19 Chicken Drumstick Recipes To Make for Dinner Tonight

In a world where breast is best and wings are king, give us a chicken drumstick. How did we forget how ideal a drumstick is? They're the original hand-helds, perfectly portioned (one per kid in the household, two to three for each adult, which is very satisfying in the way that several small cookies are more satisfying than one big cookie). Cooked on their own, without other parts, they can be done pretty quickly, making them a weeknight ace. And they can go in any direction, taking on seasonings like it's their job.

And is there any more delightful way to eat them than buttermilk-fried? We've taken the buttermilk formula and streamlined it so that you can have this, everyone's favorite drumstick, in record time, with pantry ingredients. We've even thrown in the quickest-ever dipping sauce, because we're extra like that.

This version of the Filipino classic, chicken adobo, couldn't be more easygoing. The marinade becomes the sauce, and the chicken goes from stewing, for utmost tenderness, to a final broil, for those crispy bits that make life worth living. Served with rice, there are few more comforting dinners.

Yes, it is what you think it is. Chicken legs get the parm treatment, and what can we say? It's a total revelation.

We love this dish, served "piatto unico" as the Italians say — all on one plate, mixed together. The broccoli-infused orzo has a savory depth from the broth that it's cooked in, that really unifies it with the chicken served on top. The chicken is gently seasoned, so this will be a hit for even a finicky palate.

Get ready for your new favorite preparation, whether you use leg and thighs as written here, or just go all drummies. This is the best kind of marinade — just toss those legs in there and then cook them in a few hours, tonight, or tomorrow night; it's totally flexible. And it brings you the best flavor profile, too — smoky, sweet and meaty, hot and sticky. Fantastic.

Fried chicken, but make it tropical! Toasted coconut in the dredge brings a little flair to the breading. A mango salsa (with additional toasted coconut) completes a great meal.

This is a quick and easy barbecue dinner, with homemade sauce included! It's a little vinegar-forward, in keeping with its Carolina profile, and the chicken simmers right in there, so it's a one-pot wonder. Serve as legs, or pull the meat and eat with slaw on pillowy buns for amazing, saucy sandwiches.

Korean-fried might as well be a euphemism for, "perfectly engineered to be the most irresistible thing you can eat." The usual preparation double-fries the chicken, for a crispiness that goes above and beyond, despite the second key: Tossing the fried chicken into a sticky-delicious sauce that permeates all the nooks and crannies. Here, the sauce is a combination of gochujang, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and brown sugar, again, ideally designed to keep you coming back for more.

These drumsticks tweak the buttermilk-fried formula by introducing an unexpected flavor: lemon. But maybe we shouldn't be too surprised at how well this works, because a wedge of lemon served alongside something fried is undeniably good. These are oven-fried, so it's low-mess; go ahead and cut up some lemon wedges to just enhance the effect.

Need a set-it-and-forget-it option for drumsticks? This fits the bill, and then some. Toss the drumsticks in the slow cooker, then come home in 8 hours to savory, sticky-sweet hoisin legs with tons of delicious sauce to soak into the rice.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is coming home from work and having almost no time to make dinner. An electric pressure cooker pinch hits to assemble something that tastes like it took hours and used every pot and pan in the house, in actually under an hour. This one smartly layers collards and chicken on the bottom, then a cake pan of cheesy grits on top. Even having assembled those layers, you'll have a hard time believing your eyes when you take it apart to serve.

We love how elemental seasoning meat with just salt and pepper is, but here Ree goes a step farther. It's chipotle salt in place of the standard, and coarsely crushed peppercorns for the pepper (why should steak au poivre have all the fun?). The result is drummies that taste like the best version of what is basically a simple preparation.

True Caribbean jerk chicken requires hours and pimento leaves to smoke over and heat. This version is truly pared down to make it suitable for the everyday rotation, while keeping the spirit of the original. Yes, Scotch bonnets are hot, but we promise that mixed with the spices and sugar, it really comes into balance.

Katie Lee Biegel relies on apricot jam to layer on a sweetness that has some depth in this quick homemade marinade. Just bake and then glaze with the same marinade, and dinner is served. That final broiling caramelizes the sugars and makes the skin just wonderful.

Who among us hasn't wished we could just make the chicken satay appetizer our whole meal? These drumsticks had that in mind, bringing that richness from coconut milk and peanut butter, plus a dipping sauce that you'll want to drink. We love this with rice or rice noodles, or just a green mango salad on the side.

Everyone loves a Buffalo wing ... in theory. In reality, they're just too hot for some. Here, we take the spirit of Buffalo and infuse it into a main-course-worthy leg with the heat turned down just enough that everyone can enjoy. And it's easy enough to dial it back up, if necessary. (Buffalonians, don't come for us.)

Chermoula, the herb paste that hails from Northern Africa, is a true cook's friend, good as both a marinade and as a sauce to serve tableside. It's cilantro-forward, with cumin and coriander underlining those notes. Here, Alex Guarnaschelli splits the chermoula in two so that you can use it both ways, to wonderful effect.

If the idea for these nacho drummies were featured on a 70s sitcom (think: Scooby Doo), you could imagine a character saying, "That so crazy, it just might work!" Spoiler alert: These work. They're crumbed in tortilla chip (!), fried and then topped with cheese to nacho-fy them. These are why they invented words like, "Srsly?"