Honey-Soy Chicken Drumsticks, Thighs or Wings
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In the spirit of old-fashioned, unsubtle, crowd-pleasing recipes, I offer another oldie but goodie from The New New York Times Cookbook (Craig Claiborne, 1979), a recipe my mother pulled out for nearly every cocktail party she hosted and attended for at least two decades. The original recipe calls for wings, which people go gaga over, but the sauce and cooking method work just as well with drumsticks and thighs, if you’re looking for a super-easy dinner adored by children and adults alike.
While the chicken bakes for a fairly long time — an hour to an hour and 15 minutes — in the brief time it takes for your oven to preheat, your chicken can be prepped and smothered with the magic sauce, a mixture of honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic and oil, leaving you with an hour of freedom, perhaps to prepare a simple salad or side dish, perhaps to sit down with a good book and a nice cocktail.
As with the honey-baked chicken legs, it’s hard not to play caveman while eating these drummies — a fork and knife just can’t get the job done. What can I say? This is not gourmet cooking, and it’s not gourmet eating — you might just want to break out the moist towelettes for this one.
Don’t be alarmed when you open your oven and find this:
Once the bubbling subsides, your chicken will surface…
…piping hot, meat falling off the bone.
Try not (initially at least) to curse my name during the post-dinner clean-up:
After a quick soak and a teensy bit of elbow grease, just a few burnt edges will remain.
I have been making this a lot recently. When we have visitors, I double up on the drumsticks,
or use a combination of thighs and drumsticks:
Super Easy, Oven-Baked, Honey-Soy Chicken Drumsticks
- Total Time: 1 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8
Description
Adapted from The New New York Times Cookbook (Craig Claiborne, 1979)
Notes:
- If making a small batch — 5 drumsticks or 4 thighs, etc. — halve the sauce recipe but keep the cooking time the same.
- Wings are perfect for a Super Bowl party. Definitely cook the wings until the sauce is thick, which usually means 1 hr and 15 minutes. Wings are very forgiving — don’t worry about overcooking them (within in reason).
Ingredients
- 18 chicken wings or 10 drumsticks or 4 thighs and 5 drumsticks, etc.
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons oil — peanut, canola, vegetable, etc.
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup honey
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. If using wings: wash and dry, cut off wing tips and place on a rimmed baking sheet. If using the larger quantity of drumsticks and/or thighs: wash and dry and place in a 9X13-inch pan; if using the smaller quantity, wash and dry and place in a 8×8-inch (or something similar) pan. Season lightly with salt (as soy is salty) and pepper to taste.
- Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Toss chicken (with your hands, if you don’t mind, or with tongs, if you do) and then arrange skin-side down in the baking pan. Place in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove pan, turn chicken over, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.
- Remove pan and turn chicken over once more. I find that the chicken is usually done at this point, but my mother likes to cook hers for another 15 minutes, which is what the original recipe calls for, too, although the original recipe also calls for a 375ºF oven temp. It’s your call — you can’t mess it up. I suggest turning the oven down to 375ºF if you do bake it for an additional 15 minutes.
- If your sauce is not the thickness you like, but the chicken has completed its cooking, you can transfer the sauce to a small sauce pan and simmer it down stovetop till it thickens.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Asian
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278 Comments on “Honey-Soy Chicken Drumsticks, Thighs or Wings”
Looks delish! On what level should we put the rack? I can’t wait to make!
I made this tonight but my sauce didn’t thicken either. I was thinking that maybe it was because I didn’t dry the chicken after washing it and it seems like a few other people mentioned the same thing. I’ll try again in a few days and see what happens. Also I put the oven on convection bake at 400. I think you’re supposed to put it at a lower temperature if you use convection, but I’m not sure… I’m mostly new to cooking.
Hmmm, this is so curious. Did you cook them for an hour? You can try 15 minutes longer next time, or you can do what others have done, which is to remove the pan from oven, pour sauce into small saucepan and simmer it further until it thickens. You are right about lowering the temperature with convection cooking. I forget by how much — I think 25ºF to 50ºF? Good luck with this next time around!
i too had the sauce not thicken, I did 10 drums in a 9×13. I cooked them for 2 hours and they just barley started to get brown and render, I didn’t have time to let the, go long dinner was already late and toddlers won’t tolerate that stuff.
Oh no, Brianna, so sorry to hear this! I know how frustrating the dinner hour is with children. Not sure what explains why they took so long. Does your oven typically run slow?
