Forget about buffalo wings, these crispy baked buffalo chicken legs are the perfect crowd-pleasing game day food for football season.
If you know me this probably won’t come as a surprise, but Buffalo chicken wings are one of my favourite, guilty-pleasure foods. Everyone knows that they are my go-to order when we go for wings or trivia night. I mean, it’s pretty hard to resist the combination of chicken, a vinegar-based hot sauce (like Frank’s hot sauce) and butter.
So, why not try using chicken drumsticks with the same flavours? These crispy baked buffalo chicken legs are 100% irresistible and perfect for watching the big football game.
Are you busy planning your Superbowl party? I mean, it’s coming up pretty quickly and I’ve noticed that people are looking for all sorts of game day food. My healthier cheesy broccoli dip is a great vegetarian option for a party. Keeping dietary restrictions in mind when entertaining is really important, that way everyone has something they can eat.
How do you make crispy drumsticks in the oven?
To get a crispy skin, toss the chicken drumsticks in olive oil and roast at 475F for 40 minutes. I’ve used the method to roast chicken legs for a couple of years, and it never fails to perfectly crisp up the skin that mirrors the crunch you get from frying, but without all of the mess.
How do you make a homemade Buffalo sauce for chicken drumsticks?
Honestly, Buffalo sauce couldn’t be easier! For this recipe, you use a ratio of 1 part butter to two parts hot sauce. For Buffalo sauce, you want to use a vinegar-based hot sauce like Frank’s.
Just before the drumsticks are done, I’ll melt some butter on the stovetop and toss the hot chicken drumettes in the sauce just before servings. This helps to preserve that irresistible crispy skin.
This recipe makes 12 chicken legs, but for feeding a crowd it can easily be doubled or even tripled. The buffalo wing flavours fall more on the medium side than the hot and spicy side, but if you’re a fan of extra hot, just switch up the ratios of hot sauce to butter and add a little more hot sauce. That’s one of the ways restaurants make mild, medium and hot wings — it’s all in the ratios of butter to hot sauce.
How to make spicy Buffalo chicken legs?
To make this Buffalo chicken more on the spicier side, toss the drumsticks with about ¼ tsp of cayenne pepper along with the olive oil and garlic powder before roasting them.
Baked Buffalo Chicken Legs
Ingredients
- 12 chicken legs, excess fat trimmed
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- For sauce:
- 2 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup vinegar-based hot sauce, I use Frank's
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475F.
- In a large bowl, toss chicken with garlic powder, salt and olive oil.
- Place on a baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- In a small pot, melt butter with hot sauce.
- In a large bowl, toss cooked chicken with buffalo sauce and serve.
If you want to change it up and try some more exotic flavours, I have a recipe for Indian-spiced chicken legs which will also become a favourite, but for something more tradition you really can’t go wrong with my baked buffalo chicken legs.
Let me know if you give this recipe for baked buffalo chicken legs a try in the comments below.
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