Perfectly Grilled Chicken Drumsticks are fast and easy with this never-fail recipe. Tender, flavorful, and budget-friendly, everybody from picky kids to grandma will love these crispy grilled drumsticks.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken Drumsticks (chicken legs)
Seasoning—salt, black pepper, and garlic powder mixture (All-Purpose Seasoning) OR
Optional seasoning of your choice
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Featured Comment from Jan: "
The best...the best..... chicken legs...ever....goodbye Bobby Flay...hello Doctor Dan....it is going to be an excellent chicken leg summer....thank you!"
You only need the correct grill and final internal temperatures to cook perfect chicken drumsticks. With only 10 minutes of preparation and simple seasoning, it only takes 35 minutes on the grill.
This grilled chicken drumstick recipe is part of a group of recipes that started with my work on Chicken for a Crowd. For oven-based recipes, see Baked Chicken Legs or Oven Baked Chicken Thighs. And don't miss Grilled Chicken Thighs.
👨🍳How to Grill Chicken Drumsticks—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Clean, oil, and preheat the grill to a surface temperature of about 450°.
2. Prepare the chicken legs for grilling by trimming loose parts in the joint area and excess skin.
3. Pat dry with paper towels and season to your taste.
4. Place over direct heat with a closed lid.
5. Flip every 5 minutes until an internal temperature of 185°—about 30-35 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes before serving.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏰How long to grill chicken drumsticks
It will take 35 to 30 minutes, assuming a medium-high grill surface temperature of 450°, to reach a final internal temperature of 185°+, which is best for chicken legs and thighs.
Variables are the drumstick's size, initial temperature, and exact grill temperature. You can use a lower surface temperature, but it will add time and tend to dry more. You can not get acceptable results with a grill temperature over 500°.
Always remember, you are cooking to a final internal temperature and never by time alone. You must use a thermometer to be sure you get to 185°+. Do not guess.
How to spice chicken drumsticks
Spice as you want. I use my All-Purpose Seasoning ·7:2:2), which combines kosher salt, pepper, and garlic powder. But other spice mixes may be used.
For BBQ chicken drumsticks, use a dry rub and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce the last 5 minutes to make great BBQ chicken drumsticks.
Chicken tips and options
Drumsticks and chicken legs are the same thing. But there are also chicken leg quarters with chicken legs and thighs attached. If you are doing leg quarters, please follow the Grilled Chicken Thighs recipe.
Just pat dry with paper towels, and do not rinse—which is unsafe. See Chicken... To Rinse or Not To Rinse? for more discussion.
Allowing the chicken legs to rest at room temperature for 15-30 minutes while setting up the grill will help get the final internal temperature without burning the skin.
Grill setup
You may use either a gas or charcoal grill, but you must get the grill surface temperature correct, which is easier on gas. The grill surface temperature is temp on the grill's surface where the food cooks, not in the grill's hood.
The surface temperature should be 450°-500°, which is medium to medium-high on most gas grills—see A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for more details.
For a charcoal grill, you must adjust the venting, not build the hottest fire, and have a reserved cooler area.
🌡️The best final internal temperature is 185°
The best final internal temperature for chicken legs (and thighs) is 185°. The FDA minimum safe internal temperature is 165°, but there is too much connective tissue in chicken legs and thighs. At 165°, they will be tough and stringy—just not done.
To get moist and tender meat, you need to melt the connective tissue, which starts at 170° but is mostly complete at 185°. But cooking up to 195° will still be okay and may be beneficial, according to American Test Kitchen (subscription required).
Suggested serving
Severe with other grilled side dishes like Grilled Corn on the Cob, Grilled French Fries, Grilled Stuffed Tomatoes, or Grilled Mixed Vegetables. Or picnic salads like potato salad, Caprese Pasta Salad, Broccoli Salad, or Broccoli Slaw Salad.
Storage and reheating leftovers
Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container for 4 days. You may freeze for 4 months, but there is poor skin texture, so it is not recommended.
To reheat leftovers, heat in a 325° oven or air fryer for 10-15 minutes.
❓FAQs
Closed will be best and give you more control. Generally, grilling something less than ½ inch thick can be open. Between ½ and 1 inch can be open but is better closed. Over 1 inch should always be closed.
