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Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains

Salt-and-pepper chicken drumsticks

66

A dozen drumsticks seasoned with salt and pepper and roasted on a rack with plenty of space around each one, turned once so the skin blisters on every side. Ten minutes of work, no oil, and easy to eat with your hands, which is why children like them.

Time
60 min (10 prep + 50 cook)
Servings
4
Per serving
355 kcal
Protein
44 g

Ingredients

  • 12 drumsticks (about 3 lb) chicken drumstick, skin on; the weight is the meat you eat
  • the skin on the drumsticks chicken skin, nothing extra to buy; it has its own line so the crisp skin is counted
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Steps

  1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Set a wire rack on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Pat the drumsticks very dry with paper towels, pulling the skin down so it covers as much of the meat as it will.
  2. Toss them with the salt and pepper in a big bowl until every side is seasoned, then set them on the rack at least 1 inch apart so the hot air can get all the way round.
  3. Roast 20 minutes, turn each one with tongs, and roast 20–25 minutes more, until the skin is blistered and golden and the meat near the bone reads at least 165°F. Drumsticks are juiciest at 175–185°F, so an extra 5 minutes will not hurt them.
  4. Rest 5 minutes. Leftovers keep 3 days in the fridge and are good cold; to re-crisp the skin, give them 10 minutes on a rack at 400°F.

Good to know

Can I use an air fryer?

Yes. Cook them at 375°F for 22–26 minutes in one layer with space between them, turning halfway. Twelve drumsticks will need two batches in most baskets.

Not eating strictly carnivore?

Paprika and garlic powder are what most baked drumstick recipes add. Toss them in with the salt.

Per

Calories
186
Protein
(50%)
23 g
Fat
(50%)
10 g
Carbohydrates
(0%)
<1 g
of which sugar
<1 g
Fiber
<1 g
Sodium
761 mg

More meals

Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How

As written, 1421 kcal goes into the pot and 914 g of ingredients comes out as about 762 g of food: 186 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.