Sweet & Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs
Chicken legs are a staple in my menus.  I mean, hello – they are cheap! And, I’m all about some frugal eats!  I can buy a ton of them for next to nothing.
When I do it up chicken leg style, this recipe is my all-time go-to method to cook them. Â These are what you call finger lickin’ good.
Obviously – we’re going to start off with some chicken legs… Â You need about 2 pounds, roughly. Â You don’t have to be exact – a little more or a little less will work just fine. Â You will want to remove the skin from the legs. Â Using a sharp knife, cut a few scores into the meaty portion of each leg.
Yes, one of my chicken legs is broken.  It was badly behaved though so trust me when I say it was deserved…. 😉
Whisk together your brown sugar & spices along with 1/2 cup olive oil.
Place the chicken legs in a gallon sized ziploc bag, and then dump the spice liquid on in. Â Yes, spice liquid – my cooking terminology is impressive.
Marinate for 30 minutes.
Throw the chicken legs into a 9×13 casserole dish. Â Ok, so maybe not actually throw it in there… get it in there minus the whole throwing part.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
When they’re done, you’ll be super happy you found this recipe and you will love me forever. Â Ok? Â Ok.
PRINTABLE RECIPE AFTER VIDEO TUTORIAL!
Sweet & Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds skinless chicken legs
- ½ cup olive oil
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1.5 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Make sure you remove the skin from your chicken legs if you haven't already done so. Make 3 scores on the meaty section of each chicken leg, & place in a gallon sized ziploc bag. Whisk together the olive oil along with the brown sugar & all the spices. Pour the mixture on top of the chicken in the resealable plastic bag.
- Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Place the chicken legs in a 9x13 casserole dish, scores facing up. Bake for 40 minutes.
Can this be made with breasts or wings the same way? The marinade sounds delicious but I hate the texture of dark meat
Yes, it definitely can – just pay attention to the cooking time as it will be a bit different with breasts.
How would it do with wings… skin on?? Looks delish!
You could do it either with it on or off with wings.
This really looks good Crystal, thanks for sharing. I’m going to add this to my list of recipes.
Yummmm! Defntly gonna try this one out.
When you list chilli powder do you mean the stuff you put in chilli consisting of many spices or the Indian chilli that is a lot like cayenne?
Chili Powder like you’d put in chili – you can find it in the spice aisle at the grocery store.
Legs are marinating as I type…I did make a few changes & thought maybe you would like to know. I decreased the oil & added some apple cider vinegar, 1/2 Tbsp. of the chili powder I substituted with chipotle chili powder to give it some kick & decreased the garlic powder…all due to personal preferences of course.
Thanks for sharing this easy recipe. I made it today and recieved high praises from my husband. Thanks again!
Going to marinate this overnight and cook it tomorrow =)
Delicious! My family loved it.
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Any idea how it will turn out with skin-on chicken? I have a bunch I wanted to use up with this recipe if I could.
I made this and marinated it over night and my husband raved about it so bad that 2nights later Im making it again.
I’m so happy to hear this, thanks for coming back and sharing!!
I doubled the recipe and put the other half on steaks. I grilled them 2 days later and they didn’t need any sauce! This will be made again!
Mine didn’t turn out as pretty as yours. I think I needed more oil because I used more chicken than you. But, overall the flavor was good. I’d probably put it on chicken breasts in the future. Taking the skin off of legs was not at all fun. Haha!
Can you make them with the skin on? Skin is my favorite!
Yes, you most definitely can!
Could you put this in the crock pot?
Yes, I’m sure you can!
Would you increase the temperature if you cook these with the skin on?
When I do chicken thighs with skin on I cook them at 450 degrees.
Hoping someone replies to this as I am getting ready to put these in the oven…would you put the remaining juices from the marinade in with the legs?
I don’t, but you definitely could – it wouldn’t hurt anything.
Does this freeze well
Yes, actually it does!
I’ve made this with Chicken legs, was so good!! Could this be done with Chicken Thighs? Have you tried it?
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see any reason why it can’t be made with thighs! If you do it, be sure to come back and let me know how it was!
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OMG I think I love u.
This looks delicious! I don’t have paprika, but I have everything else! Making these tonight!
TERRIFIC! I added black pepper and a little smoke flavoring to the spice mix, but otherwise followed directions, and just finished scarfing 4 of them ~ yummy! thanks! ~
This recipe was very good! My husband really really liked it. I used a 1 pound of chicken and the same amount of marinade. Also, we had to cook it 20 mins longer and flip the chicken. We might have an older oven and that’s why the cook time took longer. Awesome recipe!
it looks very yumy delicious thank you
I placed my drumsticks in my normal brine and needed a “spice” recipe for the baking. I used your marinade recipe, as my brine has similar spices. I brushed the oil on the drumsticks and rubbed the spices (minus the salt because of the brine) in like a dry rub. They are baking now and smell delicious!!!
Really looks easy to make!
And delicious too!
