These Crispy Chicken Drumsticks are so simple and quick to make. Baked to a golden perfection, these baked drumsticks are so juicy and moist on top of being flavourful.
Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks
These chicken drumsticks have been one of the more “fun” things I’ve made for dinner in a while. A lot of time, I cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs so I’m always missing on that crispy skin.
Extremely easy to make, I pretty much prepared it the same way I do for crispy chicken wings and they came out perfectly. Even better, these drumsticks gets their crispy skin from baking!
Why You Should Make These Crispy Chicken Drumsticks
- They’re incredibly easy to make: you’re covering the chicken drumsticks in the coating then into the oven it goes. Because of the baking rack, the hot air is able to circulate under the drumsticks so you don’t have to flip it at the half way mark!
- It’s a healthier option: you get crispy chicken without having to deep fry anything! You just give the chicken a spritz of olive oil then it crisps up in the oven! While I’m not going to tell you to not have fried chicken, sometimes I just want crispy chicken without having to shield myself from oil splatter while cooking!
- You probably have everything you need already: most of these items are pantry staples for me so you probably don’t need to go shopping for the ingredients!
What You’ll Need
- chicken drumsticks
- olive oil – both the oil and a spray
- flour
- cornstarch
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- paprika
- salt
You’ll also need a baking rack over top of a sheet pan. I like to line my sheet pan with tinfoil for easy clean up.
How to Make Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks
- Line a sheet pan with tin foil and place a rack onto of it. Spray it with some non-stick cooking spray.
- Heat oven to 425F.
- Pat dry the chicken drumsticks if they are not dry.
- Coat the drumsticks in olive oil and set aside.
- In a large bowl or ziploc bag, mix together the flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt.
- Coat each drumstick in the mixture, making sure to shake off any excess coating. It doesn’t need to be thick to be crispy.
- Place each drumstick, evenly spaced apart, onto the baking rack, then give the chicken drumsticks a spritz of olive oil, and bake for 40 minutes. Flip if you desire but the rack allows hot air to flow underneath the drumsticks so the bottom side gets pretty crispy without flipping.
- Serve with your side of choice.
Tips and Notes
- I always use a meat thermometer to make sure that my meat is cooked safely. The safe internal temperature for chicken is 74C (165F). I use this one that my housemate got from Amazon.
- Avoid overcoating your drumsticks or you’ll end up with a mouthful of seasoning!
- You can make your own olive oil spray by getting a spray bottle or mister and placing olive oil inside.
How to Keep Chicken Crispy When Reheating
A lot of times chicken loses its crispness when reheating in the microwave. I’m very lucky that work has a toaster oven in the shared kitchen. To keep the drumsticks crispy, I microwave the chicken for 1 minute then crisp it up in the toaster oven at 400F for 2-3 minutes. This prevents the chicken from drying out as it’ll take longer than 2-3 minutes alone in the toaster oven.
What to Serve With Chicken Drumsticks
Here are some of my favourite sides that I like to serve with crispy baked chicken drumsticks.
- Roasted Vegetables from Frozen (pictured above)
- Roasted Asparagus
- Air Fryer Mushrooms
- Purple Rice
- Air Fryer Cauliflower
- Roasted Caulilini
- Lemon Butter Green Beans from The Veg Connection
- Parmesan Zucchini Fries from Ten Acre Baker
- One Pot Pasta from Easy Dinner Ideas
Crispy Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 10-12 chicken drumsticks
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2½ tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- olive oil cooking spray
Equipment
Instructions
- Line a sheet pan with tin foil and place a rack onto of it. Spray it with some non-stick cooking spray.
- Heat oven to 425F.
- Pat dry the chicken drumsticks if they are not dry.
- Coat the drumsticks in olive oil and set aside.
- In a large bowl or ziploc bag, mix together the flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt.
- Coat each drumstick in the mixture, making sure to shake off any excess coating. It doesn’t need to be thick to be crispy.
- Place each drumstick, evenly spaced apart, onto the baking rack, then give the chicken drumsticks a spritz of olive oil, and bake for 40 minutes. Flip if you desire but the rack allows hot air to flow underneath the drumsticks so the bottom side gets pretty crispy without flipping.
- Serve with your side of choice.
More Chicken Recipes You May Like
- Roasted Chicken in a Dutch Oven
- Oven Roasted Chicken Quarters
- Cast Iron Skillet Roasted Chicken
- Firecracker Baked Chicken Thighs
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Queenofcad says
So delicious! I also added black and red pepper to the flour mixture. We like our chicken spicy.
Carmy says
So glad you enjoyed!
Melissa says
Perfect! I added bbq sauce to them after 30 min and they were devoured!
Carmy says
BBQ sauce on top sounds divine!
haryhanne says
Looks delicious
Melanie says
Tip. I poke my chicken legs about 6 times with a fork then brine them in water, lime, salt and sugar for one hour.
Carmy says
Great tip!
Lori says
I love this recipe, however…I do not use flour (only cornstarch). I cook the drumsticks at 400° for 45 minutes, then turn oven down to 185° for 1 1/2 hour. They come out perfect every time! Very crispy on the outside and fall-off the bone, and juicy in the middle! I forgot to spritz with olive oil before putting them in the oven and they still came out nice and crispy. Thank you, this recipe is a keeper for sure!
Lori says
P. S. I’ve also tried it with garlic salt and smoked paprika and just a dash of thyme. Very good as well!
Larry says
I used my convection oven, but it never got crispy, in fact it was pasty. What went wrong?