Delicious sweet and sticky chicken drumsticks made with chilli sauce, honey and balsamic vinegar. Finger licking good!
With the cold weather setting in I’ve been looking to add some new quick, easy and affordable recipes to my winter menu. We all need a repertoire of fail-safe meals that we know we can throw together in around 30 minutes on a busy evening. The Sweet & Sticky Chilli Chicken Drumsticks are a new favourite in my house and will be making lots of appearances on our dinner table over the coming months.
I used to buy pre-marinated chicken drumssticks from the supermarket but when I started to actually read the ingredients lists I was shocked to discover the amount of sugar that some of them contained. But this homemade marinade is sweetened only by honey and literally takes just a couple of minute to throw together and with ingredients that you probably already have in your cupboard.
It’s no secret that kids love messy food so they are sure to enjoy getting stuck into these drumsticks. I use one tablespoon of chilli sauce in my marinade but you can alter that depending on your family’s tastes, or even leave it out altogether.
If you prefer the skin removed from your chicken then you can do this before you add the marinade. This recipe works just as well with chicken thighs too.
I serve these drumsticks with a chopped vegetable salad (julienne carrots and courgette, red pepper, red cabbage, kale and spring onion) but as it starts to get colder I will probably serve it with mixed veg fried rice or quinoa. Mmmmm… finger licking good!
Sweet & Sticky Chilli Chicken Drumsticks
Prep Time: 5 mins- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4 1x
Category: Main Meal
Cuisine: European
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Pin RecipeDescription
Delicious sweet and sticky chicken drumsticks made with chilli sauce, honey and balsamic vinegar. Finger licking good!
Ingredients
- 8 chicken drumsticks
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c. Place the chicken drumsticks into an oven dish. Make several slits in each drumstick with a knife to allow the marinade to soak in.
- Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and pour over the chicken. Turn the drumsticks so that they are fully coated in the marinade. At this point you can cover the dish with cling film and refrigerate for up to 6 hours.
- Or alternatively cook the chicken straight away by baking it in the oven for 30-40 mins or until the juices run clearly, turning once.
Mich says
February 22, 2018 at 12:06 pmI made this at the weekend to have instead of a takeaway and it was delicious. I served it with your carrot & parsnip fries from the blog and it really did feel like we were having take out!
★★★★★
Richard says
February 24, 2016 at 12:46 amThank you for sharing this recipe. I prepared it this evening for the family.
I don’t bake chicken often, but I found while this recipe filled the house with a wonderful aroma, it didn’t penetrate the chicken and while very juicy, the taste of the marinade was too subtle for our liking. Perhaps this is just the difficulty of baking chicken drumsticks?
I cut the drumsticks with a knife while marinating, but do you have any other suggestions how to make the marinade flavor stronger in the actual chicken drumsticks?
Thank you very much!
★★★★
Ciara Attwell says
February 24, 2016 at 9:44 amHi Richard, sometimes I find that if you remove the chicken skin the marinade will penetrate into the chicken better. So maybe give that a try. You could also marinade for longer, so around 12 hours and that will help to intensify the flavour. Hope that helps!
Ghazala says
April 6, 2015 at 12:53 amThese look DELICIOUS! I’ll be trying them very soon. Would you mind sharing how you julienne your veg?
Ciara Attwell says
April 6, 2015 at 4:09 pmFor this salad I just used a standard julienne peeler. It’s only £3-4 so a total bargain gadget to have!
AJ says
December 8, 2014 at 8:31 pmI’m anxious to try this! What sides would you recommend with this?
Ciara Attwell says
December 8, 2014 at 9:08 pmI served it with an Asian salad (pictured) but it’s really up to you. Maybe some vegetable fried rice? Or noodles would be lovely too.
Honest mum says
November 7, 2014 at 2:20 pmI’ve pinned to my low carb board too x
★★★★★
Ciara Attwell says
November 8, 2014 at 7:59 pmThank you Vicki!
Honest mum says
November 7, 2014 at 2:19 pmOh wow yum and low carb too! Just stunning! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
★★★★★
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
November 5, 2014 at 9:30 pmThese look lovely, they would go down well in our house 🙂 x #tastytuesdays
Ciara Attwell says
November 5, 2014 at 10:14 pmthank Kirsty. Hope your family enjoy them!
Chuck says
November 4, 2014 at 9:07 pmSounds good, looks good, and the photos are world-class. Since drumsticks are my favorite part of the chicken (well, I do like thighs as well) I will try your method and test it on my VERY picky wife. Thanks.
PS: I LOVE Irish gals. My wife is pure Scotch and we visit your area every other year or so.
Ciara Attwell says
November 5, 2014 at 7:15 amThanks Chuck. Hope you and your wife enjoy them!
Sophie at Franglaise Cooking says
November 4, 2014 at 3:02 pmThat looks delicious and I’m all about going for homemade sauces rather the sugar/salt-heavy store-bought ones. I’m pinning this now as I’m sure it’ll be a hit in our house 🙂
#TastyTuesdays
Ciara Attwell says
November 4, 2014 at 4:02 pmThanks Sophie, hope you and your family like it!
Alison says
November 4, 2014 at 1:06 pmThese look lovely, my husband would love these. I must give them a try
Ciara Attwell says
November 4, 2014 at 4:03 pmI hope you enjoy them Alison!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
November 4, 2014 at 2:50 amThese sticky chicken drumsticks look and sound seriously delicious! Good thing that I have all the ingredients on hand so I can make the recipe.. thanks for sharing it!
★★★★★
Ciara Attwell says
November 4, 2014 at 8:23 amYay! Hope you enjoy them Thalia!
Charlotte Oates says
November 3, 2014 at 10:10 amThese look yummy. I’m glad you said they work just as well with chicken thighs, as my fussy family aren’t really keen on bones still in the meat.
How’s the sugar free going?
Ciara Attwell says
November 3, 2014 at 8:15 pmReally good thank you. Feeling much better in myself again which I love!