Baked in a hot oven, these chicken leg quarters emerge with wonderfully browned skin and juicy meat.
It's an easy, hands-off recipe that practically bakes itself. The leftovers are good, too, especially when eaten cold, picnic-style.
These oven-baked chicken quarters have become a family favorite. They have deeply browned, delicious skin and succulent meat.
Who says chicken can't be a delicacy? It all depends on how you cook it. When well-seasoned and baked until the skin achieves a gorgeous, golden brown hue and delightful crispiness, chicken is very enjoyable!
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Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Olive oil spray: It's so delicious and my favorite oil to cook with. If you wish, you can use avocado oil instead.
- Chicken leg quarters: These are bone-in and skin-on thigh and drumstick, attached. I get them at my local supermarket or at Whole Foods.
- To season: I use kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and dried thyme.
Variations
- Instead of spraying the chicken with oil, you can brush it with melted butter or ghee.
- Try different spice combinations. Good options I tried and liked include smoked paprika, oregano, and ground cumin. You can add half a teaspoon of each additional spice.
- You can brown the chicken, especially the tops, in an ovenproof skillet in some butter or oil, then transfer it to the oven. This method achieves extra-crispy skin. I rarely bother because simply oven-baking yields fabulous results and is so much easier.
Instructions
This is such an easy recipe! The oven does all the work. The detailed instructions are included in the recipe card below. Here are the basic steps:
Your first step is to arrange the chicken pieces on a rimmed, parchment-lined baking sheet or a greased 9 X 13-inch baking dish. Generously spray the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle it with spices.
Bake the chicken until fully cooked. This should take 40-45 minutes in a 425°F oven.
Serve immediately. Look at that gorgeous, crispy skin!
Expert Tip
Check the chicken after the first 30 minutes. If the skin seems to be browning too much, loosely cover the top with foil and continue baking until cooked through, for 10-15 more minutes.
You can see in the photo below that after 30 minutes, the chicken is quite browned on the top:
However, at this point, it's still undercooked on the inside. So I loosely cover it with foil and place it back in the oven until it's cooked through:
Recipe FAQs
No. As shown in the photo below, they are thighs and drumsticks attached to each other. They are also called "whole chicken legs."
Absolutely not! I use every inch of its fatty deliciousness. Many chicken recipes instruct you to trim any excess skin from the thigh. Me? On the contrary. When I make this recipe, I leave every bit of delicious skin on.
In fact, if I have space in the pan, I spread the excess skin out (as shown in the photo below), and then it comes out super crispy and so good - like chicken skin chips, similar to freshly baked homemade pork rinds, but even better. I do the same when making these crispy baked chicken thighs.
Start baking it uncovered. After the first 30 minutes, check on it. If the skin seems to be darkening too much, loosely cover it with foil and continue baking until cooked through.
Serving Suggestions
This versatile main course pairs well with any side dish. But since I bake the chicken in a 425°F oven, I like to serve it with sides that I can bake in the same oven, such as:
Other excellent options include loaded mashed cauliflower, spinach fritters, and sweet potato patties.
In the photo below, you can see that I baked the chicken and Brussels sprouts together:
Here they are served together for dinner:
Storing Leftovers
You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in a sealed container (as shown in the photo below), for 3-4 days. I don't like to reheat them, though, as reheating dries the chicken out.
Leftover chicken is delicious when eaten cold! I like to make a lunch plate with cold leftover chicken, quick pickles, fresh-cut veggies, and homemade ranch or blue cheese dressing.
If you'd like to reheat the leftovers, I suggest you do so in the microwave at 50% power and cover them while you reheat them. Alternatively, reheat them, uncovered, in a 350°F oven. This will help crisp up the skin, which tends to become soggy when refrigerated.
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Recipe Card
Baked Chicken Leg Quarters
Ingredients
- Olive oil spray
- 4 chicken leg quarters (drumstick and thigh)
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon of any other salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with high-heat-resistant parchment paper, or grease a 9 X 13-inch rimmed baking dish with olive oil.
- Place the chicken pieces in the prepared baking dish. Generously spray their tops with olive oil and sprinkle them with kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and dried thyme.
- Bake the chicken, uncovered, for 30 minutes. If at this point the tops are very browned but the inside hasn't yet reached 165°F, as measured by an instant-read thermometer not touching the bone, loosely cover the pan with foil and return it to the oven for 10-15 more minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Allow the chicken to rest for five minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- In the video, you can see me making half the recipe.
- Many chicken recipes instruct you to trim any excess skin from the thigh part. Me? On the contrary. When I make this recipe, I leave every bit of delicious skin on. If I have space in the pan, I spread any excess skin out on the pan, and it comes out wonderfully crispy - like chicken skin chips.
- You can brown the chicken, especially the tops, in an ovenproof skillet in some butter or oil, then transfer it to the oven. This method achieves extra-crispy skin. I rarely bother because simply oven-baking yields fabulous results and is so much easier.
- You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in a sealed container, for 3-4 days. I don't like to reheat them. Reheating dries the chicken out. Leftover chicken is delicious when eaten cold!
Nutrition per Serving
Disclaimers
Cup measurements refer to the standard American cup, which is 240 milliliters. Most of my recipes are low-carb (or keto) and gluten-free, but some are not. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate, and the carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them. Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using any of my recipes.
Mackenzie
This was a great recipe! Easy and delicious!
Vered DeLeeuw
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Mackenzie! Thank you for the review.
Elle
Thank you, This is a great recipe, and there is a lot of helpful information. The chicken tasted great. My only concern was that I checked the temp of the chicken after cooking for 30 minutes and it was at 180 degrees so I took it out. I used glass pyrex to bake it and had used my oven before putting the chicken in so my oven was very hot. It was set at 425 degrees. TY
Vered DeLeeuw
I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe, Elle! It sounds like your oven runs hot. Thanks for the review and feedback.
Jennifer
Perfect chicken!
Vered DeLeeuw
I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe, Jennifer! Thank you for the review.
Kelly
This is my new favorite recipe for chicken. I love chicken and this recipe is so simple and delicious. I have found that after 30 minutes my chicken is done. Thank you so much for this great recipe.
Vered DeLeeuw
Hi Kelly,
I'm so glad you like this recipe! Thank you for the feedback about the baking time.
Judith
This recipe came out just as promised with delicious crispy chicken skin and moist meat. I came across your recipe looking for what temperature would work best for the whole leg quarters and I was very happy with the results, thanks.
Vered DeLeeuw
You're very welcome, Judith! I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Mel
What can I substitute the thyme for? My family are not fans.
Vered DeLeeuw
Hi Mel,
Dried oregano works great! But the chicken will be delicious even if you simply omit the thyme.
Brian
Made this last night as an emergency since it was raining and couldn't grill. It was AMAZING. The only thing different I did was pull skin back and squeeze butter and some of the seasoning inside and then folding back over. My wife won't let me grill quarters anymore.
This is a great and easy dish. Thank you for this one.
Vered DeLeeuw
You're very welcome, Brian! I like the idea of pulling the skin back and seasoning under it.