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Grilled Chicken Legs Recipe – Chicken recipes are always a crowd-pleaser and this easy grilled chicken leg recipe will become a favorite!
There is just something about the simplicity of grilled chicken legs that I love.
Maybe it’s that chicken legs are just so simple and homey, comforting and delicious. It could be that I remember them being my favorite piece of chicken from my childhood or that they now are my son’s.
But, whatever the reason, I realize that I just don’t cook them nearly as often as I should.
I usually reserve this recipe for grilled chicken legs for the warmer months of spring and summer, but the other day before I headed out for the grocery store, my husband told me he would love to have these soon.
Well, you know that moved chicken legs to the top of my grocery list, don’t you? I was now on a mission to bring a little bit of a warm weather meal to our house.
The chicken marinade is really what makes this grilled chicken so special.
I share all about the chicken marinade in another recipe post. It is one of those marinade recipes that just always works and everyone raves over. It comes together quickly and easily and imparts such a magical flavor in any chicken recipe that you use it with – whether grilled or baked! But, since Sam loves grilled chicken legs, that is where we are using it today!
Once I’ve mixed up my chicken marinade, I just pour it over the chicken legs that have been placed in a large zip top bag.
Seal up the bag and turn from side to side to make sure all the chicken is well coated.
Then, I place it on a half sheet baking sheet and into the refrigerator for at least an hour, but hopefully overnight so the chicken has plenty of time to soak up all that goodness.
Every few hours, I’ll turn the bag from one side over to the other to keep the chicken coated with the marinade.
Here’s my Grilled Chicken Legs Recipe. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Grilled Chicken Legs Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 chicken legs
- Chicken Marinade
Instructions
- Place chicken legs into a large zip top bag.
- Pour the chicken marinade over the chicken legs in the zip top bag. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and seal. Turn the bag from side to side to make sure all chicken has been coated with the marinade.
- Place the bag flat on a small, rimmed kitchen sheet pan and into the refrigerator. Allow to sit up to 1 hour or overnight for best results, turning the bag over every few hours to keep the chicken coated.
To Grill Chicken Legs:
- Brush the grill grate with olive oil to coat. Heat the grill to about 350º F. Place chicken onto the grill and cook, turning as needed to cook both sides, until the internal temperature registers 165º F when checked with an instant read thermometer.
- Remove chicken to a serving platter and allow to rest 3-5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutritional Information
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
This looks so delish Robyn. I have been on a chicken kick this week and I am thinking this recipe needs to be slipped into the rotation immediately. Yum.
Thanks so much, Heather. That marinade is ah-mazing!
This looks so good…..can’t wait to make this. Thanks for sharing.
I hope you love it, Mary. The secret is the marinade. It just makes chicken sing.
The spices sound wonderful!
Is there a particular beer you use? I don’t drink it and there are too many to choose from!
Thx!!
Hi Lisa,
I don’t drink beer either and generally just grab a whatever is handy at the grocery store. 🙂
Robyn, grilled bone-in chicken always hits the spot. This looks SO good!
I love cooking with beer. You can bet I’ll be trying this – thanks, Robyn!
Looks delicious, will have to try this. Would this work with breasts?
Diana C
Love love – this looks so good, Robyn!!
Simple and comforting – you got that right. And I love these flavors, Robyn!
Love the flavors in your marinade and I’m a leg girl so this is right up my alley!
These look so juicy and delicious!
this sounds wonderful – we aren’t allowed to have grills where we live, so will try baking it and maybe broiling at the end
We aren’t allowed to gril but try a grill pan it tastes like it came off the grill
Delicious. I made these tonight and they were so good!!
This recipe looks amazing, and is exactly what I was looking for. I can’t wait to make it for dinner tonight! However, I noticed you have this tagged as gluten free. Since the recipe calls for beer, which contains gluten, you should un-tag it as gluten free.
Thanks so much, Stephanie! My nephew is gluten-free and uses a gluten-free beer, but I am sure you are right and I’ll remove the gluten-free tag to save any confusion.
I am looking for a freezer meal recipe for my freezer meal group. I think this sounds wonderful…do you think it would be ok to make these up and freeze??
Thanks
Trying this tonight. So far it looks and smells amazing!!! I will post back with results… 🙂
Prepped it tonight for eating tomorrow. Can’t wait to grill and eat! Thanks Robyn!
This recipe was great. I think I will try it on chicken kabobs.
Thank you!
Is there an ingredient you can substitute for the beer as I can’t take it.
You can omit the beer, if needed, Mary.
hi! the recipe sounds amazing.is there anything else non-alcoholic that we could substitute? like any kind of a beverage drink or something 🙂
Hi Robyn. I’ll be making the chicken leg recipe today, but I only have the oven. Sounds and looks good. Thank you.
I tried this recipe about a month ago and it is simply wonderful. I am making it again today to take to a cook-out!
The beer is a must to make it as heavenly as it is. I like using a beer on the toasty- slightly malty side. Our go-to for crowd-pleasing beers is Yard’s Brawler, it works beautifully in this recipe. If you live in the tri-state (PA, NJ, DE) area, you should be able to find at a decent distributor or Wegman’s. Other good ones for drinking and for this recipe would be Sierra Nevada Tumbler (Fall) or Pale Ale (year round), Sam Adam’s Boston Lager, or Yuengling Lager.
Like cooking with wine, a good rule is to only cook with beer you would drink!
Can this be grilled in the oven??? If so, pls give me instructions.
