These chicken legs are absolutely amazing.  They’re sweet, savory, juicy, and tender.  Heck, even my four-year-old says “you make the best chicken, mom!” when I make these for dinner.  I love making them on a weeknight because I can sit out all of the ingredients the night before, mix the sauce, pour it over the chicken, and BOOM-delicious protein with very little prep.  Our oldest loves to do the “ingredients” when I cook, so he usually adds all of the ingredients of the sauce to the bowl, mixes it all up (or “mixa mixa mixa” if you’re privy to Danielle Tiger… if you are, I’m sorry :/), then I add the mixture to the chicken.  I got this recipe from Bless This Mess.-check out the original recipe here!

There is even a slow cooker option for these chicken legs.  I typically prefer chicken legs in the oven because they get a little crispier, but since these are in a sauce anyway it makes for a great slow cooker recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs chicken legs
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Oven Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay the chicken legs out and give them a good sprinkling of salt and pepper on both sides. Put them in a foil-lined baking dish with high sides (the foil is to make clean up easier – it’s not essential). A high-sided sheet pan is the best option because it has sides to keep everything in, but it is big enough that the chicken isn’t drowning in the sauce. It will caramelize best if half of the chicken is poking out of the sauce while cooking.
2. In a glass measuring cup measure out the honey, soy sauce, and ketchup. Add the minced garlic and stir. If the mixture doesn’t combine well, microwave it on high for thirty seconds and stir again. Pour the honey mixture over the chicken legs.
3. Put the chicken legs in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Take the chicken out of the oven and rotate it so that the bottom that was in the sauce is now on the top out of the sauce. Put the legs back in the oven. Raise the heat to 425 degrees and bake until the sauce is bubbly and starts to caramelize on the chicken legs. This should take about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Slow Cooker Directions

1. Place all of the chicken legs in the bottom of a slow cooker. Pour the sauce over the chicken legs. Slow cook on low for 6 hour or on high for 4 hours, until the largest piece of chicken registers 165 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

Enjoy!  Be sure to check out Bless This Mess. for more awesome recipe ideas!