I’ve grilled countless chicken legs over the years and learned exactly how to get them juicy, flavorful, and perfectly crisp—without burnt seasoning. This recipe uses my go-to marinade and trusted grilling method to help you get perfect results every time, whether you’re a beginner or a backyard pro.
Quick Overview
Chicken legs have always been my favorite cut—juicy, flavorful, and perfect for grilling. I’ve made grilled chicken legs more times than I can count, and this recipe is a hit every time! While I love a good dry rub for smoked chicken, I avoid it when grilling because it tends to burn and turn bitter, especially with flare-ups caused by the higher fat content in drumsticks.
That’s why marinating chicken is my go-to method. This marinade keeps the chicken moist, enhances flavor, and creates a delicious caramelized finish when brushed on during grilling. It’s made with simple pantry staples like balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, and herbs—and it takes just 5 minutes to mix up.
I use this marinade on everything: chicken legs, thighs, wings, even breasts. It’s quick to prep, big on flavor, and works whether you’re grilling, baking, or pan-searing. If you haven’t tried it on wings yet—add it to your list. They’re incredible!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
How long should I marinate the chicken?
Ideally, you want to marinate it 4-6 hours or overnight. Try not to exceed 18 hours because at that point, the meat starts to break down from the acid in the marinade.
What temperature for the grill?
For gas grill, you want to set it to about medium-high but you will need a hot zone with direct heat and warm zone for indirect heat. So leave a couple burners off.
On charcoal grills, make sure to spread your lit coals on one half of the grill and leave the other half without any coals. This will also create a two temperature zone for direct and indirect cooking. You will need to fill the charcoal chimney starter 1/2 to 3/4 full.
Should I grill chicken legs over direct or indirect fire?
Both actually. You will want to start over direct heat to get outside of the chicken nicely seared. When the the outside starts to get a little too dark, move the chicken over to the cooler side to finish cooking. Close the grill lid after you move it over to the cooler so the heat stays inside and even.
How long to cook drumsticks on the grill?
Time to cook chicken legs is a little fuzzier than the temperature of done chicken. Since you have a lot of factors affecting cook time like size of chicken and exact temperature of the grill, it’s best to check the internal temperature.
If you’re looking for an approximate time, it will take 30-35 minutes to cook chicken legs on the grill. You should turn chicken legs a quarter of the way every 4-5 minutes when cooking over direct heat. And once the chicken is over indirect heat, you’ll just need to turn it once.
When is the chicken done?
Minimum safe internal temperature for chicken is 165°F and it should be cooked to at least that. Although, bone-in chicken legs, thighs, and leg quarters are not like the lean chicken breast and it will not dry out as easily if cooked over recommended temperature. You also run a good chance of chicken legs being under-done if cooked only to 165°F.
Personally, I cook my chicken legs to 175°F-180°F internal temperature.
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Grilled Chicken Legs Recipe
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs chicken legs
Marinade:
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 lime – juice only
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley or half the amount of dried
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Instructions
Marinating chicken:
- Whisk all the ingredients for the marinade together in a mixing bowl. Place chicken legs into a large zip-top bag and pour in the marinade.
- Get as much air out of the bag as you can and close it completely. Mix the chicken and the marinade and lay the bag down on the side in a baking dish. Place into the refrigerator to marinate for 4-6 hours or overnight.
Grilling chicken:
- Set up your grill for a two temperature zone whether it’s gas or charcoal. Take chicken out of the marinade and let most of the liquid drip back into the bag. Spray the chicken with some cooking spray and place it on the grill over direct heat.
- Let it cook over direct heat and turn each leg a quarter of the way every 4-5 minutes. (If it’s browning too fast, turn it more frequently.)
- When chicken is nicely browned on all the sides, check the internal temperature of the biggest piece and move it over to the cooler side of the grill to finish cooking.
- Close the lid and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Flip each chicken leg and let it cook more until it reaches about 175°F-180°F internal temperature. (Yes, chicken thigh meat has a different doneness temperature than chicken breast.)
Marinade to sauce:
- Right after you placed the chicken on the grill, pour the marinade into a sauce pot and bring it to a gentle simmer either on stove-top or on the grill. (If using a grill, make sure the sauce pot is grill friendly.) Let it simmer for about 10 minutes and then brush it onto the chicken once it’s over on the cooler side.
I am making this today, I am wondering what you serve with the chicken adobo?
Hi Cathy! I would definitely do with rice. If you want a little healthier, use quinoa, brown rice, or wild rice. If you don’t like rice, you can serve mashed potatoes.
Hi, I have not made this recipe yet. I have a indoor electric grill, alot of people dont have any outdoors to be able to put a out door grill. Can you pls tell me for those of us that do have indoor electric grill, whay temperature, I should use? How long do i cook it for?
Because this sounds so amazing, can you do it in a oven? Temperature and how long?
Same thing with air fryer?
Thank you so much!
Hi Isabel! You can definitely use an oven or an air-fryer to make the chicken legs. As far as the indoor electric grill, it will really just give you grill marks but not the smoky grill flavor, if you know what I mean. Also, some of the electric grills cannot accommodate meats that are very thick, like chicken drumsticks, legs, or quarts. I can’t really give you advice on your indoor electric grill specifically but you can look through the manual and they often have a breakdown of cooking recommendations for all types of meat.
As far as the oven, you would cook them at 425°F for 25 minutes then flip them over and cook another 15-20 minutes. The exact time always depends on the size of the drumsticks themselves, so check internal temperature to be 165-170°.
In the air-fryer, you would preheat it to 400° and the cook the chicken legs and cook it for 10 minutes, turn them over, and then cook another 10 minutes. (exact time will also vary by size. For smaller ones it may take closer to 18 minutes total and for large once may be up to 22 minutes total.)
I hope this helps!
hi I have a charcoal grill and I use castor and pans when I make my chicken legs and they turn out pretty good according to my neighbors I was more interested in the beer recipe for dark beer is better or flavored beer