Best Oven Baked Easy Chicken Leg Recipe – Shared over 250,000 times!
Updated Apr 30, 2025
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This simple 5-ingredient recipe is seriously the BEST Chicken Leg Recipe! Sweet, tangy, and perfectly sticky, these baked drumsticks are a huge hit and this recipe has been shared over 250,000 times!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The sauce was so easy but so tasty! Sweet and tangy and perfectly sticky once it set for a few minutes. This was perfect for a quick and simple meal.
–Hannah
My 2 Best Tips For This Baked Chicken Leg Recipe
- Pick the Right Pan: You will need a pan with sides to keep in all the juice and sauce and big enough that the sauce spreads out so the chicken isn’t drowning in it. My pan is 11×15 inches, and it’s just right. The legs will caramelize best if half of the chicken is poked out of the sauce while cooking!
- Flip Halfway Through Baking: After the chicken legs cook for 45 minutes, take the pan out of the oven and flip the meat over so that the bottom that was in the sauce is now on top out of the sauce. This will make sure all of the meat, top and bottom, are sauce-y and sticky and oh, so good!
🩷 Melissa
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!
Oven Baked Easy Chicken Leg Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°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°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
- Sweet and Spicy Baked Chicken Legs
- Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Legs
- 4-Ingredient Honey Mustard Baked Chicken Legs
Nutrition
Recipe FAQs
This really just depends on how you’re cooking it. I like to start with a preheated 350° oven and bake the chicken for 45 minutes, rotate the legs, raise the heat to 425°, 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.
More Easy Chicken Recipes to Try
Pasta Dishes
Creamy Chicken and Vegetable Baked Pasta
Soups, Stews & Chowders
White Chicken Chili
Chicken Recipes
Kung Pow Chicken
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
I made this recipe several times and love it! The last time I made it, though, I threw them on the BBQ grill and it was chicken perfection!
Ohhh thank you for sharing, I’d love to know how long it took them to cook on the grill!
Hi Melissa, I just finished dinner with my husband after making this recipe, It really was the best! I am not a lover of honey, but I love dark meat chicken, so I decided to make it. I did remove the skin from my 12 chicken legs, as that is what my husband prefers. I baked the legs at 350 for 35 instead of 45 minutes, but I think I could have done the whole 45 minutes. The skin crisps up a little, and that confused me, as I didn’t want to dry them out. I did everything else according to the recipe. Absolutely delicious! My fears about the honey were totally unfounded! Next time I’m going to try a tablespoon of cornstarch as suggested to thicken the liquid, as it didn’t thicken on it’s own. I so appreciated all your tips too – I didn’t read them through, and used a 9×13 which drowned the legs. Then, after reading your tips, I switched to an 11×15 pan & all was well. I love your site, & I love your recipes! So easy & simple to follow! Thank you!
Have you tried this with coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce?
I have! I end up adding a bit of salt as I find it not salty enough for my taste, but it worked great!
Very easy! And delicious!
My kids new favorite! Thanks!
Can I make this with mixed chicken pieces, including chicken breasts? If so, how long would I bake it for?
Yep, just cook at until the largest pieces are cooked through, it’ll depend a lot on the size and cut of meat.
Turned out great!!! Just a little too sweet. Will put less honey next time. Also did it in my air fryer/oven/… it cooked a lot faster , so didn’t have top wait for 1hr to eat…
What are the directions for the air fryer?
I tried it once and it was a bit of a mess so I’m not help, feel free to play with it. I found there was too much sauce but it didn’t get sticky like in the oven.
Hi Melissa! I was in a hurry and had some drumsticks in the fridge so Googled chicken drumstick recipes. I don’t even remember seeing any other recipe. I saw the picture and the name and clicked on it.
We made it exactly as the recipe & then our creativity ran over and we made it our own. Your recipe sounded so good but since we’re diabetics, reduced the honey to 1 LARGE tablespoon, used low-sodium soya, 1/2 cup of ketchup, 1/4 cup of prepared mustard and didn’t have garlic so used lots of garlic powder. We were in a hurry, so put it on the stove but not before we added some onions, huge piece of ginger (at least 2”), and a red bell pepper. Then the chicken, homemade chicken bone broth and … threw in some brown rice. Oh yum!
Didn’t need any additional S&P and it was so yummy! Thanks for posting.
Wings are WHITE meat just fyi
Hi!! Looks like a fabulous recipe. I am making this tonight. I also have chicken thighs. Do you think that would work as well as legs? I’m planning on a combo of legs & thighs? Thanks!!
Yep, works great! Just make sure they are cooked through as sometimes they are thicker and take a bit longer to cook.