Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

Perfect for a hot summer Sunday, this easy & naturally gluten free Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks recipe takes advantage of the Crock-Pot to give you perfectly cooked chicken legs — then requires just 10 minutes of broiling in the oven to caramelize the BBQ sauce and give them that oven-baked finish.

These Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks were kind of a compromise: The kids wanted BBQ chicken for dinner, but I didn’t feel like running the oven for over an hour on a hot summer’s day as per my usual oven baked BBQ chicken drumsticks recipe.

So, today’s hybrid chicken drumsticks recipe takes advantage of the slow cooker to give you perfectly cooked chicken — then requires just 10 minutes of broiling in the oven to caramelize the BBQ sauce and give it that oven-baked finish. I also changed up the seasoning a bit for slightly sweeter BBQ chicken legs, but as always, you can adjust to your own taste.

To what do we owe the pleasure of this particular Crock-Pot BBQ chicken drumsticks recipe? Well, just check out my ALDI clearance find this week! I was pleased to spot this particular deal because I do like their Never Any brand, but if even if you don’t have clearance chicken on hand, drumsticks are pretty affordable in general (and do often go on sale): They therefore feature in this week’s Sunday Scratchups, your weekly recipe around grocery deals and affordable ingredients.

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

Ingredients

3-3.5 lbs chicken drumsticks, trimmed
1 Tbsp brown sugar (optional, if you’re using a lower sugar BBQ sauce)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
Black pepper, to taste
1 cup BBQ sauce, divided

Directions

Trim drumsticks. Arrange the chicken in the bottom of the Crock-Pot, then combine all of the seasonings and brown sugar together in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture evenly all over the chicken legs, then drizzle with 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and cook for 4-5 hours on low.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, and either spray the foil with cooking spray or brush with vegetable oil. Remove chicken from the slow cooker with tongs and arrange the drumsticks in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.

Brush the tops of the chicken with BBQ sauce and broil on high for five minutes, then flip, brush with remaining BBQ sauce, and broil another five minutes.

Note: You could choose just to pour all of the BBQ sauce over the drumsticks and slow cook, but broiling for a few minutes at the end really helps caramelize the sauce and kick things up a notch.

Those are some easy slow cooker BBQ chicken legs!

Ten minutes of broiling on a hot day is a small price to pay for a delicious chicken dinner, and these Crock-Pot BBQ chicken drumsticks are so simple to throw into the slow cooker for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon while you go about your weekend errands. Each kid devoured a couple, so I’m going to say that they were a hit over here.

BBQ chicken drumsticks are naturally gluten free.

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks, printable recipe

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Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

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This hybrid chicken drumsticks recipe takes advantage of the slow cooker to give you perfectly cooked chicken -- then requires just 10 minutes of broiling in the oven to caramelize the BBQ sauce and give it that oven-baked finish.

Course dinner

Keyword bbq chicken, chicken, chicken drumsticks, chicken legs, crock-pot, drumsticks, slow cooker

Total Time 5 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

• 3-3.5 lbs chicken drumsticks trimmed
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar optional, if you're using a lower sugar BBQ sauce
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 cup BBQ sauce divided

Instructions

• Trim drumsticks. Arrange the chicken in the bottom of the Crock-Pot, then combine all of the seasonings and brown sugar together in a small bowl.
• Rub the spice mixture evenly all over the chicken legs, then drizzle with 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and cook for 4-5 hours on low.
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, and either spray the foil with cooking spray or brush with vegetable oil. Remove chicken from the slow cooker with tongs and arrange the drumsticks in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
• Brush the tops of the chicken with BBQ sauce and broil on high for five minutes, then flip, brush with remaining BBQ sauce, and broil another five minutes.

Notes

You could choose just to pour all of the BBQ sauce over the drumsticks and slow cook, but broiling for a few minutes at the end really helps caramelize the sauce and kick things up a notch.

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