These Honey Soy Chicken drumsticks are oven baked in an amazing honey, soy and garlic sauce and thus transforming into a tender, fall-of-the-bone delicious dinner!
Here’s another awesome chicken recipe for your weekly dinner rotation. This recipe is a popular one that’s been on my blog now for about 7 years and it’s a favorite among my readers. Why? Because these truly are the best drumsticks you could ever have.
Honey Soy Chicken
- Really easy recipe with minimal prep time – 3 MIN
- Affordable
- One Pot Meal
- Well tested recipe and family approved
If you think chicken drumsticks are boring, think again! They are full of fragrant sesame oil, sweet honey and aromatic garlic, the sauce we cook this chicken down in is so good you’ll crave it long after.
And the sauce left in your pan is pure gold! You can serve this with a nice crusty bread and make sure you pour some of it over you chicken, then use your bread to soak in that yumminess. You’ll thank me later.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken – I love to use drumsticks with the bone in and skin for lots of flavor. Feel free to substitute them with thighs if that’s what you have on hand.
- Oil – We’re using olive oil for cooking and sesame oil for flavor.
- Honey – You will need something sticky sweet that will create a quasi glaze on our chicken as it cooks.
- Soy sauce – Look for lower sodium content so we can control the salt levels in our dish.
- Aromatics – Ginger and garlic preferably both fresh if you can swing it. If fresh ginger is too tough to find feel free to substitute 1/2 teaspoon of ground.
- Pepper – I prefer freshly ground if possible, believe me it’ll make all the difference.
- Parsley – Chop it all up and have ready to garnish your dish at the end!
How To Make Honey Soy Chicken Drumsticks
- Prepare the chicken: In a 9×13-inch casserole dish, whisk all the ingredients together, excluding the chicken. Add chicken and toss making sure each piece is coated with the marinade. Next, cover with plastic wrap and marinate for a couple hours. I kept mine in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat the oven: To 375°F degrees.
- Bake the chicken: Remove the plastic wrap and transfer the dish to the oven. Bake the drumsticks for 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 175°F. Make sure to turn them over half way through. This way they will get nice color all around.
- Garnish and serve: Aim for garnishing the chicken with parsley and serve with the additional sauce.
Other Cooking Options For Honey Soy Chicken
Slow cooker
Combine the sauce ingredients plus the oil in a bag with the chicken drumsticks and shake to coat evenly. Add the chicken including the sauce to your slow cooker. Place the lid on your slow cooker and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours or HIGH for 3 – 4 hours. To get them crispy, you might want to place them under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes.
Pressure cooker
Place the sauce ingredients and the drumsticks in a bag or bowl and shake well to ensure the chicken is fully coated, place the chicken in the pressure cooker including the sauce and close the lid according to manufacturer guidelines. Cook on manual HIGH pressure for 15 minutes then do a quick release to release the pressure. To get them crispy, you might want to place them under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes.
Wow, this is a keeper! Just delicious! The sauce bubbles up around the chicken and coats it and makes it nice and golden brown and boy does it smell heavenly while baking! I served with a side of rice and sautéed broccoli and it was a big hit!
FAQs and Expert Tips
FAQs
An average drumstick weighs about 4 ounces, with roughly 1 1/2 ounces of meat (without skin or bone). Plan on two drumsticks per person or more for big eaters. One drumstick should be enough for children under 6.
Absolutely not! You’re welcome to use other cuts of chicken including, thighs, wings, or breasts. Please keep in mind though, that different cuts of chicken will require different cook times!
The most foolproof way to ensure chicken is cooked through is by using a meat thermometer. Insert the thermometer into the thickest or meatiest part of the chicken and it should read between 165°F – 175°F degrees, when finished. I recommend using a meat thermometer for chicken attached to the bone as it can sometimes remain a little more pink than a chicken breast, due to the minerals in the bones.
Tips
- To reduce fat and calories you can use skinless chicken drumsticks.
- Allow the drumsticks to marinate for at least 2 hours to overnight, for better flavor.
- For best results, flip the honey soy drumsticks half way through cooking, this will help them cook evenly throughout and crisp up, not to mention more flavorful.
Cooking Times For Chicken Drumsticks
Keep in mind that all ovens are different, but here’s a general guideline that you can go by.
| 350°F (175°C) | 45 – 50 minutes |
| 375°F (190°C) | 40 – 45 minutes |
| 400°F (204°C) | 35 – 40 minutes |
| 425°F (218°C) | 15 – 25 minutes |
How To Serve Honey Soy Chicken
These honey soy chicken drumsticks are very versatile but here are some of my favorite ways to serve them:
- Mashed Potatoes
- No Knead Bread – for dipping in that delicious sauce.
