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These baked chicken drumsticks are finger-lickin’ good! They are tender and flavorful with a crisp salty skin.
My Mom makes these all the time and uses the same recipe for bone-in chicken thighs. The marinade only needs 4 simple ingredients that everyone has in their pantry, but my Mom’s brilliant method will become your secret weapon for marinating all kinds of bone-in-chicken.
Baked chicken drumsticks are perfect for parties because they are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and satisfy a crowd.
Marinating overnight produces supremely tender and flavorful chicken drumsticks. The seasoning penetrates the meat resulting in perfectly seasoned chicken from the crispy skin to the tender center.
Ingredients for Baked Chicken Drumsticks:
4 1/2 to 5 lbs (1 large pack) chicken drumsticks
1 medium yellow onion, pureed*
2 Tbsp mayo
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp salt
Optional if you want a little spice: 1 to 2 Tbsp Jamaica me sweet hot and crazy sauce
*You can either puree onion using the star side on a box grater or chop into pieces and puree in a food processor or blender. Onion should be consistency of applesauce.
How to Make Delicious Baked Chicken Drumsticks:
1. In a small bowl, stir together: onion puree, 2 Tbsp mayo, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 Tbsp salt and hot sauce if using.
2. Place chicken drumsticks into a large mixing bowl or soup pot then pour on the marinade and toss to coat. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 to 8 hours or (preferably) overnight.
3. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and bake skin-side-up at 400˚F for 45 minutes then turn drumsticks over (skin-side-down) and bake another 15 minutes. For extra crispy skin, turn drumsticks again and broil 3 minutes or until skin is browned and crisp.
I garnished with chives for effect 🙂
Tips for Speed Marinating: We’ve tested marinating 4 hours and the meat wasn’t as tender and tasty as overnight marinating. However, if you have a foodsaver, you can marinate in an airtight bag and have it done in 2 to 4 hours. Did you know that a foodsaver can marinate foods faster? Removing the excess air forces the marinade into the meat. We’re absolutely in love with our foodsaver.
Here’s the Print-Friendy Baked Chicken Drumsticks Recipe:
Mom's Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 to 5 lbs 1 large pack chicken drumsticks
- 1 medium yellow onion, pureed*
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp salt
- Optional if you want a little spice: 1 to 2 Tbsp Jamaica me sweet hot and crazy sauce
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together onion puree, 2 Tbsp mayo, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 Tbsp salt and hot sauce if using.
- Place chicken drumsticks into a large mixing bowl or soup pot then pour on the marinade and toss to coat the drumsticks. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 to 8 hours or (preferably) overnight.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and bake skin-side-up at 400˚F for 45 minutes in the oven then turn drumsticks over (skin-side-down) and bake another 15 minutes. For extra crispy skin, turn drumsticks again and broil 3 minutes or until skin is browned and crisp.
Notes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
made these babies ) turned out yummy)
but i ran out of parchmebt paper on time)
lol
so i used foil to line the baking sheet. followed the instructions and they sticked a bit. but it my fault. i should have sprayed it. otherwise they were quick and delish!
thanks, Natasha🤗
Vicroriya, you are very welcome and thank you for the great review 😀.
Hi Natasha,
Would this work just as well on skinless meat? That’s what I have right now? If the recipe would need to be adapted, how should I go about doing that?
Thank you!
Sophie
Hi Sophie, this recipe really works best with skin-on and bone-in chicken because of the long baking time. With that much onion in the marinade, I’m not sure I would do a lesser baking time because it may be too overpowering with the onion. With the longer baking time, the strong onion flavor bakes off and it just tastes amazing (even someone who dislikes onions would not complain). 🙂
Hey Natasha this is my second time making these! First time I used fresh meat and today I unthawed the drumsticks from the freezer but when I put them in oven to bake they were bleeding.. Is it normal for them to bleed when being baked? They’re half way done I’m hoping I can still eat them 🤔
Hi Angie, red or pink in the juices of chicken while cooking are normal. This is why they say to cook your chicken until juices run clear. This article will help to ease your mind about that.
Hi Natasha,
I am making these tonight, do you take the marinade off when putting in the oven or keep it on?
Eugene
Hi Eugene, you can put them into the oven with the marinade on. If there is excess marinade in the bowl, you can discard any excess.
