How long to bake chicken legs and thighs at 350

Crispy oven-baked chicken legs (drumsticks) are a quick and easy meal the whole family will love. Just trim and pat dry some chicken legs, add simple spices, and bake them in the oven—perfectly crispy, moist, and tender.

Table of Contents

• 👨‍🍳How to Cook Baked Chicken Legs (Drumsticks)
• ⏰How Long to Bake Chicken Legs (Drumsticks)
• 🌡️Best Final Internal Temperature
• ♨️Cooking Tips to Get it Perfect Every Time.
• ❓FAQs
• 📖Chicken Recipes
• 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
• 📖Recipe

Introduction

Everybody needs great chicken recipes, and baked chicken legs are one of the easiest and best recipes for the home cook. With only 10 minutes of preparation and simple seasoning, you will have an economical meal that kids and adults love in less than an hour.

Please enjoy one of our favorite quick and easy chicken recipes.

👨‍🍳How to Cook Baked Chicken Legs (Drumsticks)

1. Preheat oven to the temperature of your choice—425° suggested.
2. Prepare a baking sheet with sides like a sheet pan with foil and a rack if you have one.
3. Pat dry and trim the chicken drumsticks.
4. Season any way you want. Some coarse salt and pepper are good, or the seasoning of your choice. We use All Purpose Seasoning; 7:2:1 and 7:2:2,which is salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
5. Bake until an internal temperature of 185°or more—about 35 minutes.

⏰How Long to Bake Chicken Legs (Drumsticks)

It takes about 35 minutes at 425° to bake chicken drumsticks. There are three variables: the chicken leg size, oven temperature, and the desired internal temperature. I'm aiming for 185°+ (see next section).

The best oven temperature for baking chicken legs (drumsticks) is 425° convection, but other oven temperatures may be used. ALWAYS COOK TO A FINAL INTERNAL TEMPERATURE. PLEASE, NEVER BY TIME ALONE.

• Chicken legs at 350°F convection or 375°F conventional – about 45-50 minutes
• Chicken legs at 375°F convection or 400°F conventional – about 40-45 minutes
• Chicken legs at 400°F convection or 425°F conventional – about 35-40 minutes
• Chicken legs at 425°F convection – about 35 minutes (I don't suggest 450°F conventional, do 425°F conventional and add a few minutes)

Remember, all these numbers vary by your oven, also.

The lower the temperature you use, the less crispy your chicken legs will be.

🌡️Best Final Internal Temperature

The best final internal temperature for Baked Chicken Legs is 185° or higher when the connective tissue melts, and the meat becomes moist and tender.

The connective tissue will start to melt at 175°. By 185°, you are getting moist and tender results. America Test Kitchen takes it a step further for both thighs and drumsticks and suggests 190° to 195° as the target internal temperature range. American Test Kitchen—For Perfectly Tender Chicken Thighs, Overcook Them.

Many want to cook chicken legs to 165°, the minimum safe internal temperature for chicken for the FDA, but they will be tough and stringy from connective tissue.

♨️Cooking Tips to Get it Perfect Every Time.

• DO NOT SKIP THE PAT DRY, or you will not have crispy skin. (See Chicken: To Rinse or Not To Rinse? about rinsing the chicken)
• Check the cut joint area for loose parts. You may be handing this to a child and don't need loose bone aspirated.
• Cooking on a rack gets the meat off the pan, and with convection, all sides of the legs will be cooked evenly.
• Cook at high temp, and you must use a meat thermometer to be sure you get to 185°+. Do not guess.
• Spice as you want. Just salt and pepper are enough.
• Skip the seasoning and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce for the last 5 minutes to make great oven-baked BBQ drumsticks.
• Scale to any amount you need.

❓FAQs

Why use a rack for baking chicken drumsticks?

A lot of the fat and fluid drains while cooking chicken drumsticks. You can cook drumsticks without a rack, but you will be happier with a rack. The cooking will be more even, quicker, and have easier cleanup.

Should I brush the chicken legs with oil before cooking?