- Fluffy white rice, fresh and steaming waiting to be topped with this crave-able sauce.
- Creamy Polenta
- Any super simple salad that happens to be your favorite, I like one like Kale And Quinoa Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette or Kale Salad With Blueberry Vinaigrette.
- Best of both worlds in regards for carbs and salad, Mediterranean Orzo Salad is a perfect accompaniment.
Leftovers
Fridge
Stored in an air tight container properly cooled, these honey soy chicken drumsticks will keep for 5 days in the fridge. Just reheat in the microwave or the oven if you’d prefer when ready to eat.
Freezer
You can freeze these raw chicken drumsticks with their marinade in a ziploc bag. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the fridge before cooking as instructed in the recipe card.
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Honey Soy Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken drumsticks bone in, with skin
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 5 tablespoon honey
- ¼ cup soy sauce low sodium
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger freshly grated, ginger powder works as well, about 1/2 tsp
- ¼ teaspoon pepper freshly ground
- 1 tablespoon parsley chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken: In a 9×13-inch casserole dish, whisk all the ingredients together, excluding the chicken. Add chicken and toss making sure each piece is coated with the marinade. Next, cover with plastic wrap and marinate for a couple hours. I kept mine in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat the oven: To 375°F degrees.
- Bake the chicken: Remove the plastic wrap and transfer the dish to the oven. Bake the drumsticks for 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 175°F. Make sure to turn them over half way through. This way they will get nice color all around.
- Garnish and serve: Aim for garnishing the chicken with parsley and serve with the additional sauce.
Recipe Notes
- To reduce fat and calories you can use skinless chicken drumsticks.
- Allow the drumsticks to marinate for at least 2 hours to overnight, for better flavor.
- For best results, flip the chicken drumsticks half way through cooking, this will help them cook evenly throughout and crisp up, not to mention more flavorful.
- Stored in an air tight container properly cooled, these honey soy chicken drumsticks will keep for 5 days in the fridge. Just reheat in the microwave or the oven if you’d prefer when ready to eat.
- You can freeze these raw chicken drumsticks with their marinade in a ziploc bag. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the fridge before cooking as instructed in the recipe card.
- Recipe originally shared on Sept 7, 2014.
Just came across this delicious looking recipe! Would love to use bone-in, skin 0n thighs. Could you please tell me what the temperature should be and for how long? Thank you.
Depends what temperature you cook them at. Here’s a guideline:
350°F (175°C) 50 to 55 minutes
375°F (190°C) 45 to 50 minutes
400°F (205°C) 40 to 45 minutes
425°F (218°C) 35 to 45 minutes
Thank you! Made this with the thighs and turned our great!
This recipe is so simple to prepare and cook and tastes amazing. I served it with mushroom and pea egg fried rice. Delicious.
We’re so happy you enjoyed it!
Jo, there isnt a single recipe from you that my family doesnt think is heavenly, this one included.
If I want to do this in my IP Airfryer, would i do 350′ for 35min?
Thank you for keeping my family in great food
Thanks, Anne! I would probably up the temp a bit, maybe 380 for 35 min.
Very delicious and tender. Hubby felt the soya sauce was overpowering, so next time we will use half. I marinated for 6 hours.
Wow, these drumsticks were so tender and flavourful. Best of all, what an easy dish!
Yep, it’s so easy to make and so delicious. We are so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this for dinner last night. Used thighs and it turned out great. Everyone loved this and will definitely make this again! Thanks Jo!
My pleasure, so glad you guys liked it!
I really want to make this recipe! It sounds scrumptious! One question though: can I substitute chicken thighs for the legs?
Absolutely!
Hi Jo. Just love your recipes and look forward to your emails!
Can I substitute skinless/boneless chicken thighs for the honey soy chicken drumsticks recipe? If so what do you recommend fir cook time and temperature?
Thanks so much! Janet
Absolutely! If you’re cooking them at 375 then it’s 45 to 50 minutes. You can find more info here: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/oven-baked-chicken-thighs/
Hi!
Looks great!
Can I use Silan (Date honey) instead of regular honey?
Thanks!
For sure! That would be delicious.
Could you make this in a crockpot? Love your recipes, Jo!
For sure! 5-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. If you can, baste the drumsticks with the sauce every once in a while.
Oh my! This is definitely the best honey soy! Well, it’s my first time so there is nothing really to compare it to. I don’t know what can top this!!! The flavor is amazing! Marinated it for only 4 hours but it is good to the bone! Definitely one of my top favorites!!
So happy you enjoyed this recipe, Ellen and thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Delicious!! My family loved this recipe, have put this in my favourites folder
Glad to hear it, Maureen!
Hi, just wondering if this could be frozen – either before or after being cooked?
It’ll be best to freeze after baking! You can reheat in the oven.