Let’s have some fun with a different condiment in this week’s edition of Sunday Scratchups, your weekly recipe from scratch around grocery sales and affordable ingredients. Up this week: Sheet Pan Gochujang Chicken Drumsticks & Potatoes. This was a total experiment, but came out totally y-u-m! Phew. 😉
So, here’s how this week’s easy sheet pan dinner recipe came about.
Use what you have before buying new
I’m a sucker for sales and trying new things, so sometimes have to challenge myself to use up what I already have in the house rather than chase after the shiny and new. So lately I’ve been trying to create meals using some of the older meat in my freezer, like today’s chicken drumsticks, rather than buying new. (No worries, though: In keeping with our Sunday Scratchups theme, drumsticks are always affordable, and often on sale.)
Poking around further, I ran across a bottle of Gochujang sauce in my pantry that I picked up at ALDI a while back but never got around to opening — as well as a bag of these wonderful little medley potatoes that were starting to get slightly soft.
Boom: Sheet Pan Gochujang Chicken Drumsticks & Potatoes was born! So now, let me share its slightly spicy, slightly smoky wonder with you. If you’re not familiar with Gochujang, the sauce is bears some similarities to Sriracha — but with more of an underlying smoky richness. This particular Gochujang sauce from ALDI is on the sweeter side, but this may vary if you are buying a different brand.
Sheet Pan Gochujang Chicken Drumsticks & Potatoes
Ingredients
2 lbs chicken drumsticks
24 oz small potatoes, halved (cut any larger ones in thirds)
3/4 cup Gochujang sauce, divided
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
Sea salt, to taste
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray it with cooking spray — don’t skip the foil, or your pan will be a hot mess to clean.
Trim excess skin off drumsticks, if necessary. In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the Gochujang sauce, olive oil, garlic powder, ginger powder, sea salt, and soy sauce. (Reserve the other 1/4 cup of Gochujang sauce for basting the chicken with later.)
Arrange potatoes on one end of the prepared baking sheet, drizzle them with half of the Gochujang mixture, and toss to coat. Spread the seasoned potatoes out in a single layer.
Add the drumsticks to the bowl with the rest of the Gochujang mixture and toss to coat. Arrange the chicken in a single layer on the other end of the baking sheet.
Roast drumsticks and potatoes at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and brush drumsticks on all sides with more Gochujang sauce, flipping them over with tongs, then stir and flip over potatoes. (I used tongs here as well, since they tended to stick.)
Return the pan to the oven and continue roasting your chicken and potatoes for another 25-30 minutes, brushing drumsticks with additional Gochujang sauce and flipping every ten minutes, until drumsticks are at an internal temperature of 165 degrees and potatoes are softened. If your potatoes are done before the chicken reaches temperature, just remove them from the pan and continue cooking the chicken until ready.
Gochujang chicken drumsticks and potatoes go quite nicely with a cool, crisp green salad!
Notes: My drumsticks here were fairly large, so if yours are smaller you might reduce the cooking time, start brushing on additional Gochujang earlier, and quarter the potatoes to help everything cook more evenly. Note that I also used Gochujang sauce, not paste, and my ALDI sauce here is on the sweeter side. If you’re using another brand, taste the sauce after mixing in the soy sauce, olive oil, & spices to see if you want to add in a little honey as well.
Sticky Tangy Yummy Goodness
You’ll be amazed at the amount of flavor you get here from just a few simple ingredients! Taking the time to brush on additional layers of Gochujang sauce throughout the roasting process allows it to caramelize nicely and lets all of that sweet-smoky-spicy flavor permeate the drumsticks — while also keeping them nice and juicy.
Gochujang drumsticks pair perfectly with their accompanying roasted potatoes for a great one pan meal; just add a salad or another green veggie on the side to round things out.
Sheet Pan Gochujang Chicken Drumsticks & Potatoes, printable recipe
Sheet Pan Gochujang Chicken Drumsticks & Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken drumsticks
- 24 oz small potatoes, halved (cut any larger ones in thirds)
- 3/4 cup Gochujang sauce, divided
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- Sea salt, to taste
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray it with cooking spray -- don't skip the foil, or your pan will be a hot mess to clean.
- Trim excess skin off drumsticks, if necessary. In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the Gochujang sauce, olive oil, garlic powder, ginger powder, sea salt, and soy sauce. (Reserve the other 1/4 cup of Gochujang sauce for basting the chicken with later.)
- Arrange potatoes on one end of the prepared baking sheet, drizzle them with half of the Gochujang mixture, and toss to coat. Spread the seasoned potatoes out in a single layer.
- Add the drumsticks to the bowl with the rest of the Gochujang mixture and toss to coat. Arrange the chicken in a single layer on the other end of the baking sheet.
- Roast drumsticks and potatoes at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and brush drumsticks on all sides with more Gochujang sauce, flipping them over with tongs, then stir and flip over potatoes. (I used tongs here as well, since they tended to stick.)
- Return the pan to the oven and continue roasting your chicken and potatoes for another 25-30 minutes, brushing drumsticks with additional Gochujang sauce and flipping every ten minutes, until drumsticks are at an internal temperature of 165 degrees and potatoes are softened. If your potatoes are done before the chicken reaches temperature, just remove them from the pan and continue cooking the chicken until ready.
- Gochujang chicken drumsticks and potatoes go quite nicely with a cool, crisp green salad!
Notes
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