BBQ Chicken Legs Recipe
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BBQ chicken legs bring back memories of my childhood for sure. They were the star attraction in one of my Granddaddy’s favorite meals. So, you know my Grandmother prepared them fairly often for him. And even more recently, I’ve learned that they are one of my husband’s favorites, too.
I knew grilled chicken legs were my one of my son’s favorites, but I didn’t know they were my husband’s, too.
Although I’m still wondering how I could have been married to my husband nearly 19 years and not have known how much he loved BBQ chicken legs.
How is that possible?
It truly makes me wonder what else I don’t know about his likes and dislikes.
For instance, just last summer after we had a bumper crop of cilantro that I put in just about every dish possible and then some, my husband casually mentioned to me that he doesn’t like cilantro.
You could have knocked me over with a feather.
Here I’d thought he absolutely loved cilantro since he didn’t say a word when I planted five cilantro plants during the spring and then filled his plate with it all summer long.
I guess he loves me more than he hates cilantro.
Anyway, these BBQ chicken legs really couldn’t be simpler to make.
You can either begin with my simple recipe for grilled chicken legs or just toss them into a skillet and bake them in the oven. When they are almost done, I coat them with a generous bit of Mama’s Coca Cola BBQ Sauce and pop them back into the oven to finish baking.
They should also be done when the juices run clear when the chicken has been pierced with a sharp knife.
Here’s my recipe for BBQ Chicken Legs that I hope you love as much as my husband does.
BBQ Chicken Legs Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 chicken legs
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 tablespoons chopped onion
- 1 cup BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Place chicken legs into a large zip top plastic bag. In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, mix together olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic, and onion. Pour over chicken and seal zip top bag, taking care to remove as much air as possible.
- Move chicken around in the zip top bag to ensure all chicken is well coated. Place on a small, rimmed baking sheet or inside of a casserole dish and into the refrigerator to marinate for at least one hour to overnight.
- To bake chicken, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place chicken onto rimmed baking sheet or a skillet coated with a bit of olive oil. Bake until the internal temperature registers 160 degrees F with an instant read thermometer, about 30-35 minutes. Remove chicken from oven and coat with BBQ sauce. Return to oven until the chicken registers 165 degrees F with an instant read thermometer.
- Remove from oven and allow to rest about 3 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xoxo
We had these tonight, and they were fantastic! (I missed the step about the BBQ sauce by accident, but they were terrific even without sauce.) I’m bookmarking your site and looking forward to trying more recipes. Thanks!
Ha! I missed the step on BBQ sauce too!
I made these chicken legs for our 4th of July cookout. They were fantastic! My family loved them as well. I even made the Mama’s Coca Cola BBQ Sauce. I mistakenly used onion salt instead of the garlic salt, and added 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, but it still tasted fine. I used a 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder because I din’t have any cumin, and I used a scant 1/4 teaspoon of the cayenne pepper. I also used a teaspoon of minced garlic for the chopped garlic cloves. I let them marinate for 5 hours, baked for 35 minutes, basted with the BBQ, and baked for an additional 20 minutes. I did put them on the grill for about 10 minutes along with my hamburgers. I was very happy with how they turned out. The flavor was perfect–not too sweet or spicy. Will definitely make them again. Thank you for the wonderful recipe and Happy July 4th! I also have plenty of Mama’s Coca Cola BBQ Sauce for the next batch. 🙂
I’m so glad you loved them!!!
I made this recipe tonight, it was very tasty, a real hit! I put it on the BBQ and it was fabulous! Started grilling the chicken, on direct heat,just to get grill marks, then indirect on med heat. in the marinade, and then once i flipped it I put the BBQ sauce on the cooked side, great recipe!
Hello! I was thinking of making this tonight.. Do you bake them skin on or do you strip them down? Thanks!
Hi Jennifer,
You can do whichever your family prefers. My son prefers skinless chicken (unless it is fried), so I generally either buy skinless or remove the skin from the chicken.
Hope you enjoy them!
Do u need to clean chicken with vinager before marinating?
Robyn thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! My kids enjoyed it as much as your Granddaddy, and can’t wait for another serving. Shared some Add a Pinch love: http://gurvygreen.com/2014/04/07/munch-on-this-monday-bbq-chicken-legs/
Have a beautiful day!
Delicious recipe! I made it the first time a few weeks ago and my husband and 2 1/2 year old could not get enough. I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Sauce to coat the chicken. Going to make it again this weekend. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it, Audrey!
I’m making these right now, do you cover the dish with foil when in the oven?
Hi Amanda,
I don’t usually cover them with foil when baking. If you notice them getting too brown, you can pop a little foil over top at that point.
I have to tell you, I made these and my very picky husband proclaimed them his “favorite meal ever!!”
I’m so glad he loved them, Erica!
We really enjoyed this recipe, the barbecue sauce was a nice change from the kind normally make.