Easy Peasy Chicken Legs {A New Family Favorite}

This is going to sound ridiculous, but this simple recipe for chicken legs is easily my favorite recipe of the year so far!  I know.  It's sounds crazy.  They're just chicken legs after all, but they are absolutely fantastic and everyone goes crazy for them, especially the kids. 

I found this recipe because my son begged me to buy a package of chicken legs.  It's kinda funny...I've made and shared hundreds of different recipes on my site, but I've never actually made a plain old chicken leg before.  I had no idea what to do with them so I did a quick recipe search online and found this recipe.  The recipe had wonderful ratings so I decided to go with it and boy am I happy that I did!

This is now the fifth time I've made this recipe!!  Yep, you heard me right.  We've made these chicken legs once every week for the past five weeks.  The kids gobble them up like crazy and me and my husband love them as well.  The outer coating of the chicken gets nice and crisp while the inside stays nice and tender.  Most importantly, the flavor of the chicken is insane.  I was actually blown away the first time I made them.  There are only five ingredients in this recipe (chicken, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a seasoning of your choice), but those ingredients come together to work some great magic. 

I've learned a few things since I first started making these.  I've noticed that the organic chicken legs in my market always look a bit bigger, and a little nicer, so I try to source them out. I like the results from using organic chicken legs the best.  If I can't find them, I don't sweat it.  Regular chicken legs are very tasty too (just a little smaller).  Also, the chicken has a tendency to stick to the baking sheet,  causing the skin to tear, so I make sure to add enough olive oil to prevent that (a silpat would be a great tool to help prevent sticking).  At first I was unsure about how much seasoning to use.  I was afraid to add too much seasoning because of the kids.  They didn't complain.  Now I lay the seasoning on pretty good.  Of course, you could season them half and half.  Leave half somewhat mild for the kids.  Go heavy on the seasoning for the adults. 

Either way, you can't go wrong with these.  They are succulent, crispy, juicy, tender, flavorful morsels of goodness.  Totally worth turning your oven on!

Easy Peasy Chicken Legs

Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

2 packages of chicken legs (about 11-12)

olive oil (enough to cover generously)

salt and pepper (give them a good coating)

seasoning of your choice*

*Note: Use your favorite seasoning blend.  We've tried them with garlic powder, like suggested in the original recipe, but we like them best sprinkled with seasoned salt, such as Lowry's.

Preheat oven to 400F.  Place chicken legs on baking sheet.  Drizzle the olive oil generously over the chicken, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and seasoning (Lowry's, etc.).  Rub the oil and seasoning into the chicken.

Place in the oven for 30 minutes, then remove and flip the legs over.  Place back in the oven for another 30 minutes and enjoy!

**You can cook as many chicken legs as you can fit on your baking sheet, but you will most likely need to increase the time.  I always make 11-12 chicken legs each time and they are always done in 60 minutes.  However, the original recipe calls for 14 legs and states to cook them for 90 minutes. 

Leave the silverware in the drawer and eat with your hands!