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Home » Family Meals » Sweet & Sticky Chilli Chicken Drumsticks

Sweet & Sticky Chilli Chicken Drumsticks

November 3, 2014 by Ciara Attwell, Updated December 14, 2020

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Delicious sweet and sticky chicken drumsticks made with chilli sauce, honey and balsamic vinegar. Finger licking good!

chilli chicken drumsticks

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. 

These Sweet & Sticky Chilli Chicken Drumsticks are a new favourite in my house. They’ll be making lots of appearances on our dinner table over the coming months!

I used to buy pre-marinated chicken drumsticks 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.

sweet and sticky chilli chicken

It’s no secret that kids love messy food so they are sure to enjoy getting stuck into these drumsticks.

Marinade

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.

asian salad

To Serve With The Drumsticks

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!

If you liked this recipe, then please do leave me a comment and a star rating below. You can also share your pictures with me on Instagram.  I always love to see your creations!

OTHER RECIPES YOU MAY ENJOY

Easy Chicken Satay Skewers – The whole family will love this child-friendly no-marinade recipe for super easy Chicken Satay Skewers!

Peri Peri Chicken With Sweetcorn – My take on this classic Nando’s meal – Peri peri chicken with roasted sweetcorn, red cabbage coleslaw and spicy rice.

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Sweet & Sticky Chilli Chicken Drumsticks


★★★★★ 4.8 from 5 reviews
  • Author: Ciara @ My Fussy Eater
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Main Meal
  • Cuisine: European
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Description

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
1 Serving3746.7 g619.5 mg13.1 g3 g9.3 g0.7 g52.1 g

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Filed Under: Family Meals, Recipes

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Comments

  1. Mich says

    February 22, 2018 at 12:06 pm

    I 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!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Richard says

    February 24, 2016 at 12:46 am

    Thank 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!

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • Ciara Attwell says

      February 24, 2016 at 9:44 am

      Hi 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!

      Reply
  3. Ghazala says

    April 6, 2015 at 12:53 am

    These look DELICIOUS! I’ll be trying them very soon. Would you mind sharing how you julienne your veg?

    Reply
    • Ciara Attwell says

      April 6, 2015 at 4:09 pm

      For this salad I just used a standard julienne peeler. It’s only £3-4 so a total bargain gadget to have!

      Reply
  4. AJ says

    December 8, 2014 at 8:31 pm

    I’m anxious to try this! What sides would you recommend with this?

    Reply
    • Ciara Attwell says

      December 8, 2014 at 9:08 pm

      I 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.

      Reply
  5. Honest mum says

    November 7, 2014 at 2:20 pm

    I’ve pinned to my low carb board too x

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Ciara Attwell says

      November 8, 2014 at 7:59 pm

      Thank you Vicki!

      Reply
  6. Honest mum says

    November 7, 2014 at 2:19 pm

    Oh wow yum and low carb too! Just stunning! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  7. Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says

    November 5, 2014 at 9:30 pm

    These look lovely, they would go down well in our house 🙂 x #tastytuesdays

    Reply
    • Ciara Attwell says

      November 5, 2014 at 10:14 pm

      thank Kirsty. Hope your family enjoy them!

      Reply
  8. Chuck says

    November 4, 2014 at 9:07 pm

    Sounds 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.

    Reply
    • Ciara Attwell says

      November 5, 2014 at 7:15 am

      Thanks Chuck. Hope you and your wife enjoy them!

      Reply
  9. Sophie at Franglaise Cooking says

    November 4, 2014 at 3:02 pm

    That 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

    Reply
    • Ciara Attwell says

      November 4, 2014 at 4:02 pm

      Thanks Sophie, hope you and your family like it!

      Reply
  10. Alison says

    November 4, 2014 at 1:06 pm

    These look lovely, my husband would love these. I must give them a try

    Reply
    • Ciara Attwell says

      November 4, 2014 at 4:03 pm

      I hope you enjoy them Alison!

      Reply
  11. Thalia @ butter and brioche says

    November 4, 2014 at 2:50 am

    These 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!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Ciara Attwell says

      November 4, 2014 at 8:23 am

      Yay! Hope you enjoy them Thalia!

      Reply
  12. Charlotte Oates says

    November 3, 2014 at 10:10 am

    These 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?

    Reply
    • Ciara Attwell says

      November 3, 2014 at 8:15 pm

      Really good thank you. Feeling much better in myself again which I love!

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Ciara! I'm a food writer and cookbook author and I'm always looking for new ways to make food fun and interesting for kids! I specialise in fussy eating and share tips and tricks to get your kids eating better along with lots of family friendly recipes. Read More…

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