Paprika Chicken Legs – Resist the temptation of cooking the same thing over and over and make these Baked Garlic Paprika Chicken Legs. It’s packed with great flavors from garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, herbs and of course, paprika. It’ll be a new family favorite easy dish!
The whole family will totally enjoy these baked Paprika Chicken Legs and it comes together quickly. If chicken is on your mind this week, put this one-pot low-carb meal on the menu.
All you need is a few pantry staple spices coupled with herbs on hand. For an added bonus, you can throw in some vegetables in the roasting pan and have a delicious one-pot meal ready in no time. How easy is that? You’ll have a complete meal that looks as impressive as it tastes.
What is paprika?
Paprika is a deep orange-red ground spice made from dried fruits of the larger and sweeter varieties of Capsicum annum called bell pepper or sweet peppers. It is commonly used as a garnish on soups, stews or appetizers, but its flavor is truly released when its is heated through. Paprika is also named as the fourth most consumed spiced in the world.
Is paprika spicy?
There’s not just one variety of paprika; thus its flavor could vary depending on where it’s from and the type of peppers used. Thus the flavors could range from sweet to mild to red hot.
Popular varieties consist of plain paprika, Spanish paprika and Hungarian paprika. If you’re unsure on which suits you, you can start with the one that only says “paprika” on the label as it is neither sweet nor hot and is perfect as a garnish for eggs. Hungarian paprika on the other hand has some degree of rich, sweet red pepper flavor. Those you see usually in the grocery store marketed as the Hungarian sweet paprika is sweet and slightly pungent.
For this recipe I used a smoked paprika which is a type of Spanish paprika used to achieve a deep, smoky and woodsy, earthy touch of flavor.
If you want a really crisp skin, use a paper towel to wipe the chicken dry. Looking for carbs to pair this with? Then try pairing it with this aromatic Green Beans and Bacon. If using fresh vegetables be sure to blanch before adding so you can have really tender vegetables.
Enjoy!
Watch How to Make It
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Paprika Chicken Legs
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Ingredients
- 3 -3 ½ pound chicken drumsticks
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon bouillon powder (you may replace with salt)
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 4-6 garlic cloves minced
- 2-3 Tablespoons fresh herbs (thyme, parsley, oregano)
- 1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- 2 Tablespoons onion powder
Instructions
- Wash chicken legs dry, rub with salt , white pepper and bouillon powder and set aside
- In a small pan set over medium low heat, combine canola oil, minced garlic, fresh herbs, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper . Stir for about 30 seconds or 1 minute. Let this mixture sit for a little bit about 5 minutes.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425°.
- Place the chicken in a large bowl, toss with garlic paprika spice mix, then sprinkle with the onion powder.
- Line a baking pan with foil; top with a wire rack. Arrange chicken legs out in a single layer.
- Bake chicken legs until cooked through and skin is crispy, about 40-45 minutes
- If desired rotate chicken halfway through-roughly 25 minutes. And continue cooking until chicken is fully cooked and juice from the chicken runs clear.
- Remove and let it cool slightly before serving .
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
How to Make Baked Chicken Legs
Wash chicken legs and dry, rub with salt, white pepper and bouillon powder and set aside. In a small pan, set over medium low heat, combine canola oil, minced garlic, fresh herbs, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper . Stir for about 30 seconds or 1 minute. Let this mixture sit for a little bit about 5 minutes.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425°. Place the chicken in a large bowl, toss with garlic paprika spice mix, then sprinkle with the onion powder.
Optional: You can lay out baby carrots and green beans on the foiled baking pan just underneath the rack to roast alongside the chicken.
Line a baking pan with foil; top with a wire rack. Arrange chicken legs out in a single layer. Bake chicken legs until cooked through and skin is crispy, about 40-45 minute.
If desired, rotate chicken halfway through-roughly 25 minutes. And continue cooking until chicken is fully cooked and juice from the chicken runs clear. Remove and let it cool slightly before serving.
Iris says
So delicious! My family gave this recipe a 5 star rate. I surely add this to my favorite lists. Highly recommended
imma africanbites says
Thank you, Iris. Glad you and your family love this. 🙂
Ashley says
Excellent flavor! My family absolutely loved it. Going to certainly repeat this again!
ImmaculateBites says
GREAT ! Thanks!
Dale says
Great Great flavor!!! So easy to make. Wow!
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks Dale!
