Here’s an Easy Baked Chicken Drumsticks recipe that everyone will love (even your kids).
I’m lucky enough to have my Mom living about 30 minutes away from me now. I see her fairly often, and she comes and spends the night at my house occasionally. On one such occasion, she made us dinner. She whipped up these Easy Baked Chicken Drumsticks in nothing flat. Simple crumbs with salt and pepper, a quick dunk in butter, a roll in the crumbs and into the oven they went. They came out so crisp and buttery and perfect.
What are the best crumbs to use for baked chicken drumsticks?
I like to use cornflake crumbs. You can either smash them yourself (if you have a box of cornflakes), or if you think you’re going to use them a lot then you can buy a box of Cornflake Crumbs! The box of crumbs will be located in your market near other similar seasonings. If you prefer, you can use pretzel crumbs. Again, just put them in a zip baggie and smash the heck out of them until they turn into crumbs. Both of these options will allow you to make these baked chicken drumsticks gluten-free, if you need to.
Another great thing about buying chicken drumsticks to make for dinner is that they’re usually very inexpensive compared to other cuts of chicken. And everyone loves finger food like chicken drumsticks (especially kids!)
Should we leave the skin on or off?
That’s completely your choice! Leave the skin off if you enjoy eating it. Take the skin off before dunking and rolling in crumbs if you want to make the chicken a little bit lighter (chicken skin is kind of fattening).
Sometimes the simplest of recipes turn out the best of dinners. We enjoy these very much.
Here are a few more chicken drumstick recipes you might enjoy:
- Glazed Chicken Drumsticks
- Hoisin Chicken Drumsticks
- Baked Sticky Orange Chicken Drumsticks
- Sweet Lemon Glazed Drumsticks
- Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks
- Honey Molasses Chicken Drumsticks
Easy Baked Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 2 cups fine cornflake crumbs (alternately, you can use pretzel crumbs)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
- 8 chicken drumsticks (skin removed)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray (or just spray the baking sheet directly).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the crumbs, salt and pepper.
- In a separate bowl, melt the butter.
- Dip drumsticks in butter and roll in crumbs. Place on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake 50 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and golden.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is the butter enough to make the crumbs stick? Usually eggs are needed.
I don’t use eggs- seems to stick just fine.
Do you do this with skin on or off the drumsticks?
either!
Can I use plain bread crumbs instead of cornflakes?
sure!
extremely good. Will use this recipe many times.
I made it and it was to die for. The only thing not mentioned was to turn chicken over cause the top was not crispy so I turned the broiler on for a little while and then turned chicken over. I love fried chicken and this was just as good. My favorite oven chicken recipe now.
My family LOVES this recipe! I followed it word-for- word, the first time with pretzels and it was awesome! Tonight, I used Cornflakes and substituted olive oil for butter. Delicious! My husband’s only complaint was that I didn’t make enough! ?
Hi Lori, The recipe looks great. Will try it this weekend. Just wanted to know if you’ve tried margarine instead of butter? Or would this just not have the same sticking power for the crumb coat? Thanks
Hi Taryn, I actually don’t ever use margarine… so I have no knowledge of its sticking power!
when I roll the chicken in butter can I use flour? will it work?
It will not taste nearly the same using flour.
In my family we use crushed Rice Krispies-adds just a little sweet, and a little garlic salt and pepper. We call it Krispie chicken-has been my favorite since I was a kid. It was even my “birthday pick” when I was growing up!
Sounds great!
I tried this, but with frosted flakes. It was delious. Kids loved it as well.
Interesting!