Honey Soy Baked Chicken Drumsticks

That delicious-looking caramelized colour and the dark brown glaze on the drumsticks call out to you. To make an easy dinner or party snack, add this Honey Soy Baked Chicken Drumsticks to your go-to recipe list.

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These baked chicken drumsticks have got a wonderful sweet and sour glaze on the outsides. The outside is a dark brown and slightly crisp. The meat is cooked well thoroughly so each bite has a caramelized baked crisp with juicy meat inside.

Soy sauce gives a lot to meat. Being an acidic liquid, it helps tenderize chicken drumsticks and adds a lot of flavors. As this is used along with honey to coat the chicken drumsticks,  it helps give a glaze to the outside while not letting you forget the taste of the meat inside.

Honey being thick acts as a wonderful coat to the drumsticks. It imparts sweetness and added with some brown sugar balances the sourness of the soy sauce.

I have used sambal oelek to give a little heat to counter the sour and sweet flavor and balance the taste. Sambal is a simple Indonesian chili paste made of four ingredients - chili peppers, water, vinegar, and salt. It is slightly different from sriracha sauce as it has no sugar. You can use any other chili paste instead.

Ingredients

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Chicken drumsticks - Recommend using skinless drumsticks. Since this recipe uses a wet sauce like a marinade, the sauce will make the skin soggy and you will not get the desired slightly crisp exterior of the drumstick.

Soy sauce - Use a good quality soy sauce. Soy sauce is easily available in most nearby stores, in the Asian section.

Ginger and Garlic - Have used minced ginger and garlic for flavor

Oil - Have used regular cooking oil

Sambal Oelek - Gives baked drumstick an Asian-inspired taste and flavor. Added a little to provide some heat. You may substitute with any chili paste.

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Make baked drumsticks

Baking chicken drumsticks is very easy. This recipe does not call for long marination. Chicken drumsticks remain moist after baking and also soaks up all the flavours.

The ingredients needed to coat and mix with the chicken drumsticks - Soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, chili sauce, and oil, need to be mixed together in a small bowl.

Apply the wet sauce all around the drumsticks using a brush.

Preheat the oven at 200 °C or 400 °F.  Put the pan containing the drumsticks and bake at 200 °C or 400 °F for 40 minutes. At around 25 minutes, take the pan out and flip the drumsticks to get even cooking on all sides.

Garnish with mustard and minced green onions.

This recipe does not need any salt because soy sauce and sambal are salty enough.

Serve With

Make a stir fry of broccoli and bell pepper and serve it with these drumsticks. You may also serve some starch like Mash potato, Baked Greek Potato Wedges, or Cheesy Ranch Potatoes.

Salads would compliment this very well. Refer to some of my favorite salads like Roasted Corn Pasta Salad, Asian Cucumber Salad, Kale Salad, or Easy and Zesty Quinoa Salad.