Easy Marinated Lemon Chicken Drumsticks
The best thing about chicken drumsticks is that the skin can cook up to be deliciously crispy. In this recipe, an easy overnight marinade develops wonderful flavors in the chicken, and then baking in the oven allows that skin to crisp up!
Chicken Drumsticks
Serves: 4
Time: 20 minutes active, 5 hours inactive
Ingredients
- 4 chicken drumsticks
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp ground rosemary
- 1/2 tsp ground sage
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
- A fresh lemon
Instructions
Thaw the chicken drumsticks out completely. Place in a Ziploc bag. Chop up the fresh rosemary and add to bag. Add the garlic, rosemary, sage, paprika, salt, and pepper. Add 1 tbsp of the olive oil and all of the maple syrup. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze about 2 tbsp of lemon juice into the bag.
Close the bag and massage with your hands to rub the marinade ingredients all over the chicken.
Place the bag in the refrigerator and marinate at least 4 hours or overnight. Refrigerate the other half of the lemon. You can also squeeze out all excess air, then refreeze for up to two weeks and then thaw out when you’re ready to cook. Longer than two weeks will freezerburn the chicken.
When ready to cook, heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil into a square glass baking pan or into a cast iron pan at least 9” wide.
Place the chicken drumsticks in the oiled pan, shaking excess moisture off and back into the bag as you remove each drumstick.
Cut four slices off the lemon half (you should be left with just the end—discard that). Cut the slices in half and place half a slice on top of each drumstick, then place the remaining pieces around the drumsticks in the bottom of the pan.
Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the center of a drumstick reads at least 165 degrees F and no more than 175 degrees F. By then the drumsticks should be crusty and golden.
Remove from oven and serve.