How Long To Boil Chicken Legs

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Chicken legs recipes are always a winner at my house and everyone, including the kids, loves to eat them. 

Boiling chicken legs is one of the easiest ways to cook this flavorful meat to transform it into a tasty meal. You can have tender and juicy chicken meat on the table in less than 30 minutes.

And for more easy chicken recipes, try this How Long To Boil Chicken Tenders post.

Need to make dinner complete? It’s easy to serve a well-balanced complete meal on busy weeknights with How To Boil Broccoli and really easy Boiled Corn on the Cob.

Why Make This Recipe

• Easy – learn how long to boil chicken drumsticks so it’s easy to have a delicious meal in just 30 minutes.
• Budget friendly – made with a few everyday affordable pantry ingredients.
• Fresh or frozen – you can use this method to cook both fresh and frozen meat.
• It’s a great blank slate – season the meat however you like, so everyone loves it.
• A simple crowd favorite –  Everyone loves chicken, and this recipe is simple yet incredibly delicious.

If you want perfect juicy chicken legs every time you make it, grab a large Dutch pot, and let’s get started. This perfect recipe will show you how to make boiled drumsticks for a delicious main or side dish all year long. 

Ingredient Notes

• Chicken legs – This recipe calls for raw chicken drumsticks, aka bone in chicken legs. The instructions are for fresh chicken legs that are unfrozen. I will show you the timings for boiling chicken drumsticks that are frozen further below.
• Fresh vegetables to make a flavorful cooking broth – this recipe calls for carrots and onion.
• Fresh herbs – this one uses bay leaves and fresh thyme, but you can use other herbs, like oregano, etc., to your taste.
• Whole peppercorns – these complete the flavor and give a little heat.
• Salt and pepper – add these to your taste. The amount you use will depend on what you will use the remaining chicken stock for.
• Optional – you can finish the drumsticks under the broiler or air fryer with your favorite sauce like BBQ sauce, buffalo sauce, sweet chili sauce, etc.

Ready to learn how long to boil chicken drumsticks? Gather up those ingredients and I will show you….

How To Boil Chicken Legs

Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

1. Wash, peel and chop the carrots and quarter the onion.
2. Add spices, veggies, and chicken to a Dutch oven or saucepan.
3. Cover with water, then bring to a gentle boil over medium heat.
4. Bring to the boil and boil chicken for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked (check that the internal temperature is at least 165 degrees F/ 74 degrees C).
5. Remove the cooked chicken and strain out the chicken broth. You may want to keep the broth.
6. You can serve as is or broil, oven bake, or air fry to your preference

Chef’s Tip: It is important to make sure you check the internal temperature of the chicken using a meat thermometer. Guidelines state that the meat is done when the internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees F / 74 degrees C. Continue cooking if the internal temperature is less than that.

How To Get Crispy Skin – Broil or Air Fry

• You can easily get crispy skin on your meat by broiling or air frying.
• Allow meat to cool enough for handling. Then pat dry using paper towels or tissue so the sauce will stick easier.
• Simply brush your favorite sauce all over the cooked chicken legs.
• Then place under the broiler for a few minutes per side until crisped up to your liking.
• Or place on a baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees F / 200 degrees C for about 10-12 minutes.
• Otherwise, place in a single layer in a preheated air fryer basket (at 400 degrees F / 200 degrees C) and air fry for about 5-7 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Make Gravy

If you want to make a homemade gravy, then feel free to return chicken stock to the pan, add in some cornstarch, and cook into a gravy. To make a richer gravy, you can add in a little heavy cream and a little jelly, such as cranberry jelly.

Tips For Success

• Make sure you use a large pot to easily hold all the meat.
• Please make sure the pieces are fully covered by the water during cooking.
• Save the flavorful chicken broth and use it to make soup or cook some pasta.
• I tend to keep the skin on as I can get the chicken skin crispy under the broiler.
• Cook the meat perfectly – keep an eye on it and test the internal temperature (should reach at least 165 degrees F / 74 degrees C) using a meat thermometer to avoid undercooked or overcooked chicken legs.
• Handling raw chicken incorrectly can lead to food poisoning. Please clean all kitchen tools used and properly wash your hands to avoid contamination or food poisoning.
• Watch this space for posts on how to boil chicken thighs, whole chicken, and more.
• Check out some of my favorite things to use to make this recipe. Do you have any of them too?

Delicious Variations

• Vary the sauce – This recipe uses BBQ sauce, but you can use your other favorite sauces like herb butter sauce, peanut butter sauce, ranch sauce, sweet chili sauce, hot sauce, and sriracha sauce to season your Boiled Chicken Drumsticks.
• Vary the seasoning – feel free to add in seasoning like BBQ seasoning, ranch seasoning, Italian Seasoning, Tuscan Seasoning, Jamaican Curry powder, and more.
• Vary the cooking liquid – you can also use things like chicken broth or vegetable broth as the cooking liquid for that extra flavor.

What To Do With Leftovers

You can do so much with this juicy dark meat. It’s a great blank slate to which you add all the flavors. Cube or shred the meat and;

• Use them to make chicken tacos or chicken wraps.
• Add them to cozy casseroles, soups, or pasta.
• Add into salads like Cranberry Chicken Salad or rice bowls.

Prep And Storage

• Refrigerate – Refrigerate cooled chicken in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
• Freeze – Wrap in cling film and then freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
• Reheat – for the best result, check out how to Reheat Chicken In Air Fryer to avoid over-drying the chicken.

FAQs

Need More Chicken Recipes?

Looking for a delicious chicken dinner for tonight? Then head on over to these Chicken Recipes everyone will love. Or you can start with these below;

• How Long To Boil Chicken Tenders.
• Air Fryer Whole Chicken.
• Crockpot Whole Chicken.
• Air Fryer Chicken Legs.
• Crispy Fried Chicken Legs.

Serving Suggestions

This recipe is a versatile dish that pairs well with all your favorite sides! Here are some of my preferred choices;

• Serve it along with easy Boiled Potatoes or Boiled Carrots.
• Creamy White Cheddar Mac and Cheese or this Brussel Sprouts Gratin is a great side.
• I love serving it with Crockpot Mashed Potatoes and these Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes.
• It is great with Air Fryer Frozen Hash Browns.

Recommended Tools

• An awesome Dutch oven to ensure even cooking of your meat.
• This handy instant-read meat thermometer ensures your chicken is properly cooked.
• For the best tools to help make your recipe even easier and more successful, check out my collection of the Best Kitchen Tools on Amazon.

Weight Watchers Points

There are 6 Blue Plan Smart Points in one serving of this (without sauce).

Thank you for reading my how to boil chicken legs recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue to slice, dice and dream up affordable Air Fryer recipes, Instant Pot Recipes, Southern Recipes and more. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry, food blog.

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