Best Grilled Chicken Drumsticks
When grilling season comes around, there’s nothing more classic (or better!) than grilled chicken drumsticks. You’ll marinate the chicken in a simple mix of pantry staples – garlic, soy sauce, olive oil, and red pepper flakes (my grilled chicken thighs also use this marinade). Then it’s time to fire up the grill. These drumsticks work for a quick weeknight meal or a summer party.
Perfect grilled drumsticks, every time.
I’ll show you how to cook these perfectly, and my secret to getting the chicken perfectly juicy and tender. It keeps everyone coming back for more!
This marinade is great because it’s super-easy to make with pantry staples, and while the addition of soy sauce might make you think that it’s going in an Asian direction, it really just imparts a salty, umami flavor and gives the skin great color. You’ll love it! The drumsticks are…
🍗 Juicy & flavorful: The cooking method ensures that the dark meat stays tender and tasty and your chicken is perfectly cooked.
🌞 Made for grilling: Drumsticks are perfect for summer cookouts or weeknight meals.
💰 Budget-friendly: Chicken drumsticks are an affordable cut of meat that doesn’t skimp on flavor.
🕒 Minimal prep: The marinade comes together in minutes with just 5 simple ingredients, making it quick and easy to prep.
👨👩👧👦 Kid-approved: It’s fun to eat your meal with your hands and drumsticks are a delicious way to do it!
🥶 Great leftovers: Tastes just as good cold the next day, perfect for packing in lunches.
You’ll also want to try my grilled chicken lettuce wraps, steak salad, and grilled turkey burger sliders.
I use this marinade ALL the time! Always have the ingredients and it gives the chicken so much flavor. –Pat
Ingredient Notes
You’ll need some fresh ingredients and a few pantry staples to bring these grilled drumsticks to the table: chicken drumsticks, soy sauce, olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
Tips for the BEST Grilled Chicken Legs
I have a few important tips for you to ensure your drumsticks turn out perfectly juicy on the inside – crispy on the outside!
- Let the meat come to temperature. Remove meat from the fridge about a half-hour before you plan on grilling. This ensures that it cooks at the proper rate. Pat the drumsticks dry to remove any excess moisture to keep the skin crisp.
- Don’t futz with the food! (Futz may not be a technical term, but…)You don’t want to be constantly flipping and turning, put the meat on the grill, and flip it when it’s about half-way done. This will also help make sure the meat doesn’t stick to the grill.
- Use an instant-read thermometer. Seriously, it’s hard to know when food on the grill is done, and often times we over-cook because we don’t want foods to be under-cooked. Using a meat thermometer will ensure your grilled meats and fish are cooked through to a safe temperature, but not overdone and dried out.
- Make sure grill grates are clean. Before you begin grilling chicken drumsticks, clean the grates with a grill brush.
- Cook to 185 degrees F. While most chicken recipes are cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, we’re actually cooking legs and dark meat to 185 degrees F. This allows the higher fat and collagen content in legs to get a chance to “baste” the white meat, which makes it super juicy, flavorful, and really tender.
Grilled Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 drumsticks 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Grill
- Cuisine: American
Description
These grilled chicken drumsticks are juicy, flavorful, and made with just 5 simple ingredients! Perfect for summer cookouts.
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic
- 4 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 6 chicken drumsticks (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
Instructions
- Mince garlic and add all ingredients except for chicken to a plastic zip-topped bag.
- Add chicken to bag and marinate for at least 20 minutes, or overnight. Flip bag to distribute marinade occasionally.
- Remove chicken from refrigerator and preheat grill to medium high, about 375 degrees F.
- Place chicken legs skin side down on hot grill and cook for 20 minutes, flip over and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 185 degrees. (See note below.)
- Let rest for at least 5-10 minutes and dig in!
Notes
- Cooking temp: While most chicken recipes are cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, we’re actually cooking legs and dark meat to 185 degrees F. This allows the higher fat and collagen content in legs to get a chance to “baste” the white meat, which makes it super juicy, flavorful, and really tender.
