Chicken legs are often one of the least expensive cuts of chicken. Coincidentally, they are also my favorite part on a rotisserie chicken because that dark meat is just so juicy and tender! Since I loooove rotisserie chicken, I decided to try to make Oven Roasted Chicken Legs that were close in texture to the moist and tender rotisserie chicken that I so love. How would I accomplish that? Low and slow heat, my friends. Low and slow.
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How to Keep Roasted Chicken Moist
When meat is cooked slowly at a low temperatures it stays juicy and tender. The connective tissues soften and break down into a tasty gelatin. The whole process is meat magic. You’ll also want to cover the meat tightly to prevent moisture from evaporating, and baste once or twice while the chicken legs baste. Easy enough!
What Temperature Do you Roast Chicken Legs at?
The method I use requires two phases: a low 300ºF for one hour (that’s the “low and slow” part), and then finishing off the chicken without a cover at 425ºF for about 30 minutes to crisp up the skin. This two phase method gives you the best of both worlds–tender juicy insides and crispy brown skin.
Can I Use Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts?
This low and slow roasting method is designed for bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces only. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cook much faster and will dry out using this method. For instructions on how to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts, see my recipe for Garlic Herb Baked Chicken Breast.
How Do You Season Roasted Chicken Legs?
As far as seasonings go, you can use just about anything! I used my favorite blend du jour, lemon pepper seasoning, but you could also use any of these seasoning blends:
- Poultry Seasoning
- Chili powder
- Steak seasoning
- Curry powder
- Taco seasoning
- Cajun seasoning
- Chipotle pepper
- Herbs de Provence
- Za’atar
There are so many options. I smeared my chicken skin with a little butter first, which also makes a huge difference. That little bit of creamy butter mixed with the chicken juices made the most incredible sauce ever. Sure, you can use olive oil or coconut oil instead, but butter… yeah, butter is just special.
What Do You Serve With Roast Chicken?
These Oven Roasted Chicken Legs go great with: Vinaigrette Slaw with Feta, Spinach and Feta Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli Cheddar Casserole, or Lemony Cucumber and Couscous Salad, Roasted Carrot and Feta Salad.
Oven Roasted Chicken Legs
Servings 2 to 4 servingsIngredients
- 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken legs ($4.20)
- 1 Tbsp butter (room temperature) ($0.11)
- 1/2 Tbsp lemon pepper seasoning* ($0.15)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Lightly coat the inside of a casserole dish with non-stick spray.
- Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel, then smear butter over the surface of the skin. Sprinkle the lemon pepper seasoning liberally over both sides of the chicken pieces. Place the seasoned chicken in the casserole dish.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for one hour at 300ºF. Baste the chicken once half way through. After one hour, remove the foil, baste again, and turn the heat up to 425ºF. Continue to bake the chicken at the higher temperature for 20-30 minutes, or until the skin has achieved the desired level of brownness. Serve with the juices spooned over top or with bread for dipping.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Oven Roasted Chicken Legs – Step by Step Photos
Since I’m trying to buy higher-quality meat while staying in budget, I have to be really careful about what cuts I buy. These chicken legs were $2.99/lb., which is good for this particular store. I bought four whole legs (thigh and drumstick connected), and froze two for later.
The two that I froze I simply wrapped back up very tightly in the plastic and wax paper that they came in, then sealed it off in a quart sized freezer bag (labeled and dated, of course).
Anyway, back to the two that I cooked for the Oven Roasted Chicken Legs… Preheat the oven to 300ºF and pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Smear about 1 Tbsp of room temperature butter over both pieces (1 Tbsp total, not per piece). Then season each side liberally with lemon pepper seasoning, or your favorite seasoning blend. Place the seasoned chicken in a casserole dish coated with non-stick spray.
I love this stuff because it’s kind of a one-stop-shop. It has salt, pepper, and lemon, which is my FAVORITE. Anyway, regardless of what seasoning you use, make sure to be aware about whether or not it has salt. If the seasoning is salt-free, you’ll want to add a pinch or two to the meat.
Cover the dish tightly with foil, then bake in the preheated 300ºF oven for one hour. Baste the chicken half way through (spoon the juices over top). After an hour, the meat should be quite tender, but the skin will be soft and blonde, like the photo above. To achieve that nice brown crispy skin, remove the foil and turn the oven temperature up to 425ºF.
