Delicious lemon garlic baked chicken legs that are full of flavor, easy to make, and loved by the whole family. One of our favorite baked chicken legs recipes!
Hello easy chicken dinner! This is such a simple recipe that turns an inexpensive chicken leg into something super delicious. It’s easy to make and is full of flavor, and it’s a really great way to add a little ‘wow’ to your favorite chicken legs. The ingredients are simple; we’re just using salt, lemon, and some garlic (plus thyme if you have it!) and that’s about it. The lemon is bright, the chicken is savory, and it’s all the right things in one. You are going to love it.
This is also a really easy meal to plan your favorite seasonal sides around. Serve it with fresh corn and watermelon in the summer, and a loaf of crusty bread and winter squash in the winter. With a classic main dish, you can serve whatever you like or have on hand (I have a long list of serving suggestions at the end of the post).
Tips for Making Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Legs:
- I don’t feel like there’s a good sub for the fresh lemon here. The mix of the zest and the juice of the fresh lemon are so great. I don’t think dried lemon or bottled juice would have the same effect.
- No thyme on hand? Skip it all together OR pick another favorite herb. This would be great with fresh or dried rosemary, basil, or parsley.
- Wondering if your chicken is done? Investing in a little thermometer is the best way to make sure your meat is not over or under cooked. I have a really basic thermometer and it’s such a cooking game changer.
How long does it to bake chicken legs in the oven?
Thawed chicken legs that are an average size always take really close to an hour to cook in my experience (when the temperature is at 350 or above). If your chicken legs are really large or partially frozen, that’s going to increase your cooking time by around 15 minutes. When cooking bone-in chicken, I always plan on a full hour to cook, with a little extra time just in case.
Recipes similar to these lemon garlic baked chicken legs:
- 5-Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken Legs
- The Best Baked Chicken Legs
- 8 Must-Make Recipes for Chicken Legs
- Simple Oven Roasted Chicken Drumsticks
- The Best Oven Baked Chicken Leg Quarters
- Crispy Panko-Crusted Baked Chicken Legs
What to serve with this baked chicken leg recipe:
- Crispy Homemade Sweet Potato Fries and Deli-Style Broccoli Salad
- Perfect Steakhouse Baked Potatoes and Sauteed Asparagus
- Super Simple No-Knead Bread and Easy Apple Spinach Salad with an Apple Vinaigrette
- Simple Maple Roasted Butternut Squash and Rainbow Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
- Simple Italian Pasta Salad and Berry Spinach Salad with Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing
Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Legs
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
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Delicious lemon garlic baked chicken legs that are full of flavor, easy to make & loved by the whole family. One of our favorite baked chicken legs recipes!
Ingredients
- 2–2.5 pounds of chicken legs (about 8 legs)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- zest and juice from 2 large lemons (or 3 medium), separated
- 2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, optional
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Pat your chicken legs dry with paper towel and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, lemon zest (but not juice), minced garlic, pepper, and thyme. Use the back of a spoon to smash the mixture together and release any moisture the zest or garlic might have into the herbs (a mortar and pestle works well here but isn’t a must). The goal is to have a spice mix that is well blended using the garlic to bring it all together.
- Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken and set the chicken legs inside a baking dish (9×13 or 8×11 both work).
- Bake the chicken for 40 minutes.
- While the chicken is baking, mix together 1/3 cup of the lemon juice and the honey. If the honey is too thick, warm it just a bit so that it’s mixed into the juice well.
- After the 40 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven. Turn the chicken legs over in the pan and then drizzle the lemon juice mixture over the chicken. Return to the oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven again. Flip the chicken over again and spoon the juice that has collected in the bottom of the pan over the chicken. Return to the oven and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and reaches 165 degree F. on an instant-read thermometer.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and spoon the pan juice over the top one more time. Enjoy hot.
Notes
- I don’t feel like there’s a good sub for the fresh lemon here. The mix of the zest and the juice of the fresh lemon are so great. I don’t think dried lemon or bottled juice would have the same effect.
- No thyme on hand? Skip it all together OR pick your own favorite herb. This would be great with fresh or dried rosemary, basil, or parsley.
- Wondering if your chicken is done? Investing in a little thermometer is the best way to make sure your meat is not over or under cooked. I have a really basic thermometer and it’s such a cooking game changer.
- Category: dinner
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chicken legs, baked chicken, baked chicken leg recipe, lemon, chicken drumsticks, how long to bake chicken legs, easy chicken drumsticks recipe
So many serving suggestions and most of them are just as easy as the chicken! I can’t wait for you to add this to your dinner rotation, because it’s easy and satisfying and your whole family will love it.
