For our second day of Cheap Eats Week, thought that it was time to feature a sadly under-appreciated member of the meat department — chicken drumsticks!
These have long been a favorite of mine — not only because they are a fun finger food and have all of that extra-flavorful dark meat, but because they are super-affordable!! Thankfully, they are also pretty foolproof to bake in the oven. Just marinate and/or season as you will, pop them in the oven, and voila! Delicious, moist chicken is yours to enjoy. :)
For this recipe, I just used some common ingredients I already had on hand. And the lemon-thyme combination proved true to tradition and was fantastic! To stick with our budget theme, you could easily serve these with a side of rice (or I used orzo pasta), roasted veggies, baked/roasted potatoes, a side salad, and/or some nice fruit.
So for all of you out there who are in a chicken breast rut, I highly encourage you to rediscover the drumsticks!! More affordable and more flavorful!
Lemon, Garlic & Thyme Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 6 chicken drumsticks (about 1.5 lbs.), rinsed
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- zest and juice of one lemon (about 1 Tbsp. zest, 2 Tbsp. juice)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tsp.)
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place the first five ingredients (chicken through thyme) in a large bowl or Ziplock bag, and mix well so that the chicken is well coated. Cover/seal and refrigerate to marinate for 1-12 hours.
- When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. Then remove drumsticks from marinade bowl/bag and place in a greased baking dish, and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the juices run clear. For extra flavor, brush the drumsticks with more of the marinade about 20 minutes into baking. Serve immediately.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Doing your recipe tonight!.
Thank you :D.
This recipe looks so good. I would have definitely made it for dinner tonight if I would have known it required hours to marinate. It would have been nice to have that included In the prep time.
Thanks for this recipe. I’m marinating chicken right now!
I expect it will taste delicious!
Oh, and what is “hakuna matata”?
I just put the chicken in the oven, but realized that the salt and pepper was to be added at this point; it’s been marinating for 5 hours with the salt & pepper. Will it turn out salty, I hope not??
After placing the chicken in the dish pour a little water in the bottom – this way you do not need oil. Can save drippings and refrigerate. Fat rises to top. Discard fat and use remaining liquid as part of the liquid for rice or noodles.
Looks Great! I figured I should try marinated drumsticks instead on the typical crispy ones. Thanks for the recipe.
wanted to know if you can use canola oil instead of olive oil?
i was wondering the same thing, since i dont have olive oil…has anyone tried it this way?
don’t use canola oil as it is much more sensitive to temperatures and tends to smoke when heated.
I’ve used canola oil when I’ve not had OO. I believe I had the oven on 350 degrees and cooked a little longer than this above recipe. (It’s been a while…pardon me if my memory’s fuzzy) Experiment with a couple drumsticks or wings (latter would be cheaper if things mess up). Just might work! :D
Made this tonight. Was great, thanks!
It seems to be a great way to cook with drumstick! Thanks for sharing :)