Honey Soy Chicken Drumsticks! Sticky, sweet, espresso infused honey with soy sauce to pimp these chicken drumsticks from your average honey soy chicken legs! You are going to want to make these STAT! They are a-mazing!
This flavour combination is satisfying and delicious. You will want to make honey soy chicken everything! We use the same type of flavour thinking for our Honey Soy Chicken Wings and you can grab that recipe right here.
Pimped Chicken Drumsticks are on Sweet Caramel Sunday!
Sticky, sweet, espresso infused honey teams with soy sauce to pimp these chicken drumsticks from your average honey soy chicken legs
My, my, these are SO GOOD!! I tell you, I was driving when I had the idea for the recipe development and I had to hold myself back from speeding home to make them.
Remember my friends over at The Bircher Bar, well, they sent me some of their Espresso Infused Honey and I am here to tell you all about it. It packs a punch alright with real coffee beans in the raw honey!
Long I sat daydreaming of uses for this caffeinated liquid gold before a spark hit. THIS IS PIMPED HONEY. I thought.
THIS IS SERIOUSLY PIMPED HONEY. I further thought. It is not your run of the mill, wham, bam thank, you mam, honey, this is THE REAL DEAL. What better way to enjoy the sticky sweet goodness that is honey than to load with espresso beans and PIMP IT UP!
The dark roast espresso coffee holds the honeys hand to provide a richer more intense honey than ever before
If you have a dinner party coming up and you are stuck for ideas on how to create a fancy main dish, then let me tell you friends, THIS IS IT!
Pimp in the pudding
I am the last food blogger who will tell you that home made marinades are always better than store bought marinades. But I am the 1st food blogger to tell you that I ain't ever bought a marinade that was pimped before!
A little bit here, a little bit there, a little bit everywhere.
We begin with the basics of the flavour combination with honey and soy. But we use our espresso infused honey, to start the steam train puffing.
Then we add some fresh chilli, minced garlic and onion flakes. These bad boys help to ensure that we are wearing our Sunday best for when we sit at our table to devour this meal.
To ensure we have thoroughly pimped chicken drumsticks, I recommend investing in a large jar to seal and shake our marinade
What's in a name
Chicken drumsticks and chicken legs are essentially the same thing. Some experts indicate that the leg has a higher cut up the thigh and some don't.
Either way, you can buy them in bulk in the fridge section of the supermarket or deli section.
Basking in the flavours
It is as easy as adding the ingredients, putting the lid on the jar and shaking it all about to get the marinade off on the right foot.
I have a few little tricks I use for some kitchen tasks, most of them are to reduce time and effort. The one I am about to teach you now is to reduce washing up.
This marinade is sticky, it is sweet, it is thick and has the potential to have us standing over the kitchen sink for hrs trying to clean it off the pan if we don't prepare well.
Alas not though for I have the solution. Whenever I use a sticky sauce in my baking dishes, I initially line them with alfoil. I then spray that with cooking oil and line that with baking paper.
This ensures when the cooking is done, the juices can be removed and the alfoil/baking paper swiftly pulled, trashed and the pan set aside leaving a clean slate (It works a treat!).
The best thing is the remaining juices can be drizzled over our plates, the 2nd best thing is the reduced cleaning from thinking ahead
One foot after the other
We pimp our chicken drumsticks by firstly marinating them with precision to save time and effort.
Using zip lock bags will keep all of our juices in the one spot and save sticky fingers and benches.
We add a little salt and pepper to season, then pour the marinade in to cover (using a sieve to separate out the espresso beans).
Once the marinade is in the bag and the top is sealed, we massage the drumsticks to ensure a consistent coating. Then we pop them in the fridge for about 20 minutes (you can use this time to ensure the oven is on and your baking dish prepped).
Dinner then dessert
If you are reading this recipe, thinking you are set for a dinner idea with the pimped chicken drumsticks, but dessert escapes you. Then I have gathered some of my favourite dessert recipes for you to choose from:
- Passionfruit Tart (recipe is here)
- Banoffee Tart (recipe is here)
- Blueberry Lemon Curd Tart (recipe is here)
- Peach Tartlets (recipe is here)
Dinner, dessert, I am coming to your place!
