The Best Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Legs will transport you right back to your childhood! Who remembers their Mom making Shake and Bake and fighting over the chicken drumsticks? Please tell me that it wasn’t only me and my brother and sister… there has to be some of you that would go for the drumsticks first before your siblings could get it? Yes my friends the secret to the crispiest oven baked chicken legs is homemade shake and bake!
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Legs
Like I said in my How to Make Homemade Shake and Bake Mix post, I love using prepackaged goods. I love pistachio pudding mix, I ADORE canned mushroom soup and I have a lot of fun baking with cake mixes. But hydrogenated oil and I do not get along. It’s to the point where I eat something with it accidentally I know. My stomach will tell me in about an hour, then I look at the package of what I ate and realize that it has hydrogenated oil in it. EVERY TIME without fail. TMI, right? It’s just not good for you and in a world of things that “aren’t good for you” I’m going to pick my battles and enjoy sugary desserts and too much wine on occasion instead of things with hydrogenated oil.
How do I make chicken crispy in the oven?
- It used to be a store-bought shake and bake my friends but now you can make it at home! Let’s face it, nothing ever compared to Shake and Bake when it came down to crispy oven-baked chicken legs. Nothing ever beat it and that’s why it’s a staple. All of those other recipes have oil and seasonings… I mean, how can it be crispy without breading? You need the crushed-up Panko in this recipe to get the crispiest chicken legs ever!
- You have to bake chicken legs HOT HOT HOT to get them crispy! Even if you weren’t using this recipe, you have to crisp that chicken skin right up on those chicken drumsticks and that means HOT.
- You need a thick breading or coating to get the crispiest chicken legs. Let’s just take a look at the photo below, shall we? Hot DAMN those are some fine-looking chicken legs! ( that sounded more pervy than I wanted…..)
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Legs Tips & Tricks
- Buy chicken legs that have good skin on them. Make sure that the chicken skin looks clean, not ripped, not discolored, and basically appears like it would hold the homemade shake and bake perfectly.
- Cook it hot just like I say in the recipe!
- Really coat on that shake-and-bake coating. The smashed Panko crumbs in the recipe are really going to be what makes it so crispy!
- Make sure that when you bake them on a rimmed baking sheet you space the chicken legs apart enough that they have room for the hot air to circulate between them. Don’t crowd them on the baking sheet!
- Cook chicken legs to 185°F. I say this in all of my dark chicken meat recipes, so many people think that it’s best at 165 °F. No, that is when it’s SAFE to eat. I’ve learned from many chefs that you need to cook dark meat further to get the best chicken meat texture and flavor! Once you start cooking it just that little further you are going to be mad that you weren’t doing this the entire time!
If you are looking for some more great chicken recipes try my:
- Rosemary lemon oven baked chicken thighs
- Sweet honey curry chicken
- Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
- Spatchcocked Baked Honey Mustard Chicken
- Man Catchin’ Oven Baked Fried Chicken
Happy cooking everyone!
Love,
Karlynn
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Legs
Ingredients
- 12 chicken legs
Homemade Shake and Bake Coating
- 1 227 g box of Panko bread crumbs finely crushed
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 3-4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp celery salt
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tbsp canola oil cold pressed
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients into a large plastic bag that seals. Seal the bag and shake the ingredients until combined.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 °F. Place 1 cup of the shake and bake mixture in a large sealing plastic bag. Place the chicken legs, two at a time, in the bag and shake until coated in the mixture. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat until all legs are prepped.
- Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the chicken legs reach a temperature of 185 °F. Remove, cool slightly and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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Shea says
I rarely leave reviews on recipes but this chicken is outstanding! I did brine it for about 3 hours and I didn’t have quite enough panko so I added a little garlic and herb bread crumbs to make up the difference. I followed everything else exactly as written. This chicken is full of flavor! Thank you for sharing!
Victoria Murray says
I made this tonight and it was wonderful! My family loves Shake ‘n Bake but I dont much like it since my taste buds have matured. It tastes very processed to me. I only made a couple of modifications due to necessity. I added extra salt since I don’t own celery salt because I detest it and was out of onion powder. I warmed some olive oil on the stove with crushed dried minced onion and crushed celery seed until the flavors was infused in it. I rolled the chicken legs in it and rolled them in the bread crumb mixture. I baked for 40 minutes and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving with rice and sauteed garlic green beans. This will definitely be on rotation!
Robin says
Could you tell me more about the oil. Is that in the list of ingredients for the baking sheet? It doesn’t seem like it should go in the bread crumb mixture as it would incorporate very well there. And if it will does go into the crumb mixture, then what helps the this mixture adhere to the chicken?