No, you will burn the skin long before the meat is cooked. They must be fully thawed first.
It is not needed. The skin will be crispier without it, but with oil, it will be softer and feel thicker.
There are two common causes. First, if the chicken is older, the older meat may release some myoglobin, which can cause pinkness. The second reason is if the drumsticks have been frozen, the bone marrow can break down and come out into the meat. Neither is harmful and as long as the temperature is correct, it is safe to eat.
Food safety
Raw chicken and other poultry should be considered contaminated and handled with care. Wash your hands carefully before and after touching raw chicken.
We do NOT wash raw chicken routinely due to water splatter. See Chicken... To Rinse or Not To Rinse? for more information.
You must cook chicken to an internal temperature of 165° for safety, although for texture, cook to 185° for chicken legs and thighs. See the USDA for more information. You need to check this with an instant-read thermometer.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
📖 Recipe
Grilled Chicken Drumsticks
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 6 Chicken drumsticks
- Salt and pepper - to taste or seasoning of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to get a surface temp of about 450°. That is medium-high on a standard gas grill and medium on a hot gas grill. Clean and oil the grill grates.
- Pat dry the chicken legs (chicken drumsticks) with paper towels. Rest at room temperature for 15-30 minutes before grilling if you have the time.
- Trim off excess skin and loose bones/tissue, especially in the joint area.
- Season to taste. Kosher salt and pepper will be fine, or you can use my 7:2:2 spice mix. Or use the seasoning of your choice.
- Check grill surface temperature and place chicken legs on the grill. Close the grill hood. Flip about every 5 minutes until the internal temp of 185° degrees—about 30-35 minutes.
- Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
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Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Pat dry and season to taste. I like my All Purpose Seasoning - 7:2:1 and 7:2:2. Seasoning mixes or dry rubs work well. A light touch of cayenne pepper adds a bit of heat that most adults like but do not use with kids.
- Medium grill with a surface temperature of about 450°. Over 500° will not work well. 400° minimum.
- The final internal temperature of 185°+ is the key to this recipe. While 165° is safe, the texture will be much better at 185°.
- If you are cooking chicken leg quarters, use the Grilled Chicken Thighs recipe to learn to control the fat flair-ups.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Editor's Note: Originally published June 26, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Amy Combs says
Love love love this recipe. I've made it a few times and it always turns out great. Thank you!
Simon says
Great tips, my Chicken legs came out great. Thank You!
Mikey says
Hey there: Thanks for the great tips! I had cooked chicken before, but made the same mistakes over and over -- too high heat, and too low a finishing temp. I had always read 165 was the target point, but the chicken (thighs or legs) always came out kinda fatty and stringy. Taking the meat to 185 or even a little higher is the key to great texture. And the 7:2:1 seasoning mix (I also add one part smoked paprika) is all the seasoning you need. I apply it liberally, almost like I'm putting a rub on. It looks like it's going to be too salty, but it's not. The meat comes out crisp and tender and delicious. Thanks!
Len says
I made this tonight. Nervous as these were big drumsticks and I’m a novice griller. I tuned every 5-7 min and boy were they crispy and juicy. My only error was not enough seasoning, but will fix that next time.
Great recipes.
Andrea says
Are skinless chicken drumsticks okay for this recipe?
DrDan says
Hi Andrea,
I have some doubt about this much prolonged high heat on skinless drumsticks. The method is to get crispy skin and finish the meat. If you want to do skinless, I would suggest a light olive oil brush and probable about 350 degree convection (375 regular oven) to final temp of 180-185. Probably about 45-55 minutes depending on size of drumsticks.
Dan
Esmerelda says
Followed step by step and these turned out very nice, even though I think I still prefer your oven version. It's just more fun to grill :)
Nik Edmiidz says
Is that celsius or fahrenheit?
DrDan says
fahrenheit
Becky says
So you leave the lid open or close in between clippings?
Becky says
Flippings
DrDan says
Hi Becky,
I hate spell check too.
Closed. General rules. Things under 1/2 inch thick can usually be cooked open. 1/2 to 1 inch is usually closed and 1 inch or more is always closed.
Dan
SMR says
Thank you for this rule of thumb! I've never heard that before and it certainly helps.
Amardeep says
Hi Dan.
