Chicken Legs to the Rescue! Super-Simple Drumstick Recipes

I love chicken drumstick recipes because they are quick and easy, and chicken legs are so economical (especially if you busted your bank account over the holidays). I really love that all of the recipes below are made with ingredients that most of us have in our kitchens and take literally less than 10 minutes of prep – cheap, easy, and quick (qualities definitely good for drumsticks, but not husbands!). For all of these recipes, I used 10 drumsticks (because I have 5 people in my family and the organic drumsticks I buy come in packs of 5) and I left the skins on (mostly because it’s easier!).  I like to serve these with an equally quick and easy veggie side – like sauteed carrots, steamed broccoli or green beans.

In my January newsletter, I featured the “Best Chicken Drumsticks Ever” recipe from Ever Clever Mom.  I love this recipe – note: I make it WITHOUT the cayenne because my kids do not like spicy. But no matter how delicious this recipe is, we all need a little variety. So, if you too are seeing a lot of drumsticks in the near future, here are some more ideas.

These drumstick recipes are grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and corn-free, and Paleo and GAPS-legal.
The following recipes contain affiliate links.

Baked Spiced Chicken Legs

This recipe comes from Kitchen With Mommy – it’s her Wowza Baked Chicken Drumsticks. The “sauce” that is left in the pan after this cooks is really delicious too – my kids kept going over the stove to dip their chicken bites in it – so you might want to spoon it over the chicken before serving.

Ingredients

• 10 chicken drumsticks
• Quality extra virgin olive oil
• Paprika
• Garlic Powder
• Sea salt
• Ground Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Put drumsticks in a glass baking dish.
3. Coat drumsticks with olive oil.
4. Season drumsticks (on the side that is facing up ONLY) with paprika, garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper.
5. Bake for 22 minutes.
6. Take drumsticks out of the over (don’t turn the over off!) and flip them over.
7. Now season the other side with paprika, garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper.
8. Bake for an additional 23 minutes.
9. That is IT – seriously! Totally yummy!

Honey-Dijon Slow Cooker Drumsticks

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While this recipe is extremely easy to prepare, it takes a long time to cook. So, this is a good one to prep in the morning and throw in the slow cooker before you run out the door. It was inspired by this recipe for Crock Pot Maple Chicken Dijon Drumsticks from Skinnytaste.com (mine is different to make it GAPS-legal and address my family’s allergies and it’s cooked a little different and I left the chicken skins on, but that is where I got the idea from so I wanted to give credit, plus her recipe looks really good and you might want to try that too).

 

Ingredients

• 10 chicken drumsticks
• 1/4 cup Raw Organic Honey
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 3 TBS raw apple cider vinegar
• Garlic salt
• Ground Pepper

Directions

1. Season the drumsticks on all sides with garlic salt and pepper.
2. Whisk Dijon, honey, and vinegar together until well mixed into a sauce.
3. Put the drumsticks in the slow cooker and pour the sauce over them (I like to spoon the sauce that settled in the bottom on top and kind of roll them around in it to make sure they are well coated).
4. Set the slow cooker on HIGH for 4 hours or MED/MED HIGH for 6 hours (I ended up cooking on high for about 5 hours and then turning off the crock pot and leaving them in there for another half hour with the lid on so they stayed warm).
5. Enjoy!

Chicken drumsticks might not be the most glamorous dinner (and we moms are so very glamorous, right?), but it is nutritious and economical and it can be versatile and delicious. And at least it’s better than hot dogs!