These baked chicken drumsticks are marinated in a mixture of olive oil, lemon, garlic and herbs, then baked to golden brown perfection. An easy dinner option that’s full of flavor and kid friendly too!
I love the kind of dinner where you can just stick a pan in the oven and walk away, it’s so much easier than a stove top dinner that requires more attention (and stirring!). When I need to have dinner on the table without a whole lot of fuss, I often turn to salmon foil packets, bacon wrapped chicken and these baked chicken drumsticks.
We eat a LOT of chicken breast around here, and once in a while I feel the need to change things up a bit! When I’m looking for something familiar that the kids will happily eat, I often turn to chicken drumsticks. Drumsticks are inexpensive, readily available and my kids love them. These baked chicken drumsticks are marinated, then roasted until golden brown. It’s a dinner option that both the kids and adults will enjoy!
This recipe is perfect for when you want drumsticks. If you ever want some baked wings, try my lemon pepper wings, baked buffalo wings and classic baked chicken wings.
Baked Chicken Drumsticks Ingredients
When you make these baked chicken drumsticks you will need chicken drumsticks, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning and fresh parsley.
How do you make baked chicken drumsticks?
This baked chicken drumsticks recipe starts with a simple marinade. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning in a large bowl. Place your drumsticks in your marinade and refrigerate them in for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours. Next, place the marinated drumsticks on a prepared sheet pan and roast the chicken. When the skin turns golden brown and the meat gets tender and juicy remove the chicken from the oven. Sprinkle a little fresh parsley over the drumsticks and enjoy!
Tips For The Perfect Baked Drumsticks
- Be sure to use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor, not the stuff in a bottle.
- You want to spray your baking sheet with cooking spray or brush it lightly with oil to help the drumsticks to not stick on the baking sheet.
- Feel free to place a layer of aluminum foil on your baking sheet for easy cleanup. If you use aluminum foil, spray it with cooking spray.
- You can use an instant-read thermometer or another meat thermometer to see if your thickest drumstick has reached 165 degrees F on the inside.
- The marinade helps infuse your baked chicken with flavor and helps your drumsticks get a nice crispy skin. If you want a crispier skin, feel free to use a convection oven.
- Periodically check on your chicken as it cooks. You want the skin to brown, but you don’t want the garlic and herbs on the outside to burn. If the garlic and herbs are getting overly dark, you can lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
- You can marinate your chicken in an airtight container or place a layer of plastic wrap over the top of your bowl of marinating drumsticks.
Quick Tip
I use dried Italian seasoning in the marinade which you can find in the spice aisle of most grocery stores. You can also make your own Italian seasoning.
Recipe FAQs
Chicken drumsticks take 40 minutes to bake in a 400 degree oven. If you have larger drumsticks you may need to increase the baking time to 45-50 minutes.
It is better to bake drumsticks at 400 degrees F because the skin will get crispy while the meat remains juicy.
No, you do not have to flip drumsticks in the oven. The drumsticks will cook well without flipping them. However, if you want to flip your drumsticks halfway through cooking, you can do that.
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Flavor Variations
This baked chicken drumstick recipe uses an Italian style marinade, but you can switch up the flavors to make this recipe your own.
- Greek: Use 2 teaspoons of a store bought Greek seasoning or make your own Greek seasoning.
- Mexican: Use lime juice instead of lemon juice and substitute 1 tablespoon of chili powder for the Italian seasoning or use 1 tablespoon of fajita seasoning.
- Asian: Combine the olive oil with 1/3 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon minced ginger and 1 teaspoon minced garlic.
- Seasonings: Feel free to add to your marinade your favorite seasonings like paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne pepper.
I make these baked chicken drumsticks almost every week because they’re a simple yet satisfying option with minimal prep work. You know it’s a good recipe when even the kids will happily eat it!
Sides TO Enjoy WITH CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS
Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
20 mins
Homemade Rice-A-Roni
25 mins
Bacon Green Bean Bundles
25 mins
Glazed Carrots
20 mins
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Baked Chicken Drumsticks with Garlic and Herbs
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken drumsticks
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Place the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Place the chicken drumsticks in the bowl and coat them in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a sheet pan with cooking spray.
- Arrange the drumsticks in a single layer on the sheet pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Sprinkle with parsley, then serve.
Notes
- Be sure to use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor, not the stuff in a bottle.
- Feel free to place a layer of aluminum foil on your baking sheet for easy cleanup. If you use aluminum foil, spray it with cooking spray.
- You can use an instant-read thermometer or another meat thermometer to see if your thickest drumstick has reached 165 degrees F on the inside.
Have made this recipe as is before & it was good. Made it tonight using wings & slow cooked in an oven on 130C for 2 hours. The flavours were even better. The outside nice & sticky, the inside juicy & falling off the bone. Highly recommend doing it this way.
My family will love this. It will be our last get together with our relatives before we head home for the summer. It will be so yummy. Thank you for an easy, tasty sounding recipe.
I’ve made this a few times and it’s really good. I’m making it again tomorrow. I use bottled lemon juice and it’s fine but probably would be even better with fresh lemons as per your recipe. Thank you so much Sara for your recipe.
On the Mexican variation, would you exclude the garlic and parsley? Same with the Asian variation?
You would want to still use the garlic but can omit the parsley!
Can I use lime in place of the lemon
That should work!
Nice flavor with this recipe. I did thighs and legs to make everyone in my family happy and they were HAPPY!
What about using breasts?
That should be fine, they’ll need to cook for less time so that they don’t dry out!
Cut the recipe since I only had 4 drumsticks. Came out great. Turned my broiler on for about 3 min at the end to crisp them up. Will definitely make again!
Tried it today it was wonderful. One exception I used fresh herbs , everything turned out just like the recipe. I also had larger drumsticks and had to cook 20 minutes longer. Family lived it.
Can I use fresh parsley basil and oregano Instead pf the dried? Can i replace oil with butter? And i add chopped ginger
The herbs and butter are fine, not sure that the ginger would be a good flavor match!
Ginger would taste lovely added! I do a similar marinade often using ginger root, garlic, lemon juice and spices. So so tasty.
Hi! I want to make this recipe ahead of time for guests, but can it be reheated? Or kept warm for 4 to5 hours?
You could try keeping it warm in a crockpot. I think it would dry out a lot if you tried to keep it warm in the oven for that long. You can also reheat covered until warmed through, then uncover and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.
Thank you so much, Sara!! I baked it again for 5 minutes at a lower temperature, and it was perfectly succulent! This is the best drumstick recipe ever!
I just did this for dinner today and wow! Amazing! I’ve followed a few recipes and I just love that as long as you follow it step by step with the described quantity of seasoning the flavor is delightful! I’m so grateful you make me feel like a chef!
Big hit. Kids love it .
This was delicious! I made it with roasted broccoli and french fries. I used big fat chicken legs instead of drumsticks and they turned out super crisp.
Drumsticks are chicken legs. Don’t know if you knew.
What can you use instead of cooking spray? I’m soy free and haven’t found one that is soy free. Can I rub the pan with olive oil or coconut oil?
Yes you can use oil instead!
I tried both the Greek and Asian versions and they were absolutely amazing; so much better than other recipes I’ve tried. They were so quick and easy to prepare as well. I loved baking them in the leftover marinade and eating it over brown rice. Thanks so much!
Trying this recipe today, thank you so much for sharing
So I am a beginner cook (just never really practiced or liked it). I would love to try this recipe but don’t have fresh lemon on hand. Will it work with lemon juice in the lemon container? Is that stuff no good? Thanks for the advice!
I’ve never tried it with bottled juice, but I think it would be ok!