16 Chicken Leg Recipes That'll Never Let You Down

Juicy and forgiving, poultry legs are simple to cook and yield the juiciest results.

Updated May 19, 2024

A platter of chicken adobo. — Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Chicken legs are the most forgiving part of a chicken to cook. They'll never threaten to dry out on you like a chicken breast. This arguably makes them the tastiest part of a chicken. Flavorful and juicy, chicken legs are perfect for braising, grilling, frying, and more. A bonus? Thighs and drumsticks are the least expensive chicken parts you can buy.

Here are 16 chicken leg recipes from around the globe, well-suited for any night of the week.

Chicken Cacciatore With Mushrooms, Tomato, and Onion
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
An earthy, hearty version of the classic Italian dish, this recipe stars juicy, tender pieces of chicken leg, braised in white wine with mushrooms, onion, and tomato. It tastes like it's been cooking for hours, but it only takes about an hour.
Chicken Cacciatore With Mushrooms, Tomato, and Onion
Chicken Yassa (Senegalese Braised Chicken With Caramelized Onions)
Serious Eats / Jillian Atkinson
A citrus-forward version of your favorite stewed and smothered chicken-and-onion dish.
Chicken Yassa (Senegalese Braised Chicken With Caramelized Onions)
Crispy Braised Chicken With White Beans and Chile Verde
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
This recipe takes the intensely rich, smoky, and hot chile sauce from chile verde and the comforting bean stew aspect of white chicken chili and adds a perfectly braised piece of chicken; deep flavors, crisp skin, and all.
Crispy Braised Chicken With White Beans and Chile Verde
The Best Chicken Paprikash
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
This version of chicken paprikash takes a few extra steps to ensure the best possible flavor. Searing the chicken produces a more complex sauce while adding gelatin to chicken broth gives it a richer mouthfeel. The recipe is a little more complicated than your average chicken paprikash, but the results are well worth the effort.
The Best Chicken Paprikash
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Chicken Adobo (Filipino-Style Braised Chicken)
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Chicken adobo is a classic Filipino dish that's as savory as it is bright with acid, and it goes perfectly with a large platter of garlic fried rice.
Chicken Adobo (Filipino-Style Braised Chicken)
Chicken Bouillabaisse
Serious Eats
Bouillabaisse is a classic southern French seafood stew flavored with tomatoes, saffron, and fennel, that's served with a garlicky mayonnaise-like rouille made with bread, olive oil, and cayenne pepper. Here, the same ingredients are used to make a quick chicken stew that's a little heartier but equally as tasty.
Chicken Bouillabaisse
Homemade Pollo Campero (Central American–Style Fried Chicken)
Serious Eats / Karla Vasquez
Pollo Campero is a restaurant chain that originated in Guatemala and is now famous throughout much of Central America and beyond—in particular for the juicy, flavorful, and richly spiced fried chicken recreated by this recipe.
Pollo Campero-Style Spicy Fried Chicken
Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Chickpea Masala
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
This one-pot meal of tender chicken, chickpeas, and spinach tastes like it's been simmering all day in a creamy sauce flavored with ginger, garlic, and cumin.
Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Chickpea Masala
Continue to 9 of 16 below
Ghanaian Chicken and Peanut Stew (Groundnut Soup)
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Peanut butter and tomatoes lend a rich and creamy backdrop to this simple, hearty Ghanaian chicken stew.
Ghanaian Chicken and Peanut Stew (Groundnut Soup)
Chicken Inasal (Filipino Grilled Chicken)
Serious Eats / Julia Hartbeck
A street food in the Philippines typically served with white or garlic rice and sawsawan, a vinegary dipping sauce.
Chicken Inasal (Filipino Grilled Chicken)
Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken (San Bei Ji)
Serious Eats / Qi Ai
You won't see a lot of strict rules in Taiwanese recipes. But this dish, one of the island's most famous, is an exception. It calls upon equal parts soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil to create a viscous, dark sauce for braising chopped pieces of bone-in chicken.
Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken (San Bei Ji) Recipe
Jamaican Curry Chicken
Serious Eats / Karina Matalon
Marinated with an assortment of spices and coated in a rich, creamy gravy, this flavorful curry chicken is a simple and delicious Jamaican staple.
Jamaican Curry Chicken
Continue to 13 of 16 below
Grilled Tamarind Chicken Thighs
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Grilled chicken thighs marinated in a bold mixture inspired by Filipino sinigang.
Grilled Chicken Tamarind Thighs
The Best Buttermilk-Brined Southern Fried Chicken
Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian
An intensely flavored brine keeps the meat moist underneath all that golden brown crispness.
The Best Buttermilk-Brined Southern Fried Chicken
Chicken Tagine With Pistachios, Dried Figs, and Chickpeas
Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer
This slow-cooked chicken and chickpea tagine gets its flavor not from lots and lots of deep browning, but instead a gentle touch, a few key spices, and the natural juices of the meat and vegetables.
Chicken Tagine With Pistachios, Dried Figs, and Chickpeas
Traditional French Cassoulet
Serious Eats / Fred Hardy
A meaty stew of poultry, sausage, pork, and beans, all under a rich, dark brown crust.
Traditional French Cassoulet

16 Chicken Leg Recipes That'll Never Let You Down

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