Roasted Chicken Legs (Tray Bake Dinner!)

These Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters are marinated in the most delicious marinade and served as a traybake with Sweet Potatoes, Onions and Peppers!

Roasted Chicken Legs 

I don’t often cook with full chicken leg quarters, and quite frankly I don’t really know why. They’re far juicier and more flavoursome than chicken breast, and far more convenient than cooking with a mix of thighs and drumsticks. In general, they’re also very cheap as well.

Chicken legs also make the perfect dinner! Here I’ve served it as part of a ‘dump n cook’ style tray bake for an easy hearty dinner. Here’s why I think you’ll love it:

• Flavour – Using a homemade marinade these chicken legs are bursting with flavour.
• Versatile – An easy way to use up leftover veg to create your own tray bake.
• Inexpensive – Cheap cut of meat and uses pantry essentials!

Just look at those pan juices 😍

Whole Chicken Leg Marinade

Behind every juicy, flavoursome chicken is a marinade. The marinade for these chicken legs is really simple, but really packs a punch in the flavour department. It’s verging on BBQ style – sweet and smoky, yet rich and spicy. 

How long to marinade chicken legs?

Overnight is optimum, with the 2-4hour range working just great. Having said that, if for whatever you don’t have time, even just 30mins will make the world of difference.

How to marinade chicken legs (quick summary)

1. Add smoked paprika, onion & garlic powder, cayenne pepper, s&p, olive oil, honey and lime juice to a small bowl.
2. Thoroughly stir to combine.
3. Pour over chicken legs in a large bowl.
4. Thoroughly coat, then cover and marinade.

Chicken Leg Tray Bake

Alrighty, let’s turn these chicken legs into a full dinner shall we. There’s truly nothing easier than a tray bake is there?! To pair with the chicken I’ve gone for sweet potatoes, red pepper, yellow pepper and red onion. The sweet potatoes work really nicely with the BBQ/spicy flavour of the marinade, as do the peppers and onion. In my humble you don’t need much else, but do feel free to switch up if you fancy!

How to make a Chicken Tray Bake (quick summary)

1. Remove chicken from marinade.
2. Mix in veg with leftover marinade
3. Spread out on a large tray.
4. Nestle in chicken legs and bake away!

The BEST Baked Chicken Legs!

I mean, in my humble opinion of course. If you like the look of this tray bake, I know you’ll love my Spanish Chicken Tray Bake. Here’s some other similar recipes to tuck into whilst you’re here!

One Pan Chicken Dinners

• One Pan Roast Dinner
• Creamy Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs
• Honey Garlic Chicken
• Herb Roasted Spatchcock Chicken
• Spanish Style Chicken Orzo

Alrighty, let’s get cracking on with this whole chicken leg recipe shall we?!

How to Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters (Full Recipe & Video)

Roasted Chicken Legs

These Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters are marinated in the most delicious marinade and served as a traybake with Sweet Potatoes, Onions and Peppers!

4.93 from 13 votes

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Servings (click & slide): 4

Course: Dinner / Main Course

Cuisine: American / British

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Marinating Time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Calories per serving: 582kcal

Author: Chris Collins

Cost per serving: £2 / $2.50

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Equipment:

• 30cm x 45cm (12” x 18”) Oven Tray (or similar size)
• Large Bowl & Cling Film (for marinating)
• Small Bowl (for marinade)
• Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
• Spatula

Ingredients (check list):

Tray Bake

• ▢ 1lb / 500g Sweet Potatoes, diced into chunks
• ▢ 3 small Red Onions, quartered
• ▢ 1 large Red Pepper, diced
• ▢ 1 large Yellow Pepper, diced
• ▢ drizzle of Olive Oil
• ▢ Salt & Pepper, to taste

Chicken & Marinade

• ▢ 4 Chicken Legs (see notes)
• ▢ 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• ▢ 1 tbsp Honey
• ▢ 1 tbsp Lime Juice (can sub lemon)
• ▢ 1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
• ▢ 2 tsp Garlic Powder
• ▢ 1 tsp Onion Powder
• ▢ 1 tsp Salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (more or less to taste)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Instructions:

• In a small bowl combine 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste), 1/2 tsp black pepper, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp lime juice.
• Combine in a large bowl with 4 chicken legs. Cover and leave to marinate for as long as you have time for (2-4 hours great, overnight best, but even 30mins is better than nothing).
• Take chicken legs out and add 1lb/500g sweet potato, 2 peppers and 3 small onions to the leftover marinade. Add a drizzle of oil and pinch of salt and pepper and thoroughly mix.
• Poor out onto an oven tray and nestle in the chicken legs. Pop in the oven at 210C/410F for 50-60mins, or until the veg and chicken is nicely charred and completely cooked through. Check after 30mins and if it's all charring too quickly, just take it out, flip the veg, baste the chicken and pop in at a slightly lower temp.
• The internal temp of the chicken should be 75C/165F with the juices running clear.

Quick 1 min demo!

Notes:

a) Chicken Legs - 4 chicken leg quarters is about 2lb/1kg, so you can use a mix of chicken thighs/drums if you want, just use about 2lb/1kg worth. Cook at the same temp, just be vigilant with timings as individual thighs/drumsticks tend to differ in weight/size. I don't recommend using breasts as they'll dry out at that temp for that long.

b) Sweet Potatoes - No need to peel, just make sure you give them a good scrub to remove dirt. If you don't like/don't have sweet potatoes feel free to sub regular potato.

c) Calories - Based on sharing between 4 people, with 1 tsp 'drizzle' of oil on veg, then assuming all the oil in the recipe is consumed (slight over estimate):

Your Private Notes:

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Nutrition:

Nutrition Facts

Roasted Chicken Legs

Amount Per Serving

Calories 582 Calories from Fat 208

% Daily Value*

Fat 23.1g36%

Saturated Fat 4.467g22%

Trans Fat 0.045g

Polyunsaturated Fat 3.98g

Monounsaturated Fat 12.076g

Cholesterol 241mg80%

Sodium 850mg35%

Potassium 1450mg41%

Carbohydrates 37.66g13%

Fiber 5.7g23%

Sugar 9.49g11%

Protein 55.17g110%

Vitamin A 2400IU48%

Vitamin C 165.4mg200%

Calcium 71mg7%

Iron 4.07mg23%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition is based on the absence of salt unless stated as a measurement in the ingredients. Cost is worked out based on ingredients bought from UK supermarkets, then divided by the number of servings. In both instances these values are just for guidance. Please check out my FAQ Page for more info.

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Looking for more?You'll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook 'Comfy'

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