- Storage: Store any leftover crispy grilled chicken drumsticks in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat the chicken drumsticks in a 350 degrees F oven for best results. Or, eat them at room temperature!
- Ingredient notes: Look for skin-on drumsticks. Buy the highest-quality you can afford, it makes a difference with meat. The size of drumsticks varies quite a bit, so look for drumsticks that are pretty close to the same size so they cook at the same rate.
- Prep ahead: Mix up marinade and marinate up to 12 hours in advance.
- Special tools: I don’t cook meat without a meat thermometer; I think they are vital if you want perfectly-cooked meat.
- Serve with: Veggie sides like summer cucumber salad or napa slaw, a pasta salad like Greek orzo salad, and brown butter blueberry crisp for a sweet summer treat.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the drumsticks with a few simple veggie sides, pasta salads, and/or desserts!
FAQs
Cooking times will vary, but a general guideline is to cook them for about 25-30 minutes in a grill that’s between 300-400 degrees F. I always recommend using a meat thermometer to get it just right. Grill the drumsticks to an internal temperature of 185 degrees F. (See more on this below, it’s interesting!) If your chicken is getting too dark, you can always move it to indirect heat (unlit side or top rack of grill). Don’t forget to let your grilled drumsticks rest for at least 5 minutes.
While most chicken recipes are cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, we’re actually cooking legs and dark meat to a final internal temperature of 185 degrees F. This allows the higher fat and collagen content in legs to get a chance to “baste” the white meat, which makes it super juicy, flavorful, and really tender. I learned this while researching my grilled chicken thighs and have been a convert ever since.
No, the marinade as written has soy sauce, which is not gluten-free, but it’s easy to make gluten-free. Simply swap the soy sauce for a gluten-free tamari or coconut aminos.
About the Author
Emily Dingmann is a recipe developer, nutrition expert, and founder of My Everyday Table. She specializes in creating easy, healthy recipes that help busy parents feed their families well every single day, without the stress. With a degree in Nutrition and over 20 years of experience, Emily shares family-friendly meals that are practical, nourishing, and full of flavor. Learn more about Emily’s approach to everyday cooking and nutrition here.
Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.
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These look really yummy! Thank you for your Grilled chicken recipe! Worth all the work!! It was yummy and a huge hit! I even added a couple twists of my own! Thanks for your hard work and making the recipe public! Happy day tasty day!
What is the salad you show on the plate with the chicken and bread?
Hi Judy! It’s a radish and apple slaw. I think I have the recipe, I’ll try to track it down! 🙂
This recipe is super easy to make and tastes delicious! We usually make our wings in the oven but my entire family has now decided the BBQ is the way to go thanks to this recipe! Thank you for sharing this super easy recipe with us! We loved it!
This recipe was super easy to make, the flavors were delicious! We marinated the wings ahead of time and they cooked up super quick on the BBQ. We will be using this recipe again, super tasty! Thanks for sharing this recipe with us!
Easy recipe for those of us that simply don’t grill.
These drumsticks were so easy to make and they were so flavorful that I’ve had them a couple of times this past summer.
Turned out great! We roasted in oven so didnt get crispy like a grill would make them, still delicious and 2 thumbs up from the 4 yr old.
Awesome, thanks for sharing, I haven’t tried it in the oven but I think I might!
I use this marinade ALL the time! Always have the ingredients and it gives the chicken so much flavor.
I make this all the time. Have also used the marinade for chicken breasts and thighs.
Thank you, Sara! 🙂
We really like this marinade~ tried it last night on boneless chicken thighs and it was delicious. So easy to pull together, and yet so distinctive, and yet not overwhelming despite the extra garlic.
Thanks, Tut. <3
I was surprised by how much flavor these had. I’m hooked!
My kids love these!
Yay! So glad to hear this.