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These clean eating honey chicken drumsticks for kids are one of the easiest recipes ever but they never ever fail to please the family. I guarantee that this will be one of your go-to meals you’re going to find yourself making it A LOT!
Honey Chicken For Kids
This is a more-ish kind of meal. Everyone will be licking their fingers and eyeing up that last sweet and deliciously sticky chicken drumstick.
We all have that one easy recipe that we can rely on to please the whole family. Even the fussy kids. A recipe that you can make by heart. A recipe that you can prep with your eyes closed.
My honey chicken drumsticks recipe is that kind of recipe.
Serve them hot. Serve them cold. Serve them with a salad or a creamy potato bake. Doesn’t matter. You can count on them to pull any meal together. Any time. And I do mean ANY time.
It’s not easy for a recipe to get on my Plan B dinner list, because let’s face it – Plan B only happens when you’re desperate. And when the store is closed or you’ve had a glass of wine and the store drive isn’t an option anymore.
So my point is this. Keep all these ingredients in your freezer and pantry. Because then you will always have this yummy dinner up your sleeve.
Picky Eaters
These chicken drumsticks have been loved by even my pickiest, fussiest eater. Of course all picky eaters have their own things their fussy about, but I find chicken is generally tolerated (!) as it’s flavor is very mild and the marinade is sweet, which generally speaking, I’ve not had too much of a problem with :)
My fussy eaters seem to like fingers foods too. So if this helps yours, give them a paper towel and let them get stuck in!
—–>>> Picky Eater Tricks & Tips
Baked Chicken Drumsticks
Cooking these chicken drumsticks in the oven makes this Oh! So Simple. It really does.
There’s nothing fiddly about this, I either use these ZipLoc bags (they do a great job of sealing!) to add the honey marinade to the drumsticks and then keep them in the fridge until I want to bake them or I pop the drumsticks on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and pour the marinate straight onto the chicken. Either works well.
If you use a ZipLoc bag to marinade and store them before you cook your drumsticks, save the sweet honey marinade and pour it over the chicken before you cook them.
Half way through cooking you can also baste them in the honey marinade if you remember and want to. It’s no big deal if you forget though.
The skin of the chicken will become a golden brown with the honey marinade on them, and the skin will become crispy and yummy.
Recipe Variations
I use drumsticks because they’re easy and work with and kid sized.
Even smaller kids find holding a drumstick in their little hands easy and so that’s what I use to make these.
You can also use chicken thighs, chicken legs or even wings if you’d prefer to.
If you’re using these, I’d recommend keeping the skin on the thighs (wings almost always have the skin on anyway) and in the same way you would if using drumsticks, keep the skin upwards when they go into the oven, then you get the nice crispy skin.
The skin also helps to keep the moisture juices in and the chicken juicy as it cooks and stops it drying out as it cooks on your sheet pan.
I’ve tried to make this with a chicken breast and while you get the lovely sweet flavor, it’s more of a dinner recipe than finger food. Which might be fine. In which case remember to buy chicken breasts with the skin still on.
How To Serve Chicken Drumsticks
Eat these hot or cold, either’s yummy. I sometimes add these to the kids lunchboxes and they’ll eat them with some veggies. The vegetables I give them them are raw veg fingers, and might be carrots or celery.
A rice salad, or this broccoli rice go well with drumsticks and they make a pretty awesome part of a picnic if you’re out and about!
More Kid Friendly Recipes
- Sweet and sticky Teriyaki meatballs
- Parmesan chicken
- Blood orange chicken sticks
- Dragon chicken
- Chicken with Tarragon cream sauce
- Mushroom and mozzarella pasta bake
How To Check The Drumsticks Are Cooked
Because I’m a home cooking Mom and not a professional chef, to check the drumsticks are cooked through I break one apart. Technical, huh!
25 Minutes cook time in the oven really should be enough to make sure these are totally cooked through but I get a little concerned about chicken as I’m sure we all do, so I always make sure these are cooked by looking, before I let the kids have them.
If you’re more scientific than I am you can get yourself one of these meat thermometer, they’re not to expensive and you can check the internal temperature.
Ingredients
- Frozen chicken drumsticks (in the freezer)
- Honey (in the pantry)
- Apple cider vinegar (I keep mine in the fridge)
- Olive oil (pantry item)
- Salt and pepper
That’s it.
Make Ahead And Storing These Chicken Drumsticks
The great thing about this easy honey chicken drumsticks (aside from the yumminess, of course) is that they are super versatile.
You can freeze them for later, grill them right now, slow bake or pop them on the barbecue if the weather looks good.
If you are a meal prepping Queen, then you might want to make a batch of these babies up and freeze in freezer bags. That way, all you need to do is thaw and bake when you need them.
They also make a great done for you meal gift for new Moms or sick friends that need a little foodie help.
To store leftovers keep them in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
How To Make Chicken Drumsticks For Kids
Ingredients
- 12 Chicken drumsticks
Honey Marinade
- 100 ml Apple cider vinegar
- ¼ Cup Honey
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400’F / 180’C
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Arrange your drumsticks skin side up on the tray.
- In a jug or small bowl, whisk together all marinade ingredients: apple cider vinegar, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour sauce over the drumsticks.
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Turn chicken over and bake additional 20 minutes. Allow to rest for around 5 minutes before serving. Sauce will get thicker and stickier as it cools.
Chicken Drumsticks For Kids Recipe
Chicken Drumsticks For Kids
Ingredients
- 12 Chicken drumsticks
Honey Marinade
- 100 ml Apple cider vinegar
- ¼ Cup Honey
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400’F / 180’C
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Arrange your drumsticks skin side up on the tray.
- In a jug or bowl, whisk together all marinade ingredients: apple cider vinegar, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour sauce over the drumsticks.
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Turn chicken over and bake additional 20 minutes. Allow to rest for around 5 minutes before serving. Sauce will get thicker and stickier as it cools.