These honey orange glazed chicken drumsticks are always a hit when I make them for parties and Boxing Day dinners because the chicken is always fall-off-the-bone juicy. People love the glaze — they always go for seconds! You may quarter 2 chickens if you aren’t able to get legs from your butcher, but I find the legs are juicier and save money. Serve this dish with fragrant rice and dilled carrots or roasted asparagus.
Prep Time::20 mins
Cook Time:: 2 hrs
Additional Time:: 1 hr
Total Time:: 3 hrs 20 mins
Servings::8
Ingredients
8 large chicken legs
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup honey
1 cup orange juice with pulp
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
7 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 oranges, zested
2 cloves garlic, minced (Optional)
ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Sprinkle chicken with salt and place in a large glass or plastic bowl.
Whisk together honey, orange juice with pulp, butter, rosemary, orange zest, garlic, and pepper in a separate bowl. Pour orange mixture over chicken; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place chicken in a single layer in a roasting pan; pour orange mixture over chicken.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Baste chicken with pan juices and reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Continue basting chicken every 20 minutes and cook until chicken is a deep orange-brown color, no longer pink at the bone, and the juices run clear, about 90 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat near the bone should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
Cook’s Note
I usually mix the remaining orange glaze in the pan into the rice. It can also be strained and thickened with cornstarch, then poured over the rice.