I just want to say that I made this twice… the first time was with only 6 drumsticks in an 8×8 pan. The sauce was nice and sticky and thick. The second time I did 8 drumsticks and 6 thighs, and put in an 9×18″ pan and the sauce was watery… so I think it thickens because it’s compact. I also want to say that I didn’t cut the recipe in 1/2 with the first batch… I did it as listed and poured the whole thing on top, so maybe I needed to double this time since the pan was bigger… not sure. However the first time I did it, they were AMAZING. Even the second time where it was more watery, the flavour was there, but the sauce just wasn’t thick. I ended up adding in some cornstarch in hopes that it would thicken and it did help a little.
This recipe is a hit in my house of picky eaters… My granddaughter and my hubby love these, I leave mine in for the extra 15 minutes, but can say that I have forgotten them for up to 45 minutes, and they still turned out great. Just need to find something else to do with the leftover glaze..lol
Can these be prepared in a slow cooker?
Going to try this tonight but wanted to know, can you substitute honey with brown sugar in this recipe?
I have never tried, but I am sure you can. Good luck with it!
These are so good, But I lined my glass pan with 2 layers of heavy duty foil, cause I don’t like clean up. Thank You for this one.
Wonderful to hear this, Angie.
This had been on my list to make for some time now. I finally decided to try it tonight. I used 7 chicken legs. So I only made 3/4 the sauce and used 11×8 pan. Baked it at 375 for 1 1/2 hrs. Turning it every half hour. And it never carmelize. Can you give me any suggestions on what i may have done wrong and why it did not caramelize? I surely didn’t look like your pictures.
Hi there!
I’ll be making these for tomorrow’s dinner. I think part of the reason why the sauce doesn’t thicken for people is the whole washing/drying of the chicken. The washing adds too much moisture back into the chicken. (as well, the cdc states that we should never wash raw chicken as it can spread contamination.) I cook and bake a lot and in my experience, if you simply take the chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel sauces have a better chance of sticking. Glass dishes work best for baking this method as well. Hope this helps! Thanks for the great recipe!
made it and no problem at all with thickening. I didn’t even need the extra 15 minutes~ The difference was drying the chicken really well adn I measured all the ingredients in a measurung cup and mixed together. I also made half the sauce as we were only having 6 drumsticks. Was perfect and looked just like the picture! 🙂
Lise, thank you so much for your insight here! I have always wondered why the sauce hasn’t reduced for some people, and I think you’ve nailed it. I never wash chicken … lazy me … but that’s probably why I’ve never had an issue with the reducing. So happy this worked out well for you!
Such great info, thank you again, Lise!
Wonderful to hear this!
Have had great luck with the curry based recipe. Want to use this one for our monthly Pot Luck. I usually do about two dozen legs. Would you double or 2.5 the recipe?
On the curry,mustard one, I have found one recipe is perfect for 12 huge legs.
Hi Enid, so sorry for the delay here … I’m in CA. Gosh, it’s so hard to say. I’m sort of thinking 2.5 x the recipe to be safe. Did you make them yet?
Made them tonight-2 dozen. Double the recipe and used Pyrex 9x13s. The sauce never “set up” and remained a sauce. But the flavor was great, and got a lot of compliments. The thought occurs that the problem could be with the Honey. What brand of Honey do you usually use?
Next month thinking of doing the Potato crusted Quiche. Any pointers? Planning on using a preheated, cast iron pan-(should make the ‘taters more crispy). (What size would you suggest?).
Happy to hear this turned out well despite the sauce not thickening up … it really is perplexing. Honey could be the issue. I have used different honeys over the years, from the ones that come in the bear squeeze bottle to local, raw wildflower honey. Awhile ago someone wondered if it might be because of residual water left on the chicken from washing?
As for the potato-crusted quiche, I’m worried about you burning your hands! If you go the preheated route, just be careful!!
Made this tonight and even the pickiest eaters absolutely loved it! They begged to have the leftovers in their school lunch the following day.
Great recipe. I had to bake mine at 400 for an hour and 375 for a whole other hour before it glazed over. My chicken was a tiny bit dry in some areas due to being the oven so long but I kept checking every 15 minutes and it didn’t glaze until the last 15 of the 2nd hour. This always happens to me. I have a brand new oven so I’m not sure what the deal is!
This was fabulous. Thanks for the recipe. My toddler gobbled it up. I further reduced sauce in saucepan like suggested, and used half honey, half rice syrup instead of all honey. Just splendid!!
Oh wonderful! So happy to hear this!
Amazing, kids loved it!! Will be making again.
So happy to hear this, Ro!
I think maybe the reason some people have trouble with the sause is because some chicken brands inject water into the chicken to make it look plumper and weigh more. Experiment with your brands of chicken.