How would I do this with open grill over hot coals.
Thanks
DrDan says
My last experience with charcoal and open grilling is about 40 yrs ago. But here is my best,
You cannot be placing the chicken over high heat. The skin will be burnt black and the meat bloody. So you need to let the charcoal burn down some since it is hottest when it is about 10-15 minutes in so it needs to cool down a bit so probably about 25 minutes after lighting ( a guess) but you will need to cook at least 30 minutes and probably longer, so you need to maintain a temperature. Hard on open charcoal.
On gas, I recommend always to close the lid if the thickness is over 1 inch and you should close the lid if 1/2 to 1 inch. So frequent flipping and a bit longer grilling probably. And remember, you are cooking to a final internal temperature of 185. 165 is safe but stringy and tough.
So charcoal and the open top both present issues. Indirect cooking is possible but I have no suggestions about setup. I would probably cook something else considering the hardware limitations.
Dan
sreno7 says
I dried the drumsticks and brushed them with oil. It was crispy and didn't stick to the grill.
I enjoyed the spice mix except it was too salty.
amber says
Have you ever tried sous-vide the drumsticks ... then throw them on grill for quick char? saves slaving over the grill for 30 min
DrDan says
Hi Amber,
No, I haven't. For the readers, the term sous vide is French I believe for under vacuum. The food is vacuum sealed and cooked in hot water to a final temperature and then can be seared or finish however you want. Somewhat like reverse searing a steak but involves the sealing and water. I think it is an interesting technique and if you are so equipped, it would be interesting to try.
Dan
Ron Garstka says
Well I just finished my dinner of drummies. Had a bit of a problem getting my grill DOWN to 450 during the first 5 min. Weber Spirit 310. At MEDIUM my grill surface registers in excess of 600. To get to 450 I had to turn all 3 burners to LOW. Had a bit of char after the first 5 min. but they finished up just short of 30 min total and were absolutely delicious. I have to give both the grilled chicken thighs and now the drummies a 5. Also looking forward to some ribs and steaks soon. Great library of recipes. Nice work, continue to enjoy it. Best wishes.
DrDan says
Hi Ron,
Thanks for the note. I’m glad it worked well for you.
I have a Weber Summit s470 and it doesn’t run that hot. All burners on low will be about 300 range. Medium is 450 plus minus. I get almost 700 plus on high with long preheat or if I add in the 5th burner. But I’m on natural gas which will be a bit cooler than propane. The variance in grills is tremendous so those cheap little grill surface thermometers are so worth the $10. I go through 2-3 per year since they get unreadable after a while.
Dan
Johnboy says
I did this but added one thing: After spicing the chicken, I carefully coated them with spray oil (Pam, etc.) It didn't affect the taste and the chicken was extra crispy.
Jackie Treehorn says
Great, really easy recipe. Drummies were perfect. Meat was fall off the bone tender and skin was nice and crispy. Having a meat thermometer and slathering sauce at the end in order to avoid sugar burn was key. 5 stars!
Dave says
Made this today, very salty. I'd suggest halving the salt if you're going to add barbecue or any other sauce. Was fine for naked legs.
DrDan says
If I add sauce to these, I cook them bare of any spices and add the sauce for the last 5 minutes or so.
Thanks for the note
Dan
Cat says
Hello, did you used to have a recipe with the cayenne pepper measurement added in? I could've sworn this was the case as this has been a go to recipe the times I have grilled chicken over the past year. If so, are you able to provide that ratio?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Cat,
Welcome to the blog.
The original recipe, now called Chicken for 100, was for an adult retirement party. This and the oven-baked version are cut down and slightly modified versions. Many readers had problems anytime I specified the amounts of spices in any of these recipes. So I changed to the 7:2:2 suggestion.
For the cayenne, use about 1/8 to 1/4 of the amount of pepper. So if you make a mix of 3-4 teaspoons kosher salt to 1 teaspoon each of pepper and granular garlic powder. Add about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne. That is too much seasoning for 6 drumsticks. That is enough for 12-24 drumsticks depending on size and your taste.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Brian says
I didn't know food could be this good...
The seasoning was great and I added a light coating of barbecue sauce for the last couple of flips - they were amazing. Will be making these again soon.