Grilled Chicken Drumsticks at 400

Grilled chicken drumsticks turn out great. If you love cooking on a grill outside, you and your kids will love our new chicken legs recipe. Use our homemade dry rub or just simple salt and pepper to cook it perfectly on the inside with crispy skin all over. If you love grilled steak but want to make a few pieces of poultry instead tonight this is how to do just that.

So you have kids and they are picky. They love fried chicken legs and nuggets but you’re not going to give it to them all the time. NO worries, there are so many ways to cook them. Try out our grilled chicken legs here on your next go around so you don’t get so bored. (affiliate links present)

How Long to Cook Grilled Drumsticks at 400

You can eat cow pretty raw and it’s okay. Leave it to poultry to be a sensitive and HAVE to be 165 degrees or more. In the case of chicken legs at 400 degrees on your gas grill you will want to have about 20 minutes set aside to get it done right. Of course timing will vary depending on how large or small they are but within 5 minutes of this is generally perfect.

We have all grilled steak before right? A bit easier I think because you don’t have to deal with a bone in the way and the internal temperature isn’t as critical.

Whether you call these chicken drumsticks or legs we are seeing eye to eye on this. They’re going to be bone-in and almost always with the skin on which is what you want here. There isn’t much variation as far as this cut goes other than if you were to make lollipop chicken drumsticks which are fun for kids.

If you are a crispy chicken skin lover you will enjoy this method. In the case that you REALLY want the outside to be as crispy as all get out you should slice them first in the thickest part. We call these butterflied chicken legs which are amazing, and then follow our directions from there. With them laying flat on to the grill they won’t take as long that way.

Grilled Drumsticks Ingredients

• 6-12 chicken legs
• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp chicken seasoning 
  • or garlic powder + onion powder + seasoned salt

Of course you can double or triple how many you make, the larger the grate the more you could add. Just make sure they don’t overlap or else some parts will cook properly and other sides will not.

Without a thermometer the meat should be pulling away from the bone and the juices run clear when poked.

Let’s talk first about the prep. If you do want to add a bunch of flavor and do have some time you can soak in a marinade. Bottled teriyaki is a great one or dry rub for chicken is great and become even more intense if you let it sit longer in a bowl (covered) for about an hour.

Another great one is this smoked chicken brine. Even if you don’t have a Traeger, and you are just using a bbq to make these, a good soak in this for a few hours or overnight really makes for tender meat and tons of flavor.

How to Grill Chicken Legs

• Rinse pieces and dry outside skins with paper towels well, more dry they are the crispier the skin will get.
• Coat each chicken leg with olive oil, making sure to cover all sides.
• Generously sprinkle with seasoning and season with salt and pepper too if desired.
• Place chicken legs in the center of a preheated grill and continue to cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
  • if using charcoal wait for coals to turn white showing they have cooled down enough, you do not want to set over high heat or the outside will get too brown while the insides remain raw.
• Flip your pieces over and cook on the other side for an additional 10 minutes of grilling or when internal temperature on meat thermometer reaches 165 F. in the thickest portion.

What should you use to grill chicken?

Nowadays there are many devices you can use to get those grill marks and a bit of a smoky flavor to your meats. From a charcoal grill, to electric grill – backyard bbq style, to the new indoor Ninja Foodi grill that works quite well too the timing is about the same.

What should you serve this with?

It really doesn’t take long to get this done, about 20ish minutes. If you want to start collard greens in your slow cooker earlier in the afternoon, then get these going a few hours later you can have a great Southern dish served together for dinner.

Other Grilled Chicken Recipes

Ok so of course there are other parts of the bird or you can even use the same method to make beer can chicken on charcoal grill (or gas grill works too) like we did here.

Those are the two we do most often as far as poultry goes, rather we will use our smoker for the others. Our Traeger will do both ways, in fact anything cooked over 250 F is technically grilling.

• Another you might like if you are serving a crowd, and want something done closer to 30 minutes, would be grilled wings like this here.
• Smoked chicken thighs is the way we like these with dark meat and marinated in teriyaki sauce beforehand.

We explain step by step how to cook chicken quarters here too if you want to keep the two pieces together. A great option if you are on a budget and trying to keep the cost down, but still serve a protein packed meal.

How do you reheat chicken legs without drying them out?

No matter whether you are making legs on the grill or other cuts, you need to always check and make sure the internal temperature reaches 165. To get an accurate read get a digital meat thermometer and remove each piece from the heat source before testing in the thickest part.

First off you need to make sure you save them correctly, in an air sealed bag and kept in the fridge. When you are ready to enjoy them again I like to reheat chicken in air fryer. With a bit of added sauce brushed on the outside to add moisture and flavor this is by far the best way of all to get the outside to crisp up again.

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