Oven Baked Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks

Baked teriyaki chicken drumsticks with an easy homemade sweet and spicy sauce you’ll love, or use bottled! Moist baked chicken legs cooked in the oven in under an hour. A healthy sheet pan meal that is family friendly and kids love them too.

Teriyaki Chicken Legs in Oven

If you love all things teriyaki you’ll love these baked chicken legs marinated in an easy to make homemade sauce. With a crispy skin or made fun like our Lollipop Chicken Drumsticks, to start with your family is going to love this meal.

I prefer to get medium sized pieces. If they are quite large it takes longer to cook through to the center and in my opinion the meat isn’t as tender. I threw together my own homemade teriyaki sauce for this. Yes you could use ready made but this is super simple and you can even add a bit of heat to it if you want it spicy.

Ingredients

1. Chicken legs were used
   • if they’re not here is how to cook frozen chicken legs in Instant Pot quickly
2. Your favorite homemade or bottled teriyaki sauce
3. Sesame seeds on top are a nice garnish
4. For homemade you would need;
   • Hoisin sauce
   • Soy sauce
   • Minced ginger
   • Chopped or minced garlic
   • Chicken broth
   • Brown Sugar
   • Sriracha if you want a little or a lot of heat – tasty either way

As far as what you need to get started, you’ll need a large rimmed baking sheet pan. For easier cleanup I like to line it with non-stick aluminum foil. A bowl is needed to marinade beforehand, or use a freezer bag.

What brand of teriyaki sauce is the best?

There are tons of different bottled sauces out there. Some are thinner based, more like a marinade, and others can be used for that as well as to coat the outside since it’s thicker. They sound pretty darn yummy right?? I prefer to make my own, I share the recipe for that below and use it in our Instant Pot spicy teriyaki chicken recipe too. For a bottled marinade I like Veri Veri Teriyaki brand.

How long does it take to cook drumsticks at 400?

About 45 minutes depending on their size. 400 degrees works well or you can do them a bit lower at 375 and then turning up to crisp at the end can make the inside meat more tender. To crisp chicken skin even more at the end you can put into your Ninja Foodi or air fryer for a few min.

This isn’t a fancy meal, but that totally doesn’t describe my household. I love simple recipes that are easy to throw together, we all love, and if they are healthy that’s a major bonus!

This falls into all of these categories and since our teriyaki chicken recipes are quite inexpensive and with a side of rice or simple potato salad and some salad it is a complete meal that is just oh so yummy!

How to Bake Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks in Oven

1. Mix together all ingredients well in a bowl. (or you can use 1 jar of teriyaki sauce if you don’t want to make your own). Put 1/2 c. aside to use later.
2. Put drumsticks in a bowl or a gallon ziploc bag. Pour sauce on top of chicken and put in fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours. Turn bag or stir chicken in bowl to rotate pcs. halfway thru if possible.
3. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper to prevent skin from sticking. Set chicken drumsticks on pan making sure not to overlap them.
4. Preheat oven at 400 degrees, put in on middle rack for 20 minutes covered.
5. Turn drumsticks over, spoon 2 tbsp more sauce over each one.
6. Uncover and continue cooking for another 20 – 30 minutes.
7. Always ensure juices run clear and check internal meat temperature before eating.
8. Spoon 1-2 tbsp of sauce on each one when serving them for dinner with rice or your favorite side dish.

Whether you make sauce homemade or teriyaki chicken recipe using bottled sauce these directions would be the same. Jump to recipe below and let us know what you think. Remember that the cook time will vary depending on how large and/or thick your pieces are. I highly suggest medium sizes for best results.

How to make chicken skin extra crispy

For something similar using a small kitchen appliance, give our air fryer teriyaki chicken breasts a whirl too! I would buy boneless with the skin still on for this. That way it stays as tender as possible, even if you take it off before eating. Juices will drain into the pan below and are great to save for reheating later on.

How to save leftovers

If you have leftovers they save quite well in a freezer bag. Allow them to cool completely before doing this but they can be stored in the fridge this way and reheated within 2-3 days of being saved. Pop them into the microwave for about 1 minute. Adding more sauce to the top will keep them moist which is vital so they don’t dry out.

Other easy chicken recipes you’ll love

• After you try these you should give these other quick easy chicken recipes a whirl:
• Instant Pot chicken legs turn out great too
• This Instant Pot sesame chicken is killer too with some of the same flavors as you have here. Served with Ninja Foodi white rice, everyone loves it here.