Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Drumsticks
Just packed with flavor: Oven baked Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Drumsticks are reminiscent of tandoori chicken, but simpler to throw together.

Here's a super budget-friendly (and super flavorful) Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Drumsticks recipe! I wanted to try something different this week, and this baked yogurt-marinated chicken recipe is mildly reminiscent of tandoori chicken -- but simpler, and oven baked with its own tangy sweet + smoky flavor.

Marinating in yogurt also helps keep the drumsticks juicy and infuses them with flavor. (Try squeezing a little fresh lemon juice on these before serving to really bring that out, too!) And you want to talk about affordable: This whole big pack of 10 chicken drumsticks was just $2.48 on sale, and handily fed all four of us with some left over.
Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Drumsticks

Ingredients
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
4 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1.5 Tbsp smoked paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Juice of ½ a small lemon
Generous amount of fresh ground black pepper
sea salt, to taste
3-3.5 lbs chicken drumsticks
Directions

To make your marinade: Combine yogurt, 2 tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice, and spices. Trim excess skin off the drumsticks if necessary, then place them in a large bowl, pour marinade over, and toss to coat. (This is a good time to start the oven preheating to 425 degrees while you let the chicken marinate for at least 20 minutes.)

Drizzle a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet with remaining olive oil, then arrange drumsticks in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake chicken at 425 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until cooked through, flipping over halfway through.

Garnish chicken with chopped green onions (optional) and serve with lemon wedges.
Boom! Change it up with this Yogurt-Marinated Chicken...

Give this yogurt-marinated chicken a try when you want to change up your standard chicken drumsticks recipes and add some new flair to this affordable type of meat. The mix of spices, yogurt, and lemon juice is nice and flavorful without being overly spicy.
By the way: If you don't yet have smoked paprika in your spice cupboard, it's worth the investment because it adds an amazing flavor to so many recipes. I've started buying it in larger containers on Amazon in order to save. 🙂

Yogurt-marinated chicken drumsticks are also naturally low carb and gluten free!
Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Drumsticks, printable recipe
Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 4 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1.5 tablespoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Juice of ½ a small lemon
- Generous amount of fresh ground black pepper
- sea salt, to taste
- 3.5 lbs chicken drumsticks
Instructions
- To make your marinade: Combine yogurt, 2 tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice, and spices.
- Trim excess skin off the drumsticks if necessary, then place them in a large bowl, pour marinade over, and toss to coat. (This is a good time to start the oven preheating to 425 degrees while you let the chicken marinate for at least 20 minutes.)
- Drizzle a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet with remaining olive oil, then arrange drumsticks in a single layer on the baking sheet.
- Bake chicken at 425 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until cooked through, flipping over halfway through.
- Garnish chicken with chopped green onions (optional) and serve with lemon wedges.
Recipes in the real world
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Another yummy night. Aldi's didn't have drumsticks, so I switched in ground turkey, put everything into a ziplock bag, and mashed together, piped it onto the cookie sheet, and baked, then broiled for a few minutes.
I never would have thought of doing that! Glad it turned out well. 🙂
Bite size chicken breasts this time. Oven and broiled. Yumm.