These baked Sticky Hoisin-Soy Chicken Drumsticks are so incredibly delicious, easy to make and take so little preparation, that you'll want to make this dish part of your regular weeknight dinner rotation.
I love this chicken dish because it's super easy, fast, tasty and versatile. But mostly because it's kid-friendly!
This simple recipe for baked hoisin chicken is adapted from Smitten Kitchen. Her recipe is for chicken wings. Though wings are delicious, I'm always searching for recipes to feed my kids, so I opted for chicken drumsticks.
Though I'm sure you can easily use this marinade on other chicken parts, I prefer dark meat and think drumsticks and thighs are especially delicious glazed this way.
Chicken Drumsticks Marinade
The marinade is really the star of this dish, it only has a few ingredients, but is super flavorful.
The hoisin-soy-honey combination gives this baked chicken a beautiful glossy color and a sweet and salty tasting glaze which makes the drumsticks sticky and a bit messy, but finger-licking good!
How to Make Honey Soy Chicken Drumsticks
You probably have all the ingredients for this hoisin-soy-honey marinade at home, except maybe for the hoisin sauce and Chinese five-spice powder. Both of these ingredients should be easy to find in the Asian section of your supermarket.
Ingredients Overview:
- Garlic cloves
- Soy sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Honey or maple syrup.
- Salt and black pepper.
- Chinese five-spice powder. This ingredient is optional but does add flavour.
- Cayenne or hot sauce is optional.
Steps Overview:
Score the chicken drumsticks a couple of times with sharp knife and place in a large bowl or freezer bag.
In a medium bowl, add all of the marinade ingredients, whisk to combine and add the drumsticks. Mix well to make sure that all drumsticks are well coated with the marinade.
If prepping ahead of time, you could also add the drumsticks and marinade to a freezer bag, seal it and make sure to get the marinade on all of the chicken pieces and place it in the refrigerator.
If making straight away, marinate the chicken at room temperature for 20 minutes, turning the chicken at least once.
Preheat your oven and line a baking tray with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
Place drumsticks on the lined baking tray, pour leftover sauce on the chicken and bake for 15 minutes, turn the pieces over and then bake for another 15 minutes or until cooked through.
How to Serve
You can serve the baked hoisin chicken with some steamed rice or some noodles and your favourite veggie and call it a meal! My family loves this recipe so much that it's a regular at home.
How to Store
Leftover cooked chicken can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 days.
Enjoy!
Love Asian food? Check out these other Asian inspired recipes!
- Baked Thai Chicken Wings with Peanut Sauce
- Chicken and Vegetable Lettuce Bundles
- Asian Salad with Peanut Butter Dressing
- Thai Baked Salmon with Cilantro-Chili Sauce
Sticky Hoisin-Soy Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Approximately 1.36 kilo or 10 chicken drumsticks
- 2 cloves garlic chopped finely
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp. honey or maple syrup
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- ¼ tsp. Chinese five-spice powder optional
- ⅛ tsp. cayenne or hot sauce, optional
- toasted sesame seeds optional
- sliced green onions for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Score drumsticks a couple of times with sharp knife.
- In a medium bowl add all marinade ingredients, whisk to combine and add drumsticks. Mix well to make sure that all drumsticks are well coated with marinade.
- Marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes, turning chicken once.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Place drumsticks on lined baking tray, pour left over sauce on chicken and bake for 15 minutes, turn pieces over and then bake for another 15 minutes or until cooked through. If you are not sure your chicken is cooked you could use a meat or instant-read thermometer to check for doness. Insert thermometer at thickest part of the drumsticks without touching the bone, a temperature of 165°F means the chicken is fully cooked.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and green onion if you like. Serve with rice and veggie of your choice.
Notes
- Honey-soy marinade can be prepared ahead of time, simply mix all the ingredients in a jar, give it a good shake and refrigerate until ready to use. Stir sauce before using.
- Make sure to keep the chicken drumsticks refrigerated when marinating for longer than 20 minutes.
- For variety, the marinade can be used on chicken wings and chicken breast.
- Leftover chicken can be refrigerated for up to 3 to 4 days.
Trish
Sunday 25th of June 2023
Must have done something wrong because mine were not sticky at all.
Fida | Sweet and Savoury Pursuits
Saturday 22nd of July 2023
It's hard to tell what you could have done wrong, but I hope you still found them delicious despite not being sticky.
Florentina
Thursday 6th of April 2017
Wow, such a tasty recipe! It looks great, can't wait to prepare it! Wish you a beautiful evening. Greetings, Flo from https://femeieastazi.blogspot.it
bbqbastard
Wednesday 26th of October 2016
Drumsticks are always delicious! But these sound better than the average! If there's sticky in it you know it's gonna be good haha
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits
Monday 31st of October 2016
Thanks! I never thought about it that way but sticky does seem to equal tasty!
Marina
Thursday 7th of July 2016
Wow looks delicious! Perfect with the rice and broccoli.
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits
Friday 8th of July 2016
Thanks, it's makes a delicious meal!
mjsalla
Monday 13th of June 2016
Muy buena idea, mejor con los muslos de pollo. Me ha gustado mucho. Besos desde Barcelona.
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits
Tuesday 14th of June 2016
Thank you, I'm so happy you enjoyed it!