Bake the chicken for an additional 20-30 minutes at the higher temperature (you can leave it in the oven as it heats up to the higher temp), or until it develops the level of brownness that you like on the skin.
The liquid that ends up in the bottom of the casserole dish is PURE GOLD. It’s like, one of the best things I’ve ever tasted, so don’t let that go to waste. I like to spoon it over whatever I’m serving the chicken with (if serving with rice or pasta), or serve some bread to sop it up. You can also pour it into a skillet, add a little white wine, and simmer it until it’s reduced to make a delicious pan sauce. Something about that butter, lemon, and pepper is just per-fect.
Excellent recipe. The chicken was moist and yummy. I am on the Keto diet and this is a perfect Keto recipe. Thank you for sharing. Cooking chicken at 350 degrees dried it out. This is the solution to moist chicken.
Will this recipe work out with out the aluminium?
If you have a covered baking dish, that will work instead of covering it with aluminum. :)
My family really enjoyed this chicken. I’ve made several of your recipes and the food was all well received and delicious. Thank you for sharing.
My husband does NOT like roast chicken and sounded disappointed when I told him what we were having for dinner. He took a glance at the chicken while it was resting and decided to give it a try (thanks to the golden skin). He loved it and said it was much better than my mother’s roast chicken (a huge compliment!). He even had seconds. This recipe was a hit! Thank you!
Awesome!! I’m glad he changed his mind! :)
That’s the most weak ass instruction in my life . Lame
Grow up
Pillock.
Oh wow. Now I know what they mean by cyber trolls.
Great recipe! I tried it tonight. I didn’t have lemon & pepper, so just used the seasoned salt, a little kosher Salt, and black pepper. The chicken turned out great and the juice was even better!! Thank you for sharing!
I am making this tonight, I just added some crushed garlic to it. Thanks for the recipe
Made this today, and wow….so easy and good. Thanks for sharing the recipe. :)
This is now a favourite in our home. Only 2 of us, so takes the place of whole roast chicken for Sunday lunch. Simple recipe with delicious results every time. Cant get lemon pepper, but I sprinkle ours with Italian seasoning, and that works really well.
Excellent! Best ever if you follow the instructions you will not be disappointed.
Oh. My. Stars.
This was the best chicken I’ve ever made. I’ve always thought roasting chicken was a complicated, intimidating thing. But three ingredients?! And one of those ingredients is chicken?!
A thousand times thank you. You took the fear out of roasting chicken, and we are already excited to make this again.
So glad you liked it, Ashley!!
No juice at all after 30 minutes. Foil is tightly crimped around pan edges. Checked again at 45 minutes..nothing. I added a cup of chicken stock for moisture .At a loss ??
Very good!
Why do Restaurants only give carb, and fat on their menu? I can’t even go to lunch with friends, because I’m afraid to eat anything. My SODIUM intake for a day in day is 2,000 or less. That’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Not one menu, at one Restaurant gives you a sodium count. If you buy your food at a grocery, they are obligated to display everything on a label. Why can’t Restaurants do this? I ate what I thought would be safe today. A leg thigh herb roasted chicken. I removed the skin. It was still 826 mg of sodium. Add that to my toast, and banana for breakfast, and the potatoes with the chicken, and I’m in trouble! I try to be so careful! I have Congestive Heart Failure, now I’m over by 175 mg. It doesn’t sound like much, but it could kill me! I don’t know how I can get the importance of adding a sodium count to menues/Restaurants!
What does this comment have to do with the recipe? Restaurants cannot give you an accurate sodium count on their menus because it’s almost impossible to measure that when food is being prepared to order. You may want to try asking the wait staff what items they have that may accommodate your food restrictions.
On another note. This recipe worked perfectly. I dry brined my chicken ahead of time, but only because I wanted to give it a try and this seemed like the best time to give it a go. Tossed some veggies in with the chicken to roast at the 45 min mark to make a fabulous meal. This recipe is my go to roasted chicken even without the dry brining and it works every time. Love it. Thanks!
Hello Beth.
Thanks for the chicken leg recipe which is just what I have been looking for. I am in Australia and was wondering if you could publish temperatures in centigrade as well as Fahrenheit which would be helpful. Obliged. Dave.