These herby, spicy and juicy oven-grilled chicken drumsticks are incredible. Marinated overnight for maximum flavour, this recipe will be your favourite go-to recipe from now on.
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Ingredients
If you love flavourful chicken and none of that bland stuff then these are the ingredients you need to be able to achieve that.
- rosemary
- parsley
- basil
- coriander/cilantro
- dried thyme
- black pepper
- white pepper
- balsamic vinegar
- lime juice
- light soy sauce
- ketchup
- garlic
- vegetable oil
Instructions
Start by making sure the chicken is clean. This (for me) means removing any stray feathers and rinsing off any gunk with water and limes or lemons.
Marinating the chicken drumsticks ensures that the chicken is packed with flavour and not just superficially for intense flavour. For this recipe, a herb, garlicky and spicy marinade makes for a fantastic marinade.
Start by preparing the marinade for the drumsticks. For this blend all the herbs, the garlic, the hot peppers, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, salt, black and white pepper and vegetable oil.
Add some juice from a lemon or lime as well. Make sure to taste and adjust the salt according to taste - remember that the soy sauce has salt.
Once all the ingredients have been blended, pour over the drumsticks and leave to marinate. I left these in the fridge overnight and cooked them the next morning. The longer you leave them to marinate, the better the flavour will be.
There is however such a thing as over-marinating your chicken. See tips.
Once the chicken is ready to be cooked, lightly oil a grill rack and line a baking tray with aluminium foil. Place the drumsticks on the tray and cover the entire tray with aluminium foil.
Enclosing the chicken this way makes it cook faster but also prevents it from overly drying out. About halfway through, remove the aluminium foil used to cover the tray (not the one lining the tray) so that the chicken is finished cooking and can brown as well.
See the recipe card for detailed instructions.
Substitutions & Variations
- Steam chicken briefly - if you want your chicken to be done in the oven quicker, after marinating, briefly steam the chicken(with all the marinade) before finishing off and browning in the oven.
- Chicken breast - if you do not like drumsticks, you can use chicken breast or chicken thighs. The cook time will be significantly less for chicken breast as there are no bones in the breast. Do be careful with the cook times as chicken breast can be overcooked quickly and then you might as well chew wood.
Storage
You can store these drumsticks well-packed in an airtight container or ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you store them in the fridge then only leave the drumsticks there for up to 3 days.
Tips
- Be careful with acid and leaving the chicken drumsticks too long in the marinade. The chicken will become mushy as the lime juice will overly tenderise it.
- Line your tray to catch drippings while the chicken cooks. This makes clean-up so much easier.
FAQ
Marinate your chicken as long as you can. However, too long and the chicken will turn mushy. This is especially true when there are a lot of acidic elements in the marinade like lemon juice or vinegar. A sweet spot is anywhere between 1 hour and 8 hours.
Related
These are some other chicken recipes you will love
Great Pairings
These dishes go well with chicken drumsticks - give them a try!
Oven-Grilled Herby and Spicy Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
Ingredients
- 7 chicken drumsticks
- ½ sprig rosemary leaves removed
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme heaped
- small handful coriander
- 10 basil leaves approximately
- small handful parsley
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 4 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon ketchup heaped
- ½ tablespoon sea salt
- 1½ lime juice from
- 4 medium scotch bonnets
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and process in a food blender.
- Taste for salt and adjust accordingly.
- Pour the marinade over the chicken drumsticks and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour but ideally overnight. See note 1.
- Place the drumsticks on an oiled grill rack and then on an oven tray. Cover the drumsticks with aluminium foil, See note 2.
- Grill the chicken drumsticks at ( 180-200 ℃) for about 20 minutes covered. Then remove the aluminium foil and continue to grill for a further 25 minutes to 40 minutes or until the drumsticks are cooked. See note 3.
- Serve with fries, or fried yam or a salad.
Video
Notes
- Marinating the chicken drumsticks overnight allows for the marinade to penetrate deeper and resulting in very flavourful chicken legs. For this recipe, I marinated the drumsticks for about 8 hours.
- Covering the drumsticks almost creates a steam environment for the drumsticks after which they get beautifully browned once the aluminium foil is taken off.
- Your cook time will depend on the size of your chicken legs and also on your oven. Learning how your oven behaves will ultimately let you make good decisions when baking or grilling. The given temperature ranges are a good guide if you have no clue at all.
Doe says
Impressive! You made cooking easy Edinam.
Thanks!
Edinam says
Thank you! I am glad to hear that 🙂