The Best Oven-Baked Chicken Legs
on Aug 07, 2017, Updated Aug 21, 2024
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This simple 5-ingredient recipe makes The Best Oven-Baked Chicken Legs I have ever had! (And the masses agree—this recipe has been shared over 250,000 times!) Pop these legs in the oven, and you’ll have a crispy chicken dinner!
Not only is this one of my kids’ favorite ways to enjoy chicken, but this recipe is also on its way to breaking the internet! For real. I knew it was delicious and easy, but after being shared more than 250,000 times and receiving oodles of reviews from people who’ve made it, I almost can’t believe how much you guys love this recipe!
The sauce is truly addicting. You’ll want it on fried rice, steamed veggies, and maybe even in a cup with a straw to drink it—it’s THAT good. Pair it with my Broccoli Cauliflower Salad recipe for an extra yummy side dish! I’d love to know if you try this recipe and love feedback, so leave a comment if you do!
{VIDEO} Make the Best Oven-Baked Chicken Legs
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- I love this simple and inexpensive cut of meat, and this recipe really makes it shine!
- I’m no stranger to excellent baked chicken legs. Try these: Sweet and Spicy Baked Chicken Legs, Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Legs, and 4-Ingredient Honey Mustard Baked Chicken Legs.
- This recipe is a long-time favorite in our house and is highly adaptable to the slow cooker (hooray!!!). I slightly changed the portions (use 1/2 cup of ketchup, honey, and soy sauce), but it still tastes great. It’s a little less sticky, but it’s simple and flavorful.
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken legs
- Honey
- Soy sauce
- Ketchup
- Garlic – cloves
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Baked Chicken Legs:
- Prep a baking dish by lining it with foil.
- Mix up your sauce.
- Place all the chicken legs in the dish and pour the sauce over the top.
- Bake and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
This really just depends on how you’re cooking it. I like to start with a preheated 350-degree oven and bake the chicken for 45 minutes, rotate the legs, raise the heat to 425 degrees, and put them back for about another 15 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and everything looks caramelized. Turning the legs is key to getting the sauce on the “top” of the chicken legs!
Yep! Thighs and drumsticks are dark meat in chicken, and they usually have a much heartier, juicier flavor and more tender texture than white meat.
Because these guys are thick and saucy, you’ll want a sheet pan with high sides to keep all the juices in and large enough so the chicken isn’t drowning in the sauce. The chicken should stick out of the sauce while cooking to get the best-caramelized texture.
Expert Tips
- If you don’t have honey on hand, you can substitute it for your favorite jam that doesn’t have seeds. My favorites are peach and apricot jam for this recipe
- Lining your pan with foil makes clean-up much easier. I recommend it.
- The sauce the chicken cooks in is delicious over cooked rice and steamed or roasted vegetables (like broccoli and cauliflower) to round out the meal.
More Chicken Recipes to Consider
Chicken Recipes
Chicken and Biscuits
From Scratch Recipes
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Soups, Stews & Chowders
Classic Chicken Noodle Soup
Soups, Stews & Chowders
Easy Baked Potato Corn Chowder
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
Baked Chicken Legs Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds chicken legs, (about 10 legs)
- 3/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 heaping teaspoon of preminced garlic)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lay the chicken legs out in a foil-lined baking dish with high sides (the foil is to make clean up easier — it’s not essential but helps a whole lot). A high-sided sheet pan is the best option because it has sides to keep everything in, but it is big enough that the chicken isn’t drowning in the sauce. It will caramelize best if half of the chicken is poking out of the sauce while cooking.
- In a glass measuring cup, measure out the honey, soy sauce, and ketchup. Add the minced garlic, and stir. If the mixture doesn’t combine well, microwave it on high for 30 seconds and stir again. Pour the honey mixture over the chicken legs.
- Put the chicken legs in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Take the chicken out of the oven, and rotate it so that the bottom that was in the sauce is now on top, out of the sauce.
