I’m back again with another baked-then-grilled chicken drumstick recipe. This time, we are making buffalo chicken drumsticks. My barbecue chicken drumsticks have been my go-to recipe for barbecues since I published it last year, but this buffalo chicken drumsticks recipe may knock it out of frequent rotation this summer.
If you are a fan of buffalo chicken wings, you’re going to love these baked-then-grilled buffalo chicken drumsticks. If you don’t have a grill, don’t worry. I have alternate cooking instructions below for full oven cooking.
Baking then grilling chicken drumsticks
Like my BBQ Chicken Drumsticks, these drumsticks are cooked in the oven and finished on the grill. This is my preferred method of cooking drumsticks for a few reasons.
- This method is hands off and most of the cooking in done in the oven instead of watching by the grill
- Grill space is limited, so this allows you to cook one barbecue dish separately while you are slinging hotdogs and hamburgers
- You can actually make these ahead of time and warm up/finish on the grill
- Cooking drumsticks on the grill require precision with time and temperature and chicken can be burnt on the outside and raw on the inside if you don’t know what you’re doing
Basically, this method is fool-proof, time saving, and space saving. It is my go-to method when I am hosting barbecues.
Crispy Chicken Drumsticks in the Oven
My tip for crispy chicken drumsticks is baking on a wire rack in a baking sheet. Similar to cooking in an air fryer, the wire rack elevates the chicken and allows the hot air to circulate. This gets chicken crispy. Unlike the air fryer, you can cook more than four chicken drumsticks at once.
Ranch Seasoned Chicken Drumsticks
These buffalo chicken drumsticks are using store-bought ranch seasoning. I prefer using Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning for these drumsticks. If you are not a ranch fan, my go-to seasoning blend is my Best Chicken Seasoning Blend which is a good “all purpose” chicken seasoning and the number one recipe on this website.
What to serve with buffalo chicken drumsticks
Are you team blue cheese or ranch? While these drumsticks are great on their own, I see buffalo chicken of any kind as a vehicle for ranch dressing or blue cheese. Luckily, I have a solid Healthy Ranch Dressing and Greek Yogurt Blue Cheese Dressing that are easy to whip up and pair perfectly with these.
As far as sides, I served these with a simple bagged salad and grilled corn for a quick and easy dinner. You could, however, serve it with my healthy macaroni salad or light potato salad.
Yield: 10 drumsticks
Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks
These grilled buffalo chicken drumsticks are an easy and delicious grilling recipe for summer. If you and your family are fans of hot wings, you’ll love these crispy and juicy buffalo chicken drumsticks. Recipe has both grilling and baking instructions.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Ingredients
- 10 chicken drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of ranch seasoning (or your favorite chicken seasoning blend)
- 1 cup of hot sauce, (I love FRANKS Wings sauce)
Instructions
- Coat chicken in seasoning and oil and let vibe out on your counter, covered, for about 20-30 minutes.
- BAKE on a wire rack in a sheet pan at 350 for 40 minutes (give or take 5 depending on size). The wire rack helps circulate the air and get it crispy.
- With five minutes left to go, thinly coat in your hot sauce.
- After the five minutes of baking with sauce on it, remove from oven and coat with sauce again.
- If grilling, grill chicken for 2 minutes on each side on medium heat to get them nice and CRISPY. If finishing in the oven, broil for 1-2 minutes on each side.
- Once you’re ready to serve, give it a final coating of hot sauce before you serve them.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
5
Serving Size:
2 drumsticks
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 266Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 118mgSodium: 175mgCarbohydrates: 1gNet Carbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 28g
Healthy Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks
This is a healthy-ish recipe. This recipe is only 266 calories with 28 grams of protein for two chicken drumsticks. To track this in the Weight Watchers app, click here.