Trying it out tonight …
Love your style of writing 🙂
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I’m getting ready to make this delicious receipe. I’ll post after my family & I eat dinner tomorrow. I’m going to marinaid over night then serve with broccoli and cheese on the side with possibly red potatos cut in half basted in the same marinaid.
Until we eat we’ll post tomorrow.
Thank you for sharing. ???? ????
Is this covered while cooking or uncovered?
Uncovered.
I recently purchased a sous vide machine after reading some reviews from http://www.thebestsousvide.com and I am loving your recipe… wondering if you think this would do will as a sous vide style cook.. Thanks again .
Mm, sounds delicious! We are making this tonight!
These look amazing!! and delicious, my only question is can I use vegetable oil Instead of olive oil??
Go for it 🙂
I added a few things. Minced garlic, orange juice, masses, cayenne, red pepper flakes, & Pina colada mix to balance the extra spice out. I’m marinating now. But, I’m pondering oven or grilling over mesquite. I’ll let you know what i decide and how it turns out. I’m also pondering sprinkling sesame seeds on them.
Molasses, not masses. Ha! Phone.. darn phone…
Hi was wondering, if you cook with the skin on do you need to change cooking temperature or cook time?
You might want to broil it for a couple minutes at the end to get the skin to the level of crispy-ness that you want – but the chicken doesn’t need any extra cooking time with the skin on.
Bake uncovered?
Yes 🙂
Made this for my family, picky family, they LOVED it!!! Going into my recipes!!! Thank you for sharing this wonderful new way to jazz up some chicken!!!
I am teaching my step daughter to cook and this is what I walked her thru. It was easy enough. My personal preference, is next time I would add less chili powder or add cayenne instead but not the whole tablespoon. All in all this a good recipe for learning to cook and easy to remember.
I gave this recipe a shot. Followed it to a “t” and marinated the drumsticks for 3 days, turning the bag every 12 hours. The meat was tender and juicy, but was essentially flavorless. No heat whatsoever; no garlic flavor whatsoever. Couldn’t even detect the cumin or brown sugar! Tasted like eating a tender sponge. Not sure why, because the marinade certainly seems to have enough spices in it. Will try it again, but net time with plenty of pressed fresh garlic, more cumin and cayenne pepper or a good shot of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.
You marinated for too long. Yes, that is a thing. I think the max is 8 hours. Try marinating just overnight and see if it’s better. I am trying them right now.
chop a jalapeno into your marinade next time
You should not be marinating chicken that long… in fact chicken only lasts about a day in a fridge before it’s starts to grow too much bacteria to be edible (2 days tops). The exponential growth of bacteria may also have effected the taste of the marinade. Please do not keep chicken in the fridge for that long again…
https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/storagetimes.html
I make this all the time..it has the best flavor. My boys love it
Can you put this on the grill
Yes!
I’m salivating an alarming amount thanks to this recipe. Headed to my kitchen now to assemble bags of it for our freezer meals rotation! Thank you so much for sharing it ????
I just bought some drum sticks and saw your recipe so sometime this week i will be trying it but I don’t have cumin. Is that alright? Plus I love your attitude:) so exciting
You can still make it without the cumin, it will just be slightly less smoky.
Just made this. I used fewer chicken legs and left the skin on. They turned out really good… tender, juicy, and full of flavor.
These were so good! I used chicken leg quarters. Perfect blend of sweet and spicy. I let the meat sit in the marinade from the night before. I’m going to try the marinade on pork chops and boneless pork loin next. I think it will pair very well with pork.
A-mazing! I added a splash of lemon juice to “disguise” the sugar, but you and I both know that’s what gives the chicken that lovely color. (Husband thinks only desserts should be sweet.) He LOVED the fact that it was done without the skin! This is a keeper!
These were excellent. Â Added a heaping tablespoon of chilli garlic paste to the marinade and bbq’d on high turning every 5 mins. Â Everyone loved them.
I kept the skin on and omitted the sugar (don’t like sweet food) it was delicious!
Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it!
They were a hit!! However I would advise marinating overnight and cooking on 450. When cooking on 350 for 40 minutes they were still raw.Â
Of all the recipes that I found and tried, this simple one is my favorite. It’s tasty every time I make it. It makes my family (my wife and 3-year old daughter) happy too. My wife asks me to make this a few times a month. Thank you for this website and thank you for sharing
!
– Marek from Montreal, Canada.
I’m so very happy that you & your family love it so much. It’s one of my favorites too!
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I plan on making this with thighs for supper tonight. From experience, it is hard to get the skin off legs. Sounds like it will be really good. I’ll let you know. Thanks for posting your recipe!
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Made this recipe before with legs and loved it! Making tonight with chicken breasts. Would you still think 350 for 40 minutes?? Thanks so much for this recipe!Â
I’d increase the cooking time by 10-15 minutes.
My husband really enjoyed these. I made it with buttered white rice and a mix of steamed broccoli and cauliflower. Turned into an inexpensive and tasty dinner. Thanks for sharing!
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Found this recipe and  made just as written. My teenagers declared it 10 out of 10. Another great recipe from you . ThanksÂ