So happy to have found this blog! I am making these drumsticks tonight for friends & am REALLY excited about it!
Chicken legs are one of my favorites! I forgot an onion so I added a little more mayo with some onion powder, let them sit overnight and baked the next day! They were so delicious and I will definitely make these again!!!
That’s great Ashley! Reading your comment is making me hungry 😋.
Hi Natasha,I want to try your your chicken drumsticks, but want to know if it will get my oven dirty by splashing, being uncovered the whole time? Thanks
Hi Tanya, I haven’t had that issue with this recipe 🙂
Hi Natasha! I haven’t made this yet but I’m really wanting to! I just have a few questions that I hope you can answer! So all I have is 6 chicken legs, would I still use the same amount of stuff for the marinade? And what would be the difference in cook time? And also since this is marinating in onion does it have a strong onion flavor once it’s finished? I hope you can answer all these for me so I can get started on them tonight! (:
Hi Kristin, I would cut the marinade in half since it sounds like you have about half the amount of chicken called for in the recipe. Also, the cook time will be the same and there is no strong onion flavor at all in the end. Folks who don’t like onion may not even notice it in the finished chicken 🙂 p.s. by chicken legs, I’m assuming you mean drumsticks and not thighs or quarters (much larger pieces of chicken may take longer to bake). Enjoy! 🙂
I made this for dinner and it came out fantastic. I didn’t have an onion so I added more mayo, onion powder and 2 cloves of garlic. I will definitely make this again!!!
Ashley, I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I’m not a fan of chicken drumstick but this recipie is amazing. I also used it on country style pork ribs with great results (much longer baking). Thanks!
You are welcome Gosia and I’m glad to hear that you had great results with pork ribs 😀.
So easy and delicious. I love how the recipe requires very basic ingredients and it still takes better than any other chicken I’ve had.
Inna, thank you for such a nice review, I will share your comment with my mom 😀.
Love the recipe! Do you think this will work with turkey legs? How much longer would I bake them for?. Thank you.
Hi 🙂 I think it would work well for turkey legs, but I’m not sure exactly how much longer you would need to bake for. It really depends on how large the turkey legs are and they can definitely vary in size.
Hi Natasha,
I’ve made these things four times in six weeks now; once I made a double batch for a party, and everybody really liked them. Thanks to your mom for coming up with this recipe, and thank you for sharing it! Man, I love these chicken legs!!
PS: I’m trying a lot of your recipes and haven’t been disappointed yet.
That is so awesome!! Thank you Tom :). I am all smiles reading your comment.
Did you cover them with aluminum foil to bake as well ?
Hi Lana, I only line the pan but I do not cover the drumsticks to bake 🙂
K thanks.
Made this today and it was a hit. Will be adding this to our favourites. Thanks for sharing.
Elaine, thank you for such a nice review and you are welcome 😁.
So, so good! Will be a staple in our house.
Hi Polina, I’m so happy you loved the recipe. 🙂
I made these earlier tonight…yum, yum, yum, yum, yum! And I just discovered that they are also good eaten cold as a late night snack. Another great recipe, Natasha!
Tom, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Natasha, this is the the best chicken drumsticks recipe ever! My husband grilled them instead of baking and it was outstanding! My 21 years old son, who actually pretty neutral towards drumsticks, gobled 5 of them, and my daughter quickly consumed 3, so between 4 of us the whole pack (big Sams club package) was gone in one supper, which never happened before. Thank you so much for your mom’s recipe! I am going to try it now for other types of meat, like chicken breasts and pork.
Ha! That’s awesome!! Thank you for sharing that with us 🙂
This is a great recipe…really easy too. My family eats chicken legs quite often, especially in the summer when they can be grilled. I marinated this like the recipe instructed, and then grilled them. Before we could all get started eating my daughter exclaimed “Oh, this is really good!” I want to try it on other chicken pieces, like breasts or thighs.
Laura, I love your idea of grilling the chicken. I’m so happy you all loved the recipe 😁.
Would the marinade work for boneless, skinless, chicken breasts?
Hi Mary, we always use it for dark meat bone-in chicken but one of my readers reported great results using it for chicken breasts which she grilled. I think the marinade would work but you would definitely have to alter the cooking time/method or the chicken breasts would be dry.
I love how easy this recipe is! Definitely a keeper! Thanks again for another great post!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! You’re so welcome 🙂