Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks: Flavorful, affordable, and… well, what more could you ask for, really?

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What’s up in your July 2, 2017 edition of Sunday Scratchups? Well, drumsticks have been on sale all around town this week — so in this weekly recipe from scratch around ingredients that are either on sale or generally affordable, we’re making up a big batch of Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks today.

For these juicy BBQ chicken drumsticks, I modified this older dry rub chicken drumsticks recipe by upping the spices a little, then adding several layers of BBQ sauce that slowly caramelize in the oven in order to infuse the drumsticks with flavor all the way through.

Seasoning and baking the drumsticks halfway before brushing on the BBQ sauce gives time for the flavor to permeate and the skin to start to brown, then adding the BBQ sauce in increments gives each layer time to bake in. You’ll end up with a plate of yummy BBQ goodness — and, if you have leftovers, just shred for use in another recipe. This BBQ chicken naan pizza comes to mind, for instance!

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

Ingredients

4.5-5 lbs chicken drumsticks
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp Kosher salt
Black pepper, to taste
1 cup BBQ sauce

Directions

Set a baking rack on top of a foil-lined baking sheet and spray it with cooking spray. Cut excess skin off the drumsticks, if desired. Mix spices and olive oil in a small bowl, then place drumsticks in a large bowl and toss them with the olive oil & spices to coat. (Use your hands here to ensure that each piece of chicken is coated evenly.)

Arrange the seasoned drumsticks in a single layer on the baking rack, then bake them at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Use a silicone brush to baste each with BBQ sauce, use tongs to flip, and brush sauce on the other side.

Continue cooking for another 30-45 minutes*, flipping drumsticks and basting on both sides with another coat of BBQ sauce every 10 minutes for the first 30 of those. Serve immediately.

* Note — some of my drumsticks here were extremely large, so they took the whole 75 minutes to cook through. If you have smaller drumsticks you might just need the hour of cooking time; check for doneness with a meat thermometer.

BBQ chicken that’s infused with flavor through-and-through…

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks stay juicy and flavorful with their multiple layers of seasoning, and are naturally dairy free and gluten free (as long as your BBQ sauce is). I like to use a lower-sugar sauce such as Stubb’s Original when making BBQ chicken, but if you like a sweeter flavor go with Sweet Baby Ray’s or a similar sauce.

These easy barbecue chicken drumsticks were a hit with all the boys here — and I didn’t even hear: Chicken, again?! out of anyone. 😉

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks, printable recipe

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Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

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Seasoning and baking the drumsticks halfway before brushing on the BBQ sauce gives time for the flavor to permeate and the skin to start to brown, then adding the BBQ sauce in increments gives each layer time to bake in.

Course dinner

Total Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

• 4.5-5 lbs chicken drumsticks
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 2 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp Kosher salt
• Black pepper, to taste
• 1 cup BBQ sauce

Instructions

• Set a baking rack on top of a foil-lined baking sheet and spray it with cooking spray. Cut excess skin off the drumsticks, if desired. Mix spices and olive oil in a small bowl, then place drumsticks in a large bowl and toss them with the olive oil & spices to coat. (Use your hands here to ensure that each piece of chicken is coated evenly.)
• Arrange the seasoned drumsticks in a single layer on the baking rack, then bake them at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Use a silicone brush to baste each with BBQ sauce, use tongs to flip, and brush sauce on the other side.
• Continue cooking for another 30-45 minutes*, flipping drumsticks and basting on both sides with another coat of BBQ sauce every 10 minutes for the first 30 of those. Serve immediately.

Notes

Some of my drumsticks here were extremely large, so they took the whole 75 minutes to cook through. If you have smaller drumsticks you might just need the hour of cooking time; check for doneness with a meat thermometer.

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