About the recipe:
- The drumsticks are best served hot
- I know many people who would eat one cold
- The chicken legs take 40 mins to cook in the oven
- I recommend serving these with rice and greens
- Onion flakes are different to onion powder (spice section)
To answer your questions:
- The chicken legs can be made ahead of time and reheated
- These can be frozen either with the marinade on or after cooking
- You can reduce the number of chicken legs and store marinade in fridge
- The drumsticks are sticky but not crispy
- This is a MODERATELY EASY recipe to make
Serving suggestions
The good thing about these pimped chicken drumsticks is that they taste so good, you can serve them with quick and easy sides.
A bowl of steaming white rice and some greens are the perfect compliment to this chicken recipe
- Honey Soy Ribs with rice and greens (recipe is here)If do do want to make a side dish that involves a little more time, then I recommend the following:
- Roasted Brussel Sprout Salad (recipe is here)
- Potato Salad (recipe is here)
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes (recipe is here)
Chicken dinner recipes
If this dish inspires you to want to cook more Chicken Recipes, then here are some more:
- Chicken Cucumber Salad (recipe is here)
- Crispy Chicken BLT Salad (recipe is here)
- Chicken Cacciatore (recipe is here)
- Honey Soy Chicken Wings
- Honey Garlic Chicken Wings
- Chili Lime Chicken Wings
If you like chicken recipes, check out the following for your weekly meal plan:
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Pimped Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
Pimped Chicken Drumsticks
- 1.5 kg chicken legs free range (7 - 8)
- ¾ cup soy sauce 3.38 oz
- ¾ cup espresso infused honey 3.38 oz
- 1 teaspoon chilli minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon onion flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 4 shallots (green onions)
- ¼ cup sesame seeds 2 oz
Instructions
Pimped Chicken Drumsticks Method
- Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350-375°F / Gas Mark 4-5. Line a baking tray with foil, then cooking spray then baking paper.
- Make the marinade by spraying a little cooking spray into a large jar, then adding soy sauce, espresso infused honey, garlic, chilli and onion flakes. Seal the jar with lid, then shake to combine
- Add chicken drumsticks to zip lock bags and season with salt and pepper
- Use a sieve to pour marinade over chicken legs (discarding the sieve contents ie coffee beans). Seal bags and place in fridge for 20 minutes Note 3
- Use tongs to remove chicken drumsticks from the zip lock bag and arrange on lined baking tray. Pour ½ remaining marinade juice over drumsticks
- Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from oven, use tongs to turn and return to oven for final 10 minutes. The chicken drumsticks are cooked when the juices run clear, so test this by inserting a skewer near the bone and watch the colour as it flows out when the skewer is removed
- Dress with sliced shallots and sesame seeds. Use remaining marinade as sauce where desired.
- Serve with rice and greens
Notes
- Note 1 - 1 Australian cup = 250ml
- Note 2 - 1 Australian tablespoon = 4 teaspoons
- Note 3 - 20 minutes is a good time to marinade the chicken to get the flavours working, however, you can increase this time depending on when you need the dish to be ready (over night marinading is fine) If you have literally no time to marinade, then definitely don't skip the step of pouring the leftover juices over the drumsticks prior to serving.
Nutrition
Your kitchen tales
I love hearing your feedback and seeing photos of food that readers have taken when they cook my recipes. If you share one of my recipes, please tag me on social media so I can see.
Show me your pimp!! (Haha, but true!)
If you have any questions about the recipes or kitchen hacks, please let me know. I am usually hanging around on the blog.
If you are new to Sweet Caramel Sunday, a big welcome from me! I hope you found inspiration today or a new dish to try.
Adrianne xx
P.S. Don't forget to PIMP IT!
Sara Welch says
This marinade has so much flavor and has quickly become a favorite in our home! Saving this recipe to make again later this week, indeed!
Adrianne says
Great to hear, thanks Sara!
Kelly Anthony says
Espresso infused honey sounds amazing especially on chicken drumsticks. This recipe will be a hit at our house.
Adrianne says
I hope you enjoy it Kelly. Thanks for the feedback.