Brooke cullum says
Do you think you could grill these instead of baking?! Would they turn out the same? What would you suggest doing? I don’t have a wire rack to bake them on top of
ImmaculateBites says
Yes, they sure would. Skip the part where you saute the spices and just rub on the chicken let it marinate for some time before grilling .
Hannah says
I am so glad I found this recipe. It’s perfect. In case anyone finds it helpful, here are the tweaks I made based on what I had to work with in my kitchen:
I used olive oil instead of canola.
I had no onion powder, but it was fine without.
I used regular paprika.
For the herbs, I used my dry Nigerien herb blend.
I was completely out of aluminium foil, so I just coated the vegetables well with oil. It did make more of a mess, but nothing a steel wool pad won’t take care of!
For vegetables, I chopped carrots and turnips into bite-size chunks. They.were.SCRUMPTIOUS!!
I don’t have a rack like the one pictured, so I took a rack out of my toaster oven. It fit perfectly in my 9″x13″ pan, over the vegetables. I only tried to fit six legs on it, though.
I did let the chicken marinate for about an hour. Next time I’ll marinate it longer, but it was good just as it was. My whole family, even my precious picky child, loved it!
Hannah says
Also, I didn’t use bouillon and I poured the extra marinade over the chicken after arranging the legs on the rack.
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome ! Thanks for the feedback!
ImmaculateBites says
Thank you so much for taking the time to share just detailed feedback with us , am sure other readers would benefit from this . Happy Holidays!!!
Darrell says
Love this recipe. I have kids that don’t like dark meat so I spatchcocked two chickens and then pretty much followed the rest of the recipe. It turned out fabulous. It was mighty tasty.
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback!!!
judy says
Imma you are truly an inspiration . I have tried your other recipes and they were all very delicious!!!! Im wondering
will it turn out just fine if I use dried herbs for this recipe? Thank you again….
ImmaculateBites says
Aww, thanks Judy! It sure would.
Renata says
I followed the seasoning and herb instructions and added 2 Tablespoons of infused basil oil. Cooked 9 chicken legs in the Actifry for 30 minutes. Wow!!! A burst of flavor came out. Super good and super easy recipe. Glad I found it on Pinterest. Thanks for posting it.
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome ! Thanks for the feedback Renata!
EasyRoast says
Resist the temptation of cooking the same thing over and over and make this Baked Garlic Paprika Chicken Legs dish instead, roasted with vegetables.
Karissa Cluff says
This is some of the best chicken I have ever tried. And it was 100% the best cooked veggies I’ve ever had. Definitely add more veggies than you think you need. My husband told me to triple the veggies next time. This is a recipe I will make many times.
ImmaculateBites says
OH WOW! . Thank you so much for this glowing feedback Karissa . Really appreciate you taking time out let me know. Just made my day!! Thanks again.
Whitney says
This is now a staple in our family. I love that we can use any herbs we have in the house, and the skin always comes out crispy and delicious!
ImmaculateBites says
Glad to hear it’s now a family staple Whitney! Always warms my heart . Thank you so much!!!
Tilly says
Was lookin’ for something to impress my hubby, as chicken is a main meat for us. I was skeptical about the white pepper once I smelled it, but in the end my kitchen smelled like heaven and our taste-buds enjoyed quite the experience.
The smoky flavor wasn’t overpowered by spice, and balanced just right. Bonus: The meal was mouthwatering without being heavy.
Can’t wait to impress my friends with this one! You rock, ImmaculateBites!
ImmaculateBites says
WooHoo!! So glad this turned out great for you, and that you’ll be making it again in the future. I know your friends are going to enjoy this too!
Thanks so much for taking a moment to come back and share with me!
Sascha says
What if I don’t have the smoked paprika….I have regular paprika
ImmaculateBites says
Regular paprika would do just fine.
Regina says
This recipe was fantastic! We did not have any chicken left and I did not have to ask the kids to make sure they eat. They just kept grabbing more chicken!!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
YESS! I love it when the kiddos go for seconds-always puts a simile on my face. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
Sarah says
Made it tonight. Sprinkled on a little cinnamon with the onion powder. Excellent! Bf ate four legs! Thanks so much. Will be trying more of your recipes.
ImmaculateBites says
Yes!! Glad to hear it was a hit ! Can’t wait to see which ones you try out next. Thank you!
Danielle says
will be making this tomorrow night along with the South African Yellow Rice. I can’t wait to taste it!!!
ImmaculateBites says
You are going to Love it Danielle!
Mary says
Do you think I could quadruple this recipe for a large crowd? Would the baking time be affected?
ImmaculateBites says
You sure could. Same baking time