Turkey Drumstick Recipe
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These baked turkey drumsticks are perfectly roasted, yielding succulent, smoky, and juicy meat every time.
Love cooking different cuts of turkey? Try my boneless turkey breast, baked turkey wings, turkey cutlets, or turkey tenderloin next.
In my world, turkey isn’t just for holiday dinners. It’s one of my favorite proteins to enjoy for regular weeknight dinners with a vibrant salad and roasted vegetables on the side.
For an even more hands-off meal, I turn to my roast turkey legs recipe. It’s a flavor-packed meal that’s much easier than cooking a whole bird. It’s perfect for dark meat lovers and needs very little prep.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Minimal ingredients. Olive oil and a few savory poultry seasonings are rubbed all over the drumsticks before baking, yielding restaurant-worthy results.
- Juicy and crispy. Forget all about dry and bland turkey! In my recipe, the drumsticks are cooked at a high temperature in their own juices, giving you succulent meat on the inside and crispy skin on the outside (similar to smoked turkey legs!).
- This is an easy family meal. It works well for a weeknight dinner or for more special occasions (including my nephew’s Disney World-themed party, seriously).
- Easier than a whole turkey roast. As expected, turkey legs have a shorter roasting time than the whole bird. You can whip these up for a small holiday dinner.
Ingredients needed
- Turkey drumsticks/Turkey legs. Use bone-in and skin-on whole turkey legs. I buy turkey legs at my local butcher because the size of the turkey legs are mostly even, but more and more grocery stores have them in stock.
- Oil. Olive oil or any neutral-tasting oil should work well (like avocado oil). Softened melted butter is a nice choice, too.
- Dry herbs and spices. Kosher salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, dried thyme, and chili flakes are stirred with the oil to create my homemade turkey rub.
How to make baked turkey drumsticks
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Season. Stir the oil and spices together, then brush over the turkey drumsticks.
Step 2- Roast. Transfer the turkey legs to a roasting rack or baking dish. Roast in the oven, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Then cover the pan with a layer of foil and roast for another 20-25 minutes.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Pat the drumsticks dry with paper towels to help the oil-spice rub stick to the skin.
- For extra crispy turkey legs, heat them under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes at the end.
- You’ll know the turkey is ready to eat when the meat is no longer pink, the juices run clear, and the skin is brown and crisp. You can also use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the meat by inserting it in the thickest part of the leg. Turkey is safe to eat when it reaches 165ºF.
- Use the drippings. As they bake, the drumsticks will release deliciously savory drippings you can use to make gravy!
- Change up the flavor. Turkey legs are super versatile and work well with many seasonings. Try some Rosemary, cayenne pepper, chicken seasoning mix, ground cumin,
What to serve with this dish
Because roasted turkey drumsticks are easier to cook than a whole turkey, you can serve them for low-maintenance holiday side dishes with roasted potatoes and carrots, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage steaks, and sauteed carrots on the side. Don’t forget the gravy!
Storage instructions
To store: Store the leftover roast turkey legs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days.
To freeze: The baked and cooled turkey legs can be frozen in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag for up to 6 months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge before reheating.
To reheat: Warm the leftover turkey in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes or in a 350ºF oven until heated through.
Frequently asked questions
The exact cooking time will depend on the size and thickness of your turkey legs. For this recipe, 1 kilogram of turkey drumsticks (2 pounds) took about 50 minutes to cook in a 450ºF oven. Smaller turkey legs will need less time.
Coating the turkey in oil and roasting it in a covered dish should help the meat stay succulent and juicy, despite the higher cooking temperature.
Yes! Frozen turkey drumsticks will work just as well as fresh here. Just remember to thaw them in the fridge before cooking.
Technically yes. However, I suggest decreasing the cooking time by around 10 minutes because size-wise, chicken legs are smaller and thinner.
More turkey recipes to try
Baked Turkey Drumsticks
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds turkey drumsticks turkey legs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220C/450F.
- Combine the salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, dried thyme, and chili powder with the oil and mix well.
- Brush the turkey with the oil mixture all over.
- Place the drumsticks in a roasting pan and cook for 25 minutes, uncovered. Cover with foil after that and cook for 20 more minutes.
- Rest the meat for a couple of minutes and serve warm.
Very yummy
Thank you, Keith- glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Love this! Who knew something so easy could be so delicious and good for you! Highly recommend! Thanks again for another 5 star recipe Arman!
The turkey was delicious. The entire family loved it. Thanks for sharing such a simple, yet tasty, recipe! 🇬🇧
can I cook turkey, drum sticks, and turkey wings together with this recipe?
Hi Joan! Do you mean each of the turkey parts at the same time? If so, you can, but you’ll need to keep an eye on the turkey breast, as that is the one that is prone to overcooking. It’s lean, so doesn’t need as much time as the drumsticks or the wings. I suggest keeping a meat thermometer handy- from experience, the breast will cook first, then the wings, and then the drumsticks.
I’m looking forward to trying the recipe. For dried thyme, should I use leaves or the ground kind?
I recommend the ground kind, Linda. It’s smaller particles disperse the flavor better than the leaves do 🙂
This is good flavoured turkey drumstick. Gery good. Seems crispy also.
Delicious, and surprisingly simple to make, as Armin said in description. I took his suggestion to add time under the broiler for extra browning (I did *4* minutes on the middle rack instead of 2 or 3 min. on the top rack). I was concerned about chili powder in the seasonings but that just added some zip to the feeling, not too much spiciness. I served with baked acorn squash and a sweet potato but mashed potatoes would have been perfect.
Thanks so much for the lovely feedback and review, John! Good thinking on the chili powder- it’s definitely better to add it after or not at all if you’re worried about spice. Those pairings sound perfect for them 🙂
May this be used with turkey thighs, extending cooking time to…
Hi Rosey! Yes, turkey thighs work for this. I’d keep the cooking time the same, but you may need a few minutes longer. Use a meat thermometer to double check.
Easy and perfect for the holidays.
Thanks so much, Renee! I appreciate your kind words and review!
Turkey drumstick is such an amazing food really. Can you tell me which oil would be the best here?
I would use avocado oil because of its high smoke point!