These Air Fryer Chicken Legs (Drumsticks) with chipotle glaze make a great snack while watching the big game or a quick weeknight meal.
Ever since my son bought me an air fryer for Christmas, I have been enjoying using it beyond the crispy fast french fries. I have made Persian kebab koobideh (ground beef kabob) in the air fryer as well as Persian kotlet. So fast and easy!
This recipe is NOT Persian but is more Mexican in inspiration. There is something sinful about sticky, finger-licking finger foods. I’m not one that likes super sweet dinners, but I do love the sweet and sour combination.
Whether it’s for wings, thighs or drumsticks, this sweet and spicy chipotle glaze is a keeper. And it gets even better because these drumsticks are cooked in the air fryer.
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Recipe highlights
- Family Friendly: I made these for my family, and despite the addition of chipotle peppers in this, they loved it. You can control the spiciness to make it more kid-friendly.
- Chipotle in Adobo: This is the secret ingredient that makes the sauce magical. It’s sweet, a little spicy and nice and smokey, too. And a little bit packs a ton of fabulous flavor.
- Serving Options: A nice coleslaw would also help offer a great cooling contrast to the smokey heat of the chicken. Add some chips, guacamole and a margarita and it’s a happy time.
- Versatile: You can bake them in the oven, but I love how easy and quickly the drumsticks cook in the air fryer.
Ingredients you need
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- Chicken legs (drumsticks): This recipe is good for 1 ½ pounds of drumsticks, which is about 6 legs. You easily double the recipe to make enough for a crowd.
- Chipotle chile in adobo sauce: This baby is the star of the marinade. These are whole chiles in a delicious smokey paste, so you will need to finely chop the chiles first before mixing into the marinade. Use the extras to kick up your chili, chicken tortilla soup or even guacamole. Store leftovers in a small air tight container in the refrigerator.
- Lime juice: You can use freshly squeezed or bottled lime juice.
- Soy sauce: I personally prefer low sodium soy sauce, but you can use regular, too.
- Honey: Some bottled honeys have been diluted with the addition of corn syrup, so read the labels and use real honey.
Step-by-step directions
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- Marinate chicken. Whisk together marinade ingredients and pour in a resealable plastic bag with the chicken. Squish it around to coat and marinate for 10-30 minutes at room temperature.
- Cook the chicken. Set Air Fryer to air fry at 400ºF and cook chicken legs for 20 minutes. Reserve the sauce.
- Heat up glaze. Place reserved marinade in a blender, process until smooth then bring to boil in a small saucepan.
- Brush on glaze. At the halfway mark of cooking the chicken, brush drumsticks with chipotle glaze and resume cooking until done.
Recipe tips and FAQs
You can also prepare these drumsticks in the oven. Just place on a baking sheet and bake at 400ºF for 20 minutes. Be sure to brush on the glaze halfway in the cooking process.
Serve alone or in a spread with brown rice, coleslaw or even tortillas and guacamole.
Be sure to preheat your air fryer. You want to make sure your air fryer is piping hot and before you add the chicken legs. It is also important to place them in a single layer to insure that they get cooked evenly and turn crispy.
Need more easy family-friendly dinner ideas that are full of flavor? Try my oven country style ribs or my Oven Roasted Tri Tip with Chili Lime Seasoning.
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftover chicken in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
It is important to turn over your chicken or whatever you are cooking in the air fryer at the halfway mark to ensure the food is cooked evenly. This also helps to brown the meat all over.
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Air Fryer Chicken Legs (Drumsticks) with Chipotle Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb chicken drumsticks about 6
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon chipotle chile in adobo sauce
Instructions
- In a bowl whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, honey and chipotles.
- Place chicken in a resealable plastic bag and pour in marinade. Squeeze it around the chicken and let it marinate for 10-30 minutes at room temperature.
- Place chicken legs in one layer in the air fryer, reserving marinade. Air Fry at 400ºF for 20 minutes, flipping them over and brushing with glaze at the halfway mark.
- While the chicken is cooking, place reserved marinade in a blender, and process until smooth. Place puréed marinade in a small saucepan.
- Bring to a rolling boil, and cook 3 minutes.
- At the halfway mark of cooking the chicken, brush with chipotle glaze, flip the chicken legs over and brush some more glaze on.
- Continue cooking chicken until done or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the drumstick registers 165°F.
- Transfer to a platter and serve with remaining sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
The chipotle glaze sounds excellent! And avocado sounds like a great accompaniment here. Hope everyone at your house feels better soon!
These look amazing. Beautiful color.
My sicks are sick right now, and it definitely a BAD time!
The chipotle glaze sounds amazing!
Yippee! Thanks for sharing this. I have a boatload of drums that I need to use up on Sunday. Chipotle Glaze here I come!