Oven Baked Chicken Legs

Our saucy oven baked chicken legs with baking powder and barbecue sauce are great. Baked at 425 you will not believe how crispy these turn out, like fried chicken legs but a lot healthier without cooking in any oil.

How Long to Cook Chicken Legs in Oven

You’ll want to set aside 45 minutes for these at 425. If they are smaller 40 min. might do it but with the prep and all I would say you need an hour to get it all done. Not bad for a main dish.

We shared baked turkey legs with you recently. This is similar but doesn’t take as long. I love brushing these with either barbecue sauce or teriyaki too when done. Adds a ton of flavor to them but if you are going for a low carb meal you could just sprinkle with salt and pepper too.

If you want to know how long to bake chicken legs at 400, these fall somewhere between the two. There is a key to getting REALLY crispy chicken skin y’all and it might be more surprising as you might think. It is a white substance you would normally use to bake cakes but draws the moisture out perfectly as meat bakes too.

Baking Powder Chicken Legs Ingredients

In general I bake about 6-10 chicken legs with the bone-in of course and for sure you want the skin on at a time. I like organic, free range and medium sized because the meat has more flavor and texture overall. This is how to make butterflied chicken legs if you want to go that route

Baking powder is the trick to making these taste like they were fried because it sucks any remaining moisture out of the skin so it can crisp up so much. Olive oil will allow this to stick well.

Of course you will want seasonings of your choice to add flavor. I have a suggestion below though so you can test this one out and adjust to your liking on the 2nd batch if you prefer.

How to Make Saucy

There are two options. If you want to caramelize it to make kinda’ crispy too then brush some on each piece in the last 5 minutes, or switch to broil for 2 minutes or until crisped and browned. OR you can remove chicken from the oven and coat with preferred bbq sauce before serving.

If you have another favorite sauce other than bbq sauce you could use that instead. Teriyaki is amazing, mustard sauce or if you have your own spicy mixture. You can brush it on at the end as this was done or 10 minutes before it’s done you can add it if you want it to bake on and kinda’ caramelize on top.

How to Make Chicken Skin Extra Crispy

Then you want to remove all the moisture possible. Do this by patting dry the chicken legs with paper towels and brush olive oil all over so the baking powder and mix of seasonings can adhere well. I like to do this by tossing them in a large ziploc bag and then you are ready to bake.

Always add food into a preheated oven to become as crunchy on the outside as possible with the juiciest meat. Another cooking trick is to place a wire rack on top of your baking sheet so the hot air can rotate all the way around each piece.

Can you cook these in an air fryer?

We have used this process to make air fryer baking powder chicken but you can use it for baking in the oven as well. The reason it works so well is that when it coats the skin. When it is under high heat it sucks what moisture is left on the skin out so it gets crispier than any other method.

These same steps can be used to make Oven Baked Teriyaki Chicken Thighs too you would just need to increase the timing a bit for those since typically they are larger. You should always use a meat thermometer to ensure it is at a safe temperature before biting in. 165 F is what you want in the thickest portion after pulling them out. Use an instant read thermometer to test accurately.

Should I flip chicken legs when baking?

If you set them on a wire rack on top of your sheet pan then no, that isn’t necessary. This allows the heat to rotate around each piece. If you don’t have one of these and have to set flat on the sheet then yes I would flip halfway thru just to rotate to get the skin crispy all the way around.

No matter which seasoning or sauce you choose you will follow the same steps as far as baking goes. The reason why you don’t just set on the baking sheet as is is that the juices will build up and the skin will sit in it making it sorta’ soggy. If you use a wire rack (or cooling rack as I call it) it will elevate it a bit so the juices drip away from the meat.

Baked Chicken Legs and Thighs (Option)

Now if you want to keep both of these pieces together for more meat you can follow our baked chicken leg quarters temperature and timing. Of course since they are larger it will take a bit more time but so worth it, and often times they are really cheap to buy this way.

Side Dishes

As far as making a few easy side dishes to go with these I mean the list is long. Of course you can make mashed potatoes or taters of any kind really to go along with these. Other things that take less than 30 minutes and could be thrown in with this would be roasted zucchini and squash or broccoli.

I do suggest making a vegetable of some sort and typically my kids are always looking for some kind of carb. To make things easier I often times will buy bagged frozen rolls that you just pop into the oven for about 10 minutes.

How do you store leftover chicken drumsticks?

You want to keep Fall-off-the-Bone Chicken Drumsticks moist, so I like using a freezer bag. Normal sandwich bags aren’t as thick and are quite small, too. If you use the quart or gallon size, you can store a few and then suck all the air out of it, leaving little to no air inside to dry them out. Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, but 24 hours later is ideal.

You can also try making crispy chicken drumsticks, crispy oven-baked chicken legs, or bake crispy chicken drumsticks for a delicious variation!

How do you reheat leftover chicken legs?

Keep some of the sauce you added the first time around on the side in a sealed container. When you reheat chicken in air fryer or in the microwave you will want to add sauce to the top and all around to prevent it from drying out. If you don’t have anymore you can brush mayonnaise on instead or a tbsp of broth.

You only want to heat these a second time and not beyond that. It will dry them out too much beyond that which is no good. Another option is to remove the meat and add it into a whole new dish like our Crockpot chicken casserole or toss it with sauce and on to a small slider bun for lunch the next day.

What to Make with Leftovers

If you cooked for a crowd and have a lot of leftovers you may need to use the protein for a few days in a row. I too hate wasting food so it is great to have a bunch of leftover chicken recipes to choose from. You only want to remove the meat and warm what you know you are going to reheat and use that day. Leave the others whole and in that sealed bag.

Every time you add heat to meat it is going to suck what moisture is left right out of it. Leaving it on the bone and untouched will keep it tender for a longer period of time, same goes with beef. I will usually make a casserole on night 2, a soup on night 3 and then what is left can be thrown into a sandwich of some sort.

Unlike boiled chicken legs you get still the moist tender meat inside, but an added crunch on the outside this way. If you’re a big texture gal like myself it will be your best method yet.

Give it a whirl as directed below. Let us know if another seasoning you add brought it to a new level. Or if you have an alternative sauce you love. Buffalo sauce works well if you love hot and spicy. I am a want to taste my food kinda’ gal so that is a no go for me. 😉