Chicken drumstick marinade recipe! This marinade for chicken drumsticks is simple, quick to make, and packed full of flavor. It tenderizes the chicken and makes it juicy, tender, and delicious when grilled, air fried, baked, broiled, or fried.
Serve marinated chicken drumsticks with sides like air fryer vegetables, potato wedges, spicy rice, or any other sides of your choice.
Chicken Drumstick Marinade Recipe
This easy chicken drumstick marinade is made with a few simple ingredients that are budget-friendly, easily accessible, and what most already have in their pantry.
The ingredients used are clean, healthy ingredients, with no artificial color, or preservatives.
This chicken leg marinade tenderizes the chicken, infuses it with flavor, and makes the chicken moist, juicy, and delicious. What's not to love about it?
Making the drumstick marinade is super easy with minimal prep. All you do is measure out the ingredients, and mix them all together...simple!
It's also a quick recipe as it takes less than 5 minutes to put it together. You can even make it ahead and store it in the fridge or freezer for later use.
Not only is this marinade for chicken legs great on drumsticks, but you can also use it on any part of chicken including the wings, thighs, and chicken breast.
Once marinated, the drumsticks can be air-fried, baked, grilled, broiled, fried, or pressure cooked.
This recipe is for up to 1kg /2lb chicken drumsticks however, you can double or triple this recipe to make more quantities as required.
This easy marinade for chicken drumsticks is gluten-free and dairy-free. Let me show you how to make the best chicken drumsticks marinade.
Related: Lemon chicken marinade, marinated whole chicken
Ingredients
The detailed ingredient list, measurement, and directions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Paprika
Garlic powder
Lemon juice
Black pepper
Parsley
Dried thyme
Rosemary
Olive oil
Salt
Brown Sugar (Optional)
How To Make Chicken Drumsticks Marinade
Gently rub the lemon on the countertop, cut, and squeeze the juice into a small bowl.
Measure out all the other ingredients then add them to the lemon juice. Mix till well combined.
The marinade is ready to use.
How To Marinate Chicken Drumsticks
Clean the drumsticks, pat them dry with paper towels, and add them to a bowl.
Add the marinade to the bowl.
Rub the marinade all over the chicken drumsticks so the chicken is fully coated.
Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes up to 3 hours.
When ready to cook bring out the bowl, discard the leftover marinade and cook as desired.
If not cooking on the day, put it straight in the freezer to store, and when ready to cook thaw or cook from frozen.
How Long To Marinate Chicken Drumsticks
Marinate drumsticks for a minimum of 30 minutes up to 4 hours in the fridge. The longer you marinate it, the more time it gets to tenderize, and absorb flavor however, be careful not to marinate for too long as that can make the chicken tough.
When ready to cook it, bring the chicken out of the fridge and discard any leftover marinade from the chicken, then cook as desired.
Marinated Chicken Drumsticks
Marinated chicken drumsticks can be cooked in a variety of ways, it can be baked, air-fried, pan-fried, broiled, deep fried, or grilled. After marinating the chicken as described above, bring out the chicken from the fridge and cook using one of the below directions:
To cook it in the oven: Line a baking tray with a parchment paper, and arrange the drumsticks in a single layer on the tray. Set the oven to a temperature of 400F/200C. Put the tray in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or till it's cooked through and the internal temperature is at least 165F.
To cook it in the air fryer: Arrange the chicken in the air fryer basket or tray, set the air fryer to 400F/200C, and air fry drumsticks for 12 minutes. Flip the drumsticks with a tong, and air fry for another 13 minutes making a total air frying time of 25 minutes. Bring out the chicken and serve.
To pan fry, follow this pan fried drumstick recipe.
The chicken drumstick is cooked when checked with an instant thermometer, the internal temperature reaches 165F/74C.
How To Store
Storing the marinade- Pour the marinade into an airtight container, label it and store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours or store it in the freezer straightaway if you intend to store it for longer than 2 days.
Storing marinated drumsticks- To store it in the freezer, put the drumsticks in a Ziploc, rub the marinade all over the drumsticks, Ziploc the bag, label and date then put it in the freezer for up to 6 months. Cook from frozen or thaw it in the fridge overnight before cooking.
FAQS
How do you tenderize chicken drumsticks
Marinating drumstick in a marinade that consists of oil, seasoning, acidic like lemon, and salt tenderizes the chicken and infuses it with flavor. Marinate drumsticks for atleast 30 minutes to get them tenderized.
How long should I marinate chicken
Marinate chicken for atleast 30 minutes to get flavor infused, and the chicken tenderised. It can be marinated for up to 2 hours however don't marinate for too long as this can cause the chicken to toughen.
How do you tenderize chicken legs before grilling
Rubbing the chicken legs in a marinade that contains lemon juice, oil, herbs, and spices. After rubbing in the marinade, put in the fridge for 30-120 minutes before grilling.
More Drumstick Recipes
Instant pot chicken drumsticks
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Recipe
Chicken Drumstick Marinade Recipe
Equipment
- Measuring spoons
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 Lemon
- 1.5 tablespoons Olive oil
- 1.5 teaspoons Smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon Rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon Parsley
- ¼ teaspoon Dried thyme
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon Brown sugar Optional
Instructions
Chicken Drumstick Marinade
- Gently rub the lemon on the countertop, cut, and squeeze the juice into a small bowl.
- Measure out all the other ingredients then add them to the lemon juice. Mix till well combined.
- The marinade is ready to use.
How To Marinate Chicken Drumsticks
- Clean the drumsticks, pat them dry with paper towels, and add them to a bowl.
- Add the marinade to the bowl and rub the marinade all over the chicken drumsticks so the chicken is fully coated.
- Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes up to 3 hours.
- When ready to cook bring out the bowl, discard the leftover marinade and cook as desired. If not cooking on the day, put it straight in the freezer to store, and when ready to cook thaw or cook from frozen.
How To Cook
- Marinated chicken drumsticks can be cooked in a variety of ways, it can be baked, air-fried, pan-fried, broiled, deep fried, or grilled. After marinating the chicken as described above, bring out the chicken from the fridge and cook using one of the below directions:To cook it in the oven: Line a baking tray with parchment paper, and arrange the drumsticks in a single layer on the tray. Set the oven to a temperature of 400F/200C. Put the tray in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or till it's cooked through and the internal temperature is at least 165F.To cook it in the air fryer: Arrange the chicken in the air fryer basket or tray, set the air fryer to 400F/200C, and air fry drumsticks for 12 minutes. Flip the drumsticks with a tong, and air fry for another 13 minutes making a total air frying time of 25 minutes. Bring out the chicken and serve.To pan-fry, follow this pan fried drumstick recipe.The chicken drumstick is cooked when checked with an instant thermometer, the internal temperature reaches 165F/74C.
Notes
Nutrition
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