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, for about 20-25 minutes. Flip chicken pieces and cook another 10 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temp of 165 F and is no longer pink.
- Serve immediately.
Here’s another family favorite easy baked chicken recipe:
For more delicious chicken recipes, try these:
Honey Lemon Chicken and Green Beans
Savory Broiled Garlic Chicken
This sounds really nice. gonna make this for tea tonight. Thanks. Simon
This looks great. It looks like there is parsley added in the photo. Did you add it before or after roasting?
It was just a garnish when I arranged the chicken on the serving platter.
The article mentions thyme but the recipe does not. Is it used in the recipe and if so, how much? Thanks
Sorry, must be a misprint! I didn’t use thyme in the recipe and must have written it in the post by mistake.
I tried it, and they were perfectly moist and well browned outside, my chicken lover son is really happy
Thank you for sharing this recipe:)
I made this tonight and it sure was good. Going to make it again!
Love your recipes.
Not so in love with your website design/layout – too many large photos.
Perhaps a link to a photo gallery page for those who want to look at your “more of the same” pictures of the prepared recipe – it kind of looks like you’re just adding padding to make the page look bigger.
Perhaps a link at the top of the page to take one directly to the recipe instructions.
I reference your recipes often – and will keep coming back – this is just a suggestion.
I used a whole chicken cut up exactly as recipe states a me it was amzazing!! Favorite way to make chicken
Hi..I have a question…I need to make these for my daugthers school party…she will need to take them with her when she goes to school in the morning.Would it be ok if I bake them at night and just warm them up in the morning?
I’d be cautious with chicken. Would it be possible to send them in a slow cooker to keep them at a higher temp all day?
I like the skin on, does that change anything?
I don’t think it would, it’s a personal preference.
Have you ever made this with boneless chicken breasts?
I haven’t but it would be delicious! Just adjust the cooking time.
Just made this for dinner and….it’s DELISH!!!! Thank you for the recipe, I marinated overnight and HOLY HOT POTATOES – the chicken was packed FULL of flavor. Thanks again!
Great to hear!!
Hello Kristin,
Just love this recipe and cannot wait to make it but I think that I will expand the chicken to include thighs. But tell met are HOLY HOT POTATOES if you know? Re: Claire’s post
Thanks.