Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

10 Comments

5 from 4 votes
8 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
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Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs are sticky sweet garlicky drumsticks perfect for a weeknight meal. Easy juicy, flavorful baked chicken!

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken is hands down the most well loved Dinner Recipes we’ve ever made and for good reason! The easy garlic brown sugar glaze goes great on pretty much everything.

Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs sauce and chicken in baking dish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds

BROWN SUGAR GARLIC BAKED CHICKEN LEGS

These chicken drumsticks are one of the most delicious and easy baked Chicken Recipes. With less than 5 minutes prep work and no marinading, the chicken is ready for the oven. In less than an hour total time, you get fall-off-the-bone juicy meat packed with garlic and caramel flavor. 

Cooking bone in, skin on chicken is a quick and fail-proof way to get tender, naturally flavorful meat. A lot of the flavor and moisture comes from the skin, so you don’t need much oil or butter, just enough to bind the glaze. And speaking of the brown sugar garlic glaze, this sticky, sweet and garlicky sauce is one of the best flavor combinations ever!

The sauce recipe uses garlic powder, ketchup, brown sugar, and soy sauce to make a beyond easy, almost Asian bbq flavor. If you have a few extra minutes and fresh garlic, you should absolutely swap in minced garlic cloves for a super garlicky crust. Make extra sauce to serve on the side or store uncooked sauce for other recipes. You can store it up to a week before using it on pork, vegetables, or even Pot Roast!

Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs Collage of prep steps

For crispy skin, remove cooked Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs from the casserole dish and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Crank the oven temperature up to hi-broil and brush chicken with sauce. Return chicken to the oven and bake chicken until the skin is golden and crispy.

Keep this a simple dinner by serving Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken Legs with roasted vegetables and a starchy side. Try Roasted Broccoli or Sautéed Green Beans and drizzle extra sweet garlic sauce over Mashed Potatoes like a gravy. Don’t forget a side of store bought French Bread or homemade Dinner Rolls!

EASY DINNER SIDE DISH RECIPES:

Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs sauce and chicken in baking dish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds

VARIATIONS ON BROWN SUGAR GARLIC BAKED CHICKEN LEGS

  • Chicken: You can use bone in, skin on chicken thighs, chicken breast, or chicken wings, or try this on boneless chicken. This sauce makes a great grilling glaze too, so try it with pork chops, steaks, or eggplant this summer!
  • Bacon: Wrap each chicken drumstick in a slice of bacon before you bake them for a next-level good dinner! Bacon is also a good way to trap moisture if you are using boneless, skinless chicken.
  • Honey: Honey is a popular substitute for the brown sugar – who doesn’t love Honey Garlic Chicken? You can also swap in molasses (use half the amount), maple syrup, or white sugar too.
  • Seasonings: Season the chicken with herbs and spices like oregano, onion powder, thyme, or dried, basil. Use BBQ Sauce or Teriyaki sauce instead of the ketchup or soy sauce.
  • Spicy: For a spicy, sweet garlic glaze try a ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, or hot sauce. Increase in tiny amounts until you get the right spicy level for your taste.

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken Legs

  • Whisk all sauce ingredients together in crockpot until combined and smooth.
  • Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to sauce, turning a few times until chicken is coated.
  • Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on low for 5-6 hours, or high 2-3 hours, turning halfway through to coat chicken again.
  • For crispy skin, broil cooked chicken for 3-5 minutes until golden and crunchy. 

Instant Pot Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken Legs

  • In the bottom of the Instant Pot, whisk the vegetable oil, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, and garlic powder. 
  • Nestle the chicken legs into the sauce and turn a couple times to coat chicken.
  • Secure lid and seal pressure valve. Set Instant Pot on Manual High Pressure for 10 minutes.
  • Naturally release pressure for 5 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure.
  • Transfer chicken to a baking sheet and broil until skin is golden and crispy.

OUR MOST POPULAR CHICKEN RECIPES YOU NEED TO TRY!

HOW TO STORE BROWN SUGAR GARLIC BAKED CHICKEN LEGS

  • Serve: Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs can be at room temperature for up to 2 hours before they should be refrigerated.
  • Store: Place Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken Legs in an airtight container with any remaining glaze and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
  • Freeze: Cool Baked Chicken Legs completely and freeze in a sealed container for up to 3 months. Cooling food first keeps moisture from collecting and causing “freezer burn.”

Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs sauce and chicken on serving plate with sliced green onions and sesame seeds

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Dinner, then Dessert

Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs

Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs are sticky sweet garlicky drumsticks perfect for a weeknight meal. Easy juicy, flavorful baked chicken!
Yield 8 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs sauce and chicken in baking dish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds
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Ingredients
 

  • 8-10 chicken legs
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar , packed
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder , or 4 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking pan with vegetable oil spray.
  • Season chicken with salt and pepper.
  • In a large bowl mix together oil, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar and garlic powder.
  • Toss chicken in sauce and place chicken legs into baking dish.
  • Pour any remaining sauce over the chicken pieces.
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes until caramelized.

Nutrition

Calories: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 120mg | Sodium: 791mg | Potassium: 315mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 138IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword: Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs

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Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Chicken Legs Collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  4. I made this for my family. What a hit. I did tweak the recipe a bit. I did not have any vegetable oil. So I substituted sesame seed oil. I lined a 9×13 glass baking dish with foil, shiny side down. Arranged my chicken and baked for 1:15 mins. So delicious. Meat fell right off the bone. Juicy but didn’t get sticky. Definitely a keeper!!

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  7. Really tasty!! I added a couple squirts of hot sauce to add a bit of heat. My only wish is that the sauce was a little thicker!! We loved the flavours and will definitely make it again!

    Reply