You can if you wish. Without oil, the skin will be dry and crispy, but with a bit of olive oil or cooking spray, it will be thicker and less crispy.

Should the chicken legs be covered during cooking?

No, it will interfere with the cooking.

How to store leftover baked chicken legs?

Good refrigerated for 3-4 days. Also, they should freeze fine for 3-4 months. Reheat by thawing first, then reheat in an oven.

📖Chicken Recipes

Grilled Chicken Drumsticks - The Art of Drummies

Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

Easy Grilled Chicken Thighs

Chicken for a Hundred

Crispy Baked Split Chicken Breasts

Side Dish Recipes

Easiest Crispy Oven Baked French Fries

Old Fashioned Cornbread

Microwave Corn on the Cob

Easy Roasted Red Potatoes

This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

Preheat oven to 425° convection. Pat dry the chicken legs with paper towels.

Trim off any extra skin and any loose joint pieces.

Spice to taste with salt and pepper. Use other seasonings if you wish. Here I'm using All Purpose Seasoning - 7:2:1 and 7:2:2.

Place the legs on a prepared sheet pan with the thicker part of the chicken legs to the outside. Line the tray with aluminum foil to help clean up. A rack elevates the chicken to allow all sides to cook evenly. You can cook without the rack but better with it. Of course, a heavy spray of PAM on the rack or foil.

Cook to 185°+ internal temp—about 35 minutes. DO NOT STOP SHORT of 185°. But up to 195° is fine.

Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. They are way too hot to eat right away and will be better after a rest.

📖Recipe

Oven Baked Chicken Legs - Quick and Easy

Crispy oven-baked chicken legs (drumsticks) are a quick and easy meal the whole family will love. Just trim and pat dry some chicken legs, add simple spices, and bake them in the oven—perfectly crispy, moist, and tender.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings #/Adjust if desired 6 chicken legs

• ▢ 6 legs Chicken legs - about 1 ½ lbs-Scale to as many as you want
• ▢ salt and pepper to taste - or 7:2:1 or 7:2:2 seasoning

• Preheat oven to 425° convection. Pat dry the chicken legs with paper towels.

  

• Trim off any extra skin and any loose joint pieces.

  

• Spice to taste with salt and pepper. Use other seasonings if you wish.

  

• Place the legs on a prepared sheet pan with the thicker part of the chicken legs to the outside. Line the tray with aluminum foil to help clean up. A rack elevates the chicken to allow all sides to cook evenly. You can cook without the rack but better with it. Of course, a heavy spray of PAM on the rack or foil.

  

• Cook to 185°+ internal temp—about 35 minutes. DO NOT STOP SHORT of 185°. But up to 195° is fine.

  

• Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. They are way too hot to eat right away and will be better after a rest.

  

See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

Pro Tips:

1. DO NOT SKIP THE PAT DRY, or you will not have crispy skin.
2. Check the cut joint area for loose parts—you may be handing this to a child.
3. Cooking on a rack to get the meat off the pan, and with convection, all sides of the chicken legs will be cooked evenly. If no rack, then flip at 20 minutes.
4. Cook at high temp and you must use a thermometer to be sure you get to 185°+. Do not guess.
5. Spice as you want.
6. Scale to any amount you need
7. Skip the seasoning and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce for the last 5 minutes to make great oven-baked BBQ chicken legs.
8. Good refrigerated for 3-4 days. Or will freeze well for 3-4 months.

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.

Calories : 160 kcal (8%) | Protein : 19 g (38%) | Fat : 9 g (14%) | Saturated Fat : 3 g (15%) | Cholesterol : 80 mg (27%) | Sodium : 477 mg (20%) | Vitamin A : 100 IU (2%) | Vitamin C : 3.3 mg (4%) | Calcium : 20 mg (2%) | Iron : 1.1 mg (6%)

Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

Course : Main Course

Cuisine : American

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Editor's Note: Originally published September 9, 2012. Updated with discussion and photos updated to improve the presentation and add more information. The recipe remains the same. Please enjoy the update.

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