Get perfectly cooked Grilled Chicken Leg Quarters with juicy meat and crisped skin with this great grilling recipe.
Chicken leg quarters are a tasty cut of chicken that includes both the thighs and drumsticks. It’s flavorful dark meat that works great on the grill, especially when you finish with some great BBQ sauce.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Should I Grill Chicken Over Direct Or Indirect Heat?
These chicken legs are cooked using an indirect method on a hot grill.
This method of cooking chicken leg quarters on a hot grill reduces flareups and prevents the chicken from burning before its cooked through. The result is a juicy, tender chicken leg, perfectly cooked on the inside and outside, with just enough crisp to the skin so you can serve it with or without barbecue sauce.
The chicken cooks with indirect heat the entire time. The internal temperature of the grill should be about 400°F while the chicken is cooking. So it’s essentially baking the chicken inside the grill, with the grill acting as an oven.
Don’t have chicken quarters? Get the timing and instructions for just grilling the chicken thighs or try Grilled Chicken Wings. I also really enjoy Grilled Chicken Drumsticks and Grilled BBQ Chicken Breasts.
When To Add Sauce When Grilling
If you want barbecue grilled chicken, wait until the end of the cooking time to baste with sauce. Because of the sugar in BBQ sauce, it will end up burning before the chicken is done if added at the beginning. Season simply with salt first, cook the chicken until it’s almost done, then add your favorite sauce for the last 10 minutes of grilling.
It doesn’t have to be BBQ chicken though. You can also use honey mustard, Buffalo wing sauce, or even Hoisin mixed with sweet chili sauce. Yum!
How To Grill Chicken Leg Quarters
To make the grilled chicken legs, season the chicken pieces on all sides with the salt. I use bone-in, skin-on chicken leg quarters – they are a great, budget friendly cut. Any other herbs or seasonings may burn where they touch the grill grates, so I like to add other flavors at the end with my sauce. If you do decide to do any sort of additional seasoning or spice rub at the start anyways, make sure there’s no sugar in it.
Insert an oven-proof digital thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh on one of the legs. This will help you keep track of the temperature so you know when to turn the chicken legs and when to remove them from the grill.
Preheat one side of grill on high (the hot side), leaving the other half without a heat source (the cool side). Place the chicken legs, skin-side-up on the cool side of the grill so they are getting indirect heat. Close the grill and cook for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken is at about 120°F. Turn the chicken pieces over so they are skin-side-down. Close the grill and cook 20 minutes more.
Turn the chicken pieces over again so they are skin-side-up, and baste the chicken with your favorite barbecue sauce. Close grill and cook 10 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken registers 170°F.
How To Get Grill Marks
If additional grill marks or a more slightly charred chicken leg is desired, the legs can be placed briefly over the hot, direct heat side of the grill, skin side down for a few seconds. Don’t walk away from the chicken or cover the grill while doing this, or the chicken will quickly burn.
Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.
More Chicken Leg Recipes
If you’re not in the mood for grilling, try one of these other great recipes or browse all our chicken recipes, including chicken wings and thighs.
- Air Fryer Chicken Leg Quarters
- Crispy Baked Chicken Legs
- Instant Pot Chicken Legs Recipe
- Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies
Podcast Episode: Grilling Chicken Leg Quarters
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 Leg Quarters Recipe
Get perfectly cooked Grilled Chicken Leg Quarters with juicy meat and crisped skin with this recipe.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Rest Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Grilled
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4–6 large chicken leg quarters
- 1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup barbeque sauce (optional)
Instructions
- Season chicken pieces on all sides with salt.
- Insert an oven-proof digital thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh on one of the legs.
- Preheat one side of grill on high. Place chicken legs, skin-side-up on opposite side, away from heat source. Close grill. Cook 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 120°F.
- Turn chicken pieces over. Close grill. Cook 20 minutes more.
- Turn chicken pieces over again so they are skin-side-up again. Baste chicken with barbecue sauce. Close grill.
- Cook 10 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken registers 170°F.
- Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
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This post originally appeared in November 2022 and was revised and republished in July 2024.
Made these chicken legs with the bbq sauce and my family loved it. Perfect with corn on the cob.
Glad to hear you enjoyed, Steve!