Let’s make easy and flavorful chicken legs, marinated with herbs and spices, and baked in the oven with potatoes until perfection. Chicken drumsticks come out juicy inside and crispy outside, while potatoes stay deliciously tender. This will be a great one pan meal recipe that your family will love!
If you are looking for a quick and easy recipe that can be made in one pan, you need to try this amazing Oven Baked Chicken Legs with Potatoes!
It takes just a few ingredients to make this flavorful and filling meal. Marinate the chicken in herbs and spices overnight, so they absorb the most flavor. Then bake in the oven with potatoes, and your dinner and ready to serve!
I love serving it with some salads and vegetables on the side, like Green Beans Amandine, Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan, Farro Salad Recipe, and BLT Pasta Salad.
Ingredients and Substitution
- Spices. I like to use my classic spice blend that I use in many recipes. It includes salt, onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried thyme, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper.
- Olive oil. Always use a good quality olive oil.
- Potatoes. Yukon gold potatoes are my favorite and you don’t even need to peel them (just wash them well). You also can use Russet or baby potatoes. Feel free to add some other veggies to this mix, like carrots, parsnips, onions, etc.
- Chicken. While this recipe is for chicken drumsticks, you can also use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs.
How to make it
In a small bowl, mix the seasoning (½ tsp salt, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp dried thyme, ¼ tsp smoked paprika, and ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper). Add 2 tbsp olive oil and mix well.
Pad dry chicken drumsticks and transfer to a gallon size zip-lock bag. Pour in the seasoning mixture, close the bag, and shake it to evenly distribute the seasoning.
Marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
When ready to cook, preheat an oven to 400F.
Cut the potatoes into bite-size pieces and put into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt to your taste.
Place the chicken drumsticks on top of the potatoes.
Bake at 400F for about 40-50 minutes or until the chicken internal temperature reaches at least 165-170F and the potatoes are cooked through and tender.
Tips for best results
- Marinating. The longer you marinate the meat, the more flavor it will have. This is why I always prefer to leave it in the ridge overnight.
- Crispy skin. To ensure the crispy skin, make sure you thoroughly pad dry the meat with paper towels to remove excess moisture before marinating.
- Make the chicken even crisper. When you bake the chicken separately on a baking sheet with wire rack, the outside of the meat and the skin will be even crisper than when baking together with the potatoes. But because I prefer making it as a one pan meal, I like baking it together with the veggies.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can refrigerate it in an air-tight container for about 4 days.
Yes. You can easily substitute it with bone-in skin-on chicken thighs. Boneless skinless chicken thighs are not going to work in this recipe as they cook too fast and will be overbaked.
To make sure that the chicken is cooked through and safe to eat, you need to use a meat thermometer. Insert in it in the center of the meat, it should read at least 165-170F. Another way to check is when you cut the meat, the juices should run clear.
Because we want the skin on the meat to be crispy, we need to bake it uncovered.
Usually, it takes about 40-50 minutes at 400F to cook the chicken legs through. Although, if the drumsticks are bigger in size than usual or were too cold before putting in the oven, they might take a bit longer to bake.
More Chicken Dinner Recipes:
- Cast Iron Chicken Breast
- Dutch Oven Whole Chicken
- Lemon Chicken Orzo
- Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breast
- Cast Iron Chicken Thighs
- BBQ Boneless Chicken Thighs
- Tomato Chicken Pasta Bake
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Broccoli Ziti
- Oven Baked Chicken Cutlets
- Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies
- Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs
Oven Baked Chicken Legs with Potatoes
Ingredients
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 chicken drumsticks
- 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the seasoning (½ tsp salt, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp dried thyme, ¼ tsp smoked paprika, and ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper). Add 2 tbsp olive oil and mix well.
- Pad dry chicken drumsticks and transfer to a gallon size zip-lock bag. Pour in the seasoning mixture, close the bag, and shake it to evenly distribute the seasoning.
- Marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- When ready to cook, preheat an oven to 400F.
- Cut the potatoes into bite-size pieces and put into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt to your taste.
- Place the chicken drumsticks on top of the potatoes.
- Bake at 400F for about 40-50 minutes or until the chicken internal temperature reaches at least 165-170F and the potatoes are cooked through and tender.
Notes
- Marinating. The longer you marinate the meat, the more flavor it will have. This is why I always prefer to leave it in the ridge overnight.
- Crispy skin. To ensure the crispy skin, make sure you thoroughly pad dry the meat with paper towels to remove excess moisture before marinating.
- Make the chicken even crisper. When you bake the chicken separately on a baking sheet with wire rack, the outside of the meat and the skin will be even crisper than when baking together with the potatoes. But because I prefer making it as a one pan meal, I like baking it together with the veggies.
- How to store. You can refrigerate it in an air-tight container for about 4 days.
This is my second time making this and I doubled the recipe because my family enjoyed it so much the first time. I didn’t use cayenne but did a bit of chili pepper instead I also forgot to let it marinate (both times) and it tasted delicious the first time so I’m hoping it will be the same this time. My favorite part is how budget friendly it is because I sometimes find a bunch of drumsticks for under $3 on sale.
The potatoes 9and carrots i added) were not even Close to being done after 50 minutes. Maybe it’s my electric oven, but it took twice as long for the potatoes to cook.
I’m trying your recipe tonight . It’s in the oven now .
Thank you for sharing.