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.
How do you make baked chicken drumsticks?
This recipe starts with a simple marinade which is made with garlic, olive oil, herbs, seasonings and lemon juice. The chicken drumsticks need to marinate for at least 2 hours, but you can marinate them for up to 24 hours if you have the time. The chicken goes onto a sheet pan and roasts until the skin is golden brown and the meat is tender and juicy.
Tips for baked chicken drumsticks
- I use dried Italian seasoning in the marinade which can be found in the spice aisle of most grocery stores. If you don’t have Italian seasoning, you can mix together equal parts of dried parsley, basil and oregano for a similar flavor.
- Be sure to use freshly squeezed lemon juice, not the stuff in a bottle.
- 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.
How long does it take for chicken drumsticks to bake?
It takes approximately 40 minutes for chicken drumsticks to bake in a 400 degree oven. If your drumsticks are on the larger side, you may need to increase the baking time to 45-50 minutes.
Baked Chicken Drumstick Variations
This is an Italian style marinade, but you can switch up the flavors to make this recipe your own.
- Greek: Use 1 teaspoon dried oregano and 1 teaspoon dried rosemary instead of the Italian seasoning.
- Mexican: Use lime juice instead of lemon juice and substitute 1 tablespoon of chili powder for the Italian seasoning.
- Asian: Combine the olive oil with 1/3 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon minced ginger and 1 teaspoon minced garlic.
What to serve with chicken drumsticks
I often serve my chicken drumsticks over mashed potatoes or rice, and I always include a vegetable on the side! Here are some of my favorite dishes to pair with baked drumsticks.
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Homemade Rice-A-Roni
- Bacon Green Bean Bundles
- Glazed Carrots
- Roasted Maple Sweet Potatoes
I make these 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!
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.
Great recipe, will definitely be making again. Thank you!
My family really enjoyed this! I took the chicken out at 20m to flip them, and then put them back in for 25m (45m total). I did make a gravy out of the drippings and regret that I foiled my pan, because you could deglaze a heavy duty pan for an awesome chicken gravy. I think I’ll do a glass dish like someone in the comments recommended somewhere to get as much of the herby oil as possible. I think I’d like to try the Asian glaze style next! Thanks for the recipe!
I had the urge to search up herb baked chicken when I got a hankering for Marie Calendar’s version and found this. It seemed it would be delicious and I gave it a shot, but I altered it to suit other palates, including sensitivities. This was better than expected! I’m so grateful you posted the recipe. I’m making it again but with a bigger batch of chicken legs to serve to more people. On that note, I found it’s just fine without the pepper and parsley. In fact, leaving out those things, there really wasn’t anything left to be desired because the lemon and Italian seasoning seemed to really give it the kick and zing it needed. I also used sea salt as that’s what my family and I prefer. Another neat tip I found is when you let this stuff sit in the fridge for a good bit, the mixture pooled at the bottom of the container will sort of solidify. What you can do with this is instead of the sheet pan, take a rectangular glass baking pan, lightly coat it in cooking spray, put the chicken in that dish in a single layer, heat the semi-solid mixture in the microwave until it’s liquid again but not boiling or anything, and pour that over the chicken, then proceed to bake. As the juice collects in the pan, it can be used as a form of gravy which is absolutely amazing over mashed potatoes.
Oh, and when marinating this, it’s advisable to use a bowl that has a lid which won’t come off because I found that to get a good coating, you want to pour the mixture over the raw chicken and then shake the closed container. I chose to use a big ziplock for that and set it in a bowl to prevent the bag from falling over and potentially creating a mess.
Hi there! I am trying to focus on my macros – and was curious how many drumsticks were accounted for in the 307 kcals?
I’d say two average sized drumsticks – you could remove the skin to reduce the calories.
OMGeeeee! This recipe sounds delicious! I’d love to give it a whirl sometime, and it seems pretty simple to follow (so even a crap cook like me wouldn’t balls it up LOL) x
I’ll bookmark this recipe for my next meal!:)
Am always delighted to learn a new recipe when I visit your site. Chicken is my favourite, and this looks wonderful and delicious dish to have with the family. Thanks.
I love drum sticks because they taste so good and are cheap. Im trying this recipe out. Thanks
I love chicken drumsticks more than the breast so this recipe is perfect. I am so making this tonight. Thank you for sharing.
These look like they’re to die for! I need to try these out soon, and make them for friends!
I also bake chicken drumsticks and love doing so! In my oven they’d usually be ready in 30 minutes, I would usually bake them together with potatoes or sweet potatoes so I have a side dish ready as you said, much easier than to prepare something on the stove! Next time I’ll try your marinade!
these look so delicious! they’re on my list for my next bbq, they look so summery
These look so tasty! We all like chicken in our house and especially garlic! So these would go down a treat.
Another winning dish, Sara! These were so great; we didn’t have any leftovers!
I’ve got in some chicken drumsticks and was thinking of making this recipe with roasted vegetables and potatoes for tomorrow
Yum, these look good! I reckon I could eat a couple right now!
You have so many great recipes on your site! Do you do any meatless options for those of us that don’t eat meat?
I love chicken! and anything with garlic and herbs. yum yum. I cant wait to try this recipe.
Drumsticks aren’t particularly my favorite piece of chicken but your end results looks so good! I will definitely give the recipe a try, plus who doesn’t like garlic and herbs! Yum!
Those drumsticks look so good! I love the flavors, and I love that they get nice that nice crisp even though they’re baked.