Thawing a baker’s dozen of drumsticks tonight, can’t wait to bring this to our Friendsgiving tomorrow night! Thanks for sharing!
Yay!! Happy Friendsgiving!
you have this recipe for slow cooker?
I don’t, but I think you probably could just throw everything in the slow cooker and cook it on high for 4 hours or low for 6 to 8 hours.
The chicken came out great. The only change I made to the recipe was replace the ketchup with sriracha. I also cooked it for the additional 15 minutes. I will definitely make it again. Thanks.
That sounds awesome!! I love the idea of a sriracha-ketchup swap.
Anyone try this witj chicken breasts? Would the temperature and time need adjusted for chicken breasts? Trying tonight with the chicken bewbees
haha, you’re hilarious. Sorry just getting to this. Did you try it? My only worry is that they would dry out with the long cooking.
I didn’t. I actually ended up trying it with pork chops and I do NOT recommend that experiment for anyone else.
I have another question – could this be done in the crockpot with drumsticks?? Anyone try that?
Has anyone ever tried marinating the drumsticks in the sauce the night before? I was thinking of trying that.
You can do this Franchesca!
Umm, the thickening problem might be because you may have left out the cornstarch. Is that the white powdery thing in the blue cup in the picture of ingredients? It isnt listed in the ingredients. 😉
I am making this currently, and my sauce doesn’t seem to be thickening too much either, but I think it has to do with what kind of soy sauce is used. I have both kinds in my house, the traditional Japanese, and the “soya” sauce that more generic brands make. I took a look at the ingredients on them, and the generic brand has corn syrup and caramel in it, whereas the authentic kind does not. The extra corn syrup and sugar in the soy sauce might be the deal breaker in the sauce becoming a thick glaze. I used the authentic kind, now I’m wishing I tried the other kind! I’ll have to do it again with the other kind and see if it makes a difference…
Very interesting, Caitlin. I can’t say for sure why the sauce doesn’t thicken for some people. Someone wondered if it was due to people washing their chicken and not drying them sufficiently. Do you wash/dry your chicken?
I made this recipe and it was amazing! Love it!!! However I need to point something out, I only had one glass container, and a lot of pieces of chicken. So I used a disposable aluminum baking pan to bake the chicken that wouldn’t fit in the glass pan. Well the chicken in the glass pan glazed beautifully, but not the one in the aluminum baking pan. So the kind of bakeware you use, does make a difference.
Just made this recipe. Followed it exactly, including the extra 15 minutes at 375. The sauce thickened beautifully. I wish I could show you the incredible dark red lacquer color. I have a gas oven which may be the reason for the beautiful sauce and color. Can’t wait to taste!!!
So happy to hear this, Jeff!
Hello Alexandra!! It’s me again. I have made this soooo many times . The bottle of Lyle’s Golden Syrup has this recipe on I usu
Ing the Golden Syrup in place of the honey. I will say draining any juice from cooking and then adding the sauce works well. Doing this today with a pork loin the couple I nanny for put on this morning. DRAIN the liquid !! Many add to the pot thinking it will still set up and caramelize. It won’t. This is lovely and works well for chicken and pork. Like Chinese food once it finally sets up. Drop a dryer sheet to soak in the pan when washing it up. Cuts through everything like it were magic, no elbow grease needed. Have a blessed day doll.
I have made this recipe a handful of times now and WE LOVE IT.
I’m wondering if anyone has tried freezing this? Either before or after cooking? How did it turn out?
We devour it before it can ever make it to a freezer but I’m preparing some freezer meals for soon to be new parents and thought I might make a batch of this for them.
I think I would suggest freezing it afterwards if you’re planning on giving it as a gift to cut back on the cooking time for the recipient — now that i’m thinking, I might suggest cooking it for 3/4 of the suggested time, then freezing it, then giving instructions for thawing/completing the cooking process.
This was awonderful
yay!
I made this dish tonight with four chicken thighs (did not wash them, just patted them dry) in an 8×8 glass dish using a half recipe for the sauce and it turned out perfectly! My convection oven adjusts the temps automatically, but I did cut short the second 30 minute cooking by about 10 minutes by turning the heat down to 325 and then turned the oven off leaving the chicken in for a final 10 minutes. The taste is outstanding! And the sauce was amazing. Served it with steamed rice, corn on the cob, macaroni salad & coleslaw – it reminded us of the fantastic food we ate locally while living in Hawaii. We will definitely be making this again! Next time – drum sticks!
So happy to hear this, Connie!
These are delish!!! Do you think you can make these in an instant pot?
Your guess is as good as mine! I haven’t experimented too extensively with chicken in the Instant Pot. Don’t want to steer you wrong.