Lucy says
This is the BEST crispy chicken recipe!
The first time I made them, my son thought I bought them from a restaurant. He kept saying how good they taste and juicy! It’s his favourite. I have made it many times and each time they come out juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside! My family loves it!
Lucy says
That was supposed to be 5 stars.
AMY says
Seems adding the oil to the mixture would result in 1 big clump, I never made shake and bake that way. I will oil the legs and then shake so I have enough mixture for all the legs and not just the fisrt few.
Kim says
I did not like this recipe. It was bland, and 35 min at 400 in the oven resulted in raw chicken. My drumsticks needed 60 min total.
Kim says
Also, 3-4 tsp salt plus 1 TBSP celery salt would ruin the recipe. Was that a typo? I added only 4 tsp total salt and it was still on the verge of being too salty. The 1 TBSP celery salt would have ruined it completely.
LH says
Awesome recipe!! As soon as my 20 year old son took his first bite, he said “wow this is dam good, holy mom did you make this? Lol. He said it was the best chicken he’s ever had, better than from the restaurant. Definitely cooking it to the higher temperature made a huge difference in creating juicy chicken. Absolutely delicious and will be making them again and again!! Thank you!
Debby says
This was a little bland for us. Next time, I need to add more seasoning.
Maria says
Wow this was delicious! My husband even commented on how really good the chicken was.
I cut the recipe in half. Six chicken legs and added two chicken thighs I had frozen. I used two teaspoons salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons of celery salt. That was a little too salty for me. Next time I will use one teaspoon salt. I could taste the celery salt flavor and that was really good so I will keep that amount. Even adding the extra thighs I had plenty of coating. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Olivia says
This was very delicious and the instructions were easy to follow! Thank you! 🙂
Debi says
Shouldn’t the oil be added to the cup mixture just before coating the chicken?Added to the entire mixture would spoil the unused portion.
Perhaps that is what you intended???
Please clarify!
Thx ?
Barbara says
Hi Debi, I know this is a long time since you posted your question but, I just thought I’d let you know that I made up this mix at least 2 months ago, maybe a bit longer, and the remainder is still in a jar in the fridge and is 100% perfectly fine! In fact, I’ve just coated some chicken in it for dinner tonight to use it up. The way the recipe is worded is correct. 😊
Tom says
Hi Barbara,
just tried this recipe a few weeks ago and like you I kept the remainder in the fridge.
Have used it a few times and always tastes great! Just made a new batch for tonight!
😊🍗
Ginger says
Very tasty combination of spices. Was very easy to make. I like that I didn’t have to coat the chicken with anything beforehand. Thanks, I’ll be making this one again!
Lyndsey says
This recipe is fantastic! I won’t go back to buying the boxed stuff ever again. Thanks for the recipe!
Mary Gonzalez says
I just made this recipe today for my 9 years old daughter. She said “Just delicious mommy “. Thank you!
Raylene Cosgrove says
Delicious! Took my family by surprise
as they were expecting boring old baked chicken legs. Everyone loved them and went back for more. Will definitely be making these regularly now. Also love the fact I already have the coating ready for the next batch.
Karlynn says
So glad you and your family loved them!
Myclayday1 says
Wow! Lots of flavor and it definitely makes a difference cooking a little longer. Our favorite baked chicken leg recipe. Thanks for sharing it.
Petrea says
Con you use melted butter in place of the canola oil? ( and what is canola oil pressed?)
What about using Panko rice crumbs?
Curtis says
I’m confused? You add the 2 Tbsp of Canola Oil to the bread crump mixture?
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Absolutely, that’s the secret to how it gets crispy!
Holly Timinskas says
Could these be coated and refrigerated the day before baking? I’m making a large amount for a party and would like to have them ready to go in the oven the day of…
Karlynn Johnston says
They will get soggy, unfortunately and won’t crisp up. Maybe make the coating ready to go in bags to help cut time a little?
Tamara says
This may be a silly question but I’m baking them uncovered, correct?
Karlynn Johnston says
Yes!, bake them uncovered and there’s no such thing as a silly question!
Archie says
i raise mine on a wire plaform so heat can get all round like a wire thing we use
April says
These were awesome! Thanks for the great recipe, can’t wait to try it on other pieces of chicken!
Karlynn Johnston says
Yes, the coating will work great on other pieces of chicken as well!!
Tracy says
I will definitely be making these chicken legs – we are big drumstick fans and these look so good! And LOVE the plate. We use this pattern every day (they are my hubby’s from his childhood). You can see mine on my instagram @trixies_kitchen.
Karlynn Johnston says
Hope you love them! And yes, I love my vintage Corelle!