- Put the legs back in the oven. Raise the heat to 425 degrees F., and bake until the sauce is bubbly and starts to caramelize on the chicken legs. This should take about 15 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the oven, and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serve the sauce the the chicken cooked in with the meal or over rice if you’d like.
Video
Notes
- A pan slightly larger than 9×13 inches with sides is the best option because it has sides to keep all the juice in but is big enough that the chicken isn’t drowning in the sauce. It will caramelize best if half of the chicken is poked out of the sauce while cooking. My pan is 11×15 inches, and it works best. If your pan is too large, though, your sauce will be too shallow, evaporate, and burn.
- I like to use a little meat thermometer to ensure the chicken is done – better safe than sorry!
- How to cook chicken legs in a slow cooker: Place all of the chicken legs in the bottom of a slow cooker (I have this slow cooker). Pour the sauce over the chicken legs. Slow cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours, until the largest piece of chicken registers 165 degrees F. on an instant read thermometer.
- This option is great for all the reasons the slow cooker is great. You can start it in the middle of the day and have dinner on the table without much hands-on work during the busy evening. Or you can get the slow cooker going, leave the house, and come home to dinner. This is great for working parents, Sunday dinner (it can cook while you are at church), or running kids to practices or lessons in the evening. This option leads to flavorful, moist chicken, but the outside and skin don’t crisp at all.
This is delicious! What a huge bang for your buck. My kids and husband love it too. This has been added to my menu rotation. Thank you!
Made this yesterday for dinner, it was so delicious. Did use skinless chicken legs, and worked out very well. Next time I make it, will place hot sauce with ketchup, my son likes it spicy, may add cayenne pepper also, as one of your readers did. Didn’t have quite enough of honey ,added maple syrup, I don’t think it changed the taste. Will contiinue making this!!! Thanks!
I wanted to let you know that despite my lifelong distrust of Ketchup and any recipe including it, I tried this last night for dinner, and served it with rice. Huge hit, everyone got seconds, and now I have another super easy mid-week meal to toss together. It took very little work, and the cleanup wasn’t bad. With a no-gluten soy sauce, it’s gluten free, which helps, too.
Thanks for posting it, and proving me wrong about a sauce with Ketchup in it.
Bippy! I literally LOLed when I read that. “Life long distrust of Ketchup” such a great line! I’m so glad you liked it. We make it GF all of the time too and then my father-in-law can enjoy it too!
This recipe is always a homerun at my house! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe was a total success for tonight’s dinner!!!! Thank you for sharing, Melissa!!!’
Yay! Dinner success is the best!
You’d def got an asain touch to this chicken! Try this marinate for bbq pork skewers! It’s a traditional filipino recipe!
These legs are fabulous. I added hot sauce and 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper for a light kick. Cooked them the first 45 min as directed. Turned them and basted every 10 min for the second 45 min. Perfect. Served with broccoli salad and cilantro rice. Easy dinner with very little prep.
Mmmm! A little spice sounds perfect. Great idea Marvel!
Oh my goodness, I normally don’t comment on recipes I make but I figured this one deserves it! I made this for my boyfriend and myself as kinda a “date night” dinner. Oh boy was it delicious! Since there were only two of us, I halved the recipe and all the ingredients but holy schmoly! Both my boyfriend and I were licking our fingers and went back for seconds! As a previous commented stated, it really didn’t smell that good when I was mixing up the sauce (Honey and ketchup?!) but my mind quickly changed once it started baking!
I served it with some brown rice cooked in chicken broth, and I used a wooden spoon to kinda baste the chicken legs, so I stirred my rice once it was done and it had some of the sauce on it, yum! Also steamed broccoli.
So A+ recipe! THank you so much!
Thanks so much E.!! I love a great comment and yours was just that, great! So glad it turned out well. We love it!
can’t wait to try this on legs,wings,and thighs. I might even try on a roasted chicken. ummmm then I might use it on a ROASTING TURKEY! WOW!
Can you make ahead and freeze for a party?