Thanks
Judy
Hi Robyn, thanks for the recipe. I love cooking and grilling. Grilled chicken legs are one of my favorites. A good way to grill chicken legs is to grill at medium heat 350 and turn 4 times every 7 minutes for a total 28 minutes. I substituted the cayenne pepper with chiptole pepper. Used Coors Light beer. Let me tell you absolutley wonderful. Thanks again for the recipe
This was amazing we used an apple cider ale and it was amazing. Thank you!
Hi! My husband and I make this at least once a week–it’s awesome! Do you happen to know what the nutritional value is? Thanks!
Thank you so much for this recipe. It is simply amazing! Made this for my family gathering and everyone was blown away by how good it turned out. Thank you!
Did you marinade and cook these with the skin on?
FYI I used coconut oil instead of the Olive Oil and when I added a cold beer, the oil hardened…so I will remember to use a room temp beer next time. I just let it set on the counter for an hour before grilling and they turned out great!
The legs are in the ziplocs as we speak! Very easy and feels like there is not much to do when dinner rolls around when our friends arrive since the marinating has done it all for us. Thanks so much! Is it a no-no to take off the skin? I know a lot of the yumminess is in there- but wondering.
Thanks again!
This was great. Very moist and incredibly flavorful. I added about a Tbsp. of Dijon mustard to the marinade and a couple of Tbsp. of agave nectar for sweetness. I am sure it is great without it, but both seemed like good ideas.
Yum! Those do sound like great additions, Leslie! Glad you enjoyed it and shared your version.
I mixed this up last night and marinated the chicken legs over night. We grilled them up for supper tonight and WOW! These are so GOOD. I will definitely be making these again. Going to try it with a whole cup up chicken the next time. I just have to tell you that I am loving all your recipes and this is my newest favorite cooking blog. Thank you for sharing your cooking brilliance with the world! 🙂
Tried this last night and was even better than I thought. The beer really added some flavor. Will be a regular meal around the house. Thanks!
Thanks Robyn, these look wonderful. I was looking for an easy weeknight dinner and this seems perfect to me. My boyfriend doesn’t like sweet barbecue sauces so I think this will bring out the flavor of the chicken without the sweet. Looking forward to it!
Can you brine,then bake in oven before you add the sauce to the drumstick last thing before you grill? Will the sauce be strong enough because I don’t like charred drumsticks.
Never left a comment on any recipe but yum. Hubby told me to add it to the rotation! Made with home brewed ginger beer. Delicious. Nice to have a marinade with out the stickiness. The family just polished off an entire chook in one sitting no leftovers for lunches.
Oh I love the idea of making this with ginger beer – and home brewed none the less!! I know it had to taste out of this world! Don’t you love it when they really enjoy a meal?!
LOVE LOVE LOVE! This is now my absolute ultimate way to make chicken. SO GOOD! juicy, flavorful. Delish!!!
Isn’t it amazing?! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! xo
This is on the grill as I type this. Made the marinade exactly to the recipe, however ended up marinating for a little over a day due to some unexpected laziness on my part. Hopefully it will still turn out!
OMG, this came out SO GOOD. I have never grilled drumettes before and I was looking for a different kind of marinade. I don’t know how I found this website but boy, am I glad I did! I let the chicken marinate a day and a half and I could hardly wait to let them rest after taking them off the grill. They were DELISH! I am DEFINITELY going to use this over and over again!
hi, I need to know if this recipe is for 12 chicken legs or 12 chicken drumsticks..the recipe says legs but the picture shows drumsticks..thanks
You can use either with this recipe. Thanks!
Hello can i freeze the chicken at their marinating stage?
Can you substitute the beer in this recipe?
What kind of beer did you use?
Hi
when you say ‘grill’ are you using a bbq or the conventional grill you get with an oven?
thanks!
HP
Had such high hopes for this recipe. Marinated the chicken legs for over 7 hours. It came out so bland. I think it has all the right ingredients but just not enough of them. I doubt Bud Light was the problem. I would suggest more of all seasonings. Cooked the legs on gas grill to perfection. If I tried it again, I would double the kosher salt and add at least 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder to it. Maybe a splash of soy sauce. I may do that next time. Thanks
Is there a suggestion to substitute for beer?
I just left the beer out and it was delicious.
Can i oven -bake on 350….???
I used Full Amber lager from Pistonhead brewery, and added the juice of half a lemon cause I find that lemon gives chicken a wonderful crunch. I like my chili so used a smoked naga sauce from Sinclair’s condiments. The strength of dry hopped beer adds bite. Ate four of the badboys with thick creamy red onion slaw and wilted spinach.
Does it matter what size chicken legs??
Can this be used on Pork? I loved it on the chicken!
Followed the recipe to the letter and grilled on the barbecue. It was delicious! Thanks!
Thanks Megan! Glad you liked it too!!!
There is no marinade recipe?
Would sure like to know where the chicken marinade recipe is at
Dallas,
If you click on the underlined Chicken Marinade, second item, in the list of ingredients, it will take you to the recipe for the marinade. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you for sharing. Starting this for tomorrow
Hope you enjoy them, Rusty!
I love this grilled chicken drumsticks. I will try this at my home. Thank you.
Love it…
I went to the marinade, but could not find the measurements ? So I did a tablespoon of everything and 3 tablespoons of oil and a whole can of Gingerale. Hopefully it will be good. Going to cook it here soon.
Lexy, all the measurements are in the recipe card at the end of the post for the Best Chicken Marinade Recipe.