Easy Teriyaki Baked Chicken Legs

Teriyaki chicken legs is a perfect back to school recipe. The teriyaki sauce is cooked in minutes and the baked chicken legs are easy too. Just a couple of steps to prep the chicken and then pop it into the oven and let it bake until it's crispy, tender and juicy then slather on the sweet sticky savory teriyaki sauce!  Both kids and adults will love this oven baked chicken legs.!

I love fried chicken but let's be real, frying chicken is messy and eating fried foods all the time is not too healthy. I fry chicken every now and then but I prefer baking my chicken in the oven. The baked chicken still comes out nice and crispy without all the greasy mess. Baked chicken is so much easier and faster cleanup.

I use an easy method to get the skin of my chicken to crispy up and you can read about my method below in the recipe.

Summer is coming to an end and school is either back in session or about to start.  If life is getting in your way right now you are probably looking for an easy and delicious weeknight meal so I'm sharing my go to baked chicken recipe with you. I am sure you have most of the ingredients ready to be used.  I absolutely love teriyaki sauce. It's so versatile that it can be used on meats and vegetables.

My teen started school on Monday and he came home hungry as usual. I made extra teriyaki chicken the night before so he'd have something quick to eat after school. We had it for dinner too.  I still can't believe I like chicken legs now.

My mom used to make baked chicken legs all the times. I truly disliked them. These days I love them because they're inexpensive there's so many ways to cook them.  I usually like to cook 2 packages of drumsticks which lasts about 2 days.  Things tend to get hectic on weekdays, so I'd rather not worry about dinner too much. For this recipe I only used 7 drumsticks because only because I used the other half for another recipe.

Teriyaki sauce:
1 cup water
½ apple cider vinegar
½ cup soy sauce1 tsp sesame oil cup water
3 tbs flour or cornstarch
4 minced garlic cloves
½ tsp crushed red peppers (optional)
salt for taste
pepper for taste
1 inch ginger sliced thin

Chicken legs: 
2 tbsp oil
7 chicken legs
1 tbs garlic powder
salt for taste
pepper for taste
one green onion 

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Pat the drumsticks dry with paper towel. Season them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add chicken legs to a bowl and coat with oil. (pic 1)

Line a baking sheet/jelly roll pan with foil then place a wire rack/cooling rack on top. Place the chicken on to the wire rack/cooling rack with the jelly roll pan on the bottom.  Place drumsticks oven.(pic 2)

Add all of the teriyaki sauce ingredients (except cornstarch and water) to a small sauce pan over medium high heat. Add cornstarch and water to a bowl and mix until the lumps are gone. Once the sauce mixture starts to boil add the cornstarch mixture stir well often until the sauce has thickened.(pic 3-5)

Bake each sides for 20-25 (basting every 10 minutes with the teriyaki sauce) or until cooked through.  Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve with broccoli and rice (pic 6)

Alternatively, you can add the sauce to a cast iron skillet or any large pan you have over medium heat until it comes to a boil then simmer. Add the chicken legs to the cast iron skillet and toss until nicely coated with the teriyaki sauce. 

Teriyaki Baked Chicken Legs

April

This Teriyaki chicken is a perfect plan B recipe. The easy teriyaki sauce cooks up in minutes and the chicken is simple too! Just a couple of steps to prep the chicken and then pop it into the oven and let it bake until it's tender and juicy then slather on the sweet sticky savory sauce!  

5 from 9 votes

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 50 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Asian American

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Teriyaki sauce:

• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 3 tsp minced garlic
• ½ tsp crushed red peppers optional
• salt for taste 
• pepper for taste

For the crispy chicken legs: 

• 2 tbsp oil
• 7 chicken legs
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• salt for taste
• pepper for taste 
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
• 1 tsp sesame seeds optional
• 1 green onion sliced thinly. green parts only optional
• 1 inch ginger sliced thin

Slurry

• 1 cup water
• 3 tbs cornstarch

Instructions

 

Teriyaki sauce

• Add all of the sauce ingredients (except cornstarch and water) to a small sauce pan over medium high heat. Add cornstarch and water to a small bowl and mix until the clumps are gone. Once the sauce mixture starts to boil add the cornstarch mixture. Cook until the sauce has thickened stirring often. 

Crispy chicken legs

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Season the chicken legs with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add the chicken to a bowl with the oil. Coat with oil.  
• Line a baking sheet/jelly roll pan with foil then place a wire rack/cooling rack on top. Place the chicken on to the wire rack/cooling rack with the jelly roll pan on the bottom and place into the oven. 
• Bake each sides for 20-25 (basting every 10 minutes) or until cooked through. Serve with broccoli and rice. 
• Alternatively, If you want, you can add the sauce to a cast iron skillet or any large pan you have, over medium heat until the sauce comes to a boil then simmer.
• Add the chicken legs to cast iron skillet and toss until nicely coated with the teriyaki sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.

Keyword oven baked chicken, teriyaki baked chicken legs

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You may also like these other chicken recipes:

Bulgogi Chicken (An easy chicken marinade)

Asian Cucumber and Carrot Salad 

Sweet Chili Chicken Stir Fry 

Peruvian Fried Rice 

Sweet and Sour Chicken