If you’re looking for perfectly grilled chicken drumsticks, you’re in the right place! We use a two-step grilling process, indirect heat then direct heat, to get fully-cooked, juicy chicken with just a bit of char on the outside.
This recipe for grilled chicken drumsticks is amazing because it delivers tender, juicy meat and an exterior with just the right amount of char thanks to my two-step cooking approach. The grilling process enhances the flavors of the chicken while allowing the BBQ sauce to caramelize in the last minutes of cooking.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
What Are Chicken Drumsticks?
First, let’s make sure we’re clear about the cut of chicken we’re cooking. The drumsticks are part of the chicken leg. It’s a bone-in, usually skin-on piece of meat. When the drumstick is still attached to the chicken thigh, it’s a chicken leg quarter. This is wonderfully flavorful dark meat, as opposed to the leaner white meat of the chicken breast.
You can get instructions for Grilled Chicken Legs here if that’s the cut you have. The method is mostly the same, but the timing is different for the fuller leg.
If you have drumsticks but aren’t in the mood to grill, try my Crispiest Baked Drumsticks or Air Fryer Drumsticks recipe.
Strategies For Perfectly Grilled Chicken
I’ve come up with two strategies to get tender, perfectly cooked chicken on the grill. One is to cook my chicken until it’s pretty much done in the oven, where I can better control the heat. Then I just finish it on the grill just before I’m ready to eat, brushing it with barbecue sauce and getting some nice grilled flavor and color.
My other strategy is a two-step cook on the grill, and that’s the one I’m using in the recipe here today. To do this, I set up the grill for two kinds of cooking—direct heat and indirect heat—then basically use the grill like I use my oven in the first strategy. That way I can get perfectly cooked chicken that is never dried out.
To do this, you’ll put the chicken over indirect heat and leave it there until it’s pretty much cooked through. Then brush it with barbecue sauce, move it to direct heat, and cook it for just a few minutes per side, to get some flavorful color and caramelization. This gives you more control over the cooking, ensuring that the chicken is cooked through without getting the outside too charred. I always suggest using a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat to check that your chicken has reached 165°F before serving.
Can I Grill Chicken In Advance?
I should mention that you can actually do the first cook in advance. Cook it over indirect heat until it is cooked through. Then take it off the grill and refrigerate it. When it’s time to eat, fire up the grill to direct heat, brush the chicken with sauce, and put it right on the grill there. Cook it until it’s just a bit charred in places. It’s very convenient if you’re cooking for a crowd and want to be sure your chicken is fully-cooked, and also if you’d rather spend the party with people than with chicken!
Another advantage of pausing between cooks is, if you prefer skinless chicken, it’s a lot easier to remove the skin from the cooled chicken after that initial cook than when the chicken is raw. Removing the skin is optional. However, I find that it doesn’t get fully crispy on the grill and so I tend to either remove it before cooking it, or cooling it and removing it before adding the BBQ sauce.
When To Add The BBQ Sauce
There’s another reason, besides cooking it too quickly, that grilled chicken sometimes ends up overly charred on the outside – the BBQ sauce.
Why? Because usually barbecue sauce contains sugar, and sugar burns easily. So if you slather on the sauce when you start to cook, that sauce will be blackened before the chicken is done. Even if you start over a lower or indirect heat.
The solution? Add the sauce at the end, when you’re finishing the chicken over direct heat. Just note that you really don’t want a sugary sauce over high heat for much more than 5 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces every couple of minutes so make sure the sauce isn’t burning too much.
More Delicious BBQ Recipes
If you love these grilled BBQ chicken drumsticks, try one of these recipes next.
Podcast Episode: Making Grilled Chicken Drumsticks
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this recipe, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Grilled Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
For these grilled chicken drumsticks, we use a two-step grilling process, indirect heat then direct heat, to get fully-cooked, juicy chicken with just a bit of char on the outside.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Grilled
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 12 chicken drumsticks (about 3 lbs.)
- 1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3/4 tsp. pepper
- 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
- About 1/2 cup barbecue sauce (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare grill for cooking over direct and indirect heat.* Lightly oil the grate.
- Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Arrange chicken on the indirect side (over grill elements that are not turned on). Cook there with the lid closed until an internal temperature of 165°F is reached, about 30 to 40 minutes. While they’re cooking, check the grill every 10 minutes or so and adjust the heat as needed to maintain an “oven” temperature of between 325-375°F.
- Brush the chicken with the barbecue sauce, if using.
- Move the chicken to direct heat and cook until it has nice grill marks, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Brush on more barbecue sauce halfway if desired.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
*To do so, turn one side of the grill on high and leave the other side off. The side that has high heat will be the direct cooking area, and the side with the elements off is the indirect cooking area. Ideally, when the lid is closed, the temperature inside the grill will be between 325-375°F.
Leave a Reply