Crockpot Honey Jalapeno Chicken Drumsticks

A few weeks back I stumbled upon some organic chicken drumsticks that were on sale at a great price and decided to buy them.  I’ve never cooked drumsticks before and was kind of a loss on how to cook them.  This shouldn’t be a big deal right? I mean I cook whole chickens all the time.  But the first time I cook meat (or poultry) in a new form I’m a little freaked out and nervous.  I was perusing my Recipes to Try board on Pinterest and came across the recipe for Honey Jalapeno Chicken Tenders which inspired me to create Crockpot Honey Jalapeno Chicken Drumsticks.  You can check out my inspiration recipe here.

Crockpot Honey Jalapeno Chicken Drumsticks

6 drumsticks
1/8 C honey
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapenos finely diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
sprinkle of pepper
cilantro for serving

I started by measuring out the honey, soy sauce and EVOO.  Do any of y’all have an 1/8 cup measurer? I don’t so I totally had to eyeball this.  And…it’s time I let you in on my little secret.  So, you know how I adore garlic and don’t really think you can go wrong adding a little extra?  Well, I finally decided to give pre-minced garlic a try and I think I’m in love!  So easy and so fast to just measure it out and not deal with the sticky mess as a result.  I don’t know why it took me so long to discover this?!

Once I had the jalapenos diced I whisked the marinated together.

I left some of the jalapeno seeds in for spice but I didn’t leave enough.  Next time I will!

I did not get my drumsticks all the way defrosted but they were pretty much there when I started making the marinade, but since they were going in the crockpot I didn’t think it would matter.  If I’d planned better I would have let the drumsticks sit in the marinade overnight so it could really soak in.  I did my best to coat each drumstick in the marinade.  Then I set them in the bottom of the crockpot and poured in the remaining marinade.

I set the crockpot on low for 6 hours and let them cook!  Because I was home while they were cooking I rotated them every few hours so they’d cook a little more evenly.  If you are unable to turn them I recommend adding more of the liquids so that they cook best.  Because I wanted to get the skin crispy, I transfered the drumsticks to a baking dish I dusted with cooking spray.

I cooked them for about 10 minutes at 500 degrees, but next time I’d let it go a little longer.  You’ll want to be sure and keep an eye on them and rotate them so you don’t burn them.

When they were ready, I removed them from the baking dish and topped with the cilantro.

The original recipe suggested serving it with sour cream, so I decided to make a little dipping sauce with a little of the liquid the chicken was cooked in, mixed with some greek yogurt to thicken it.  These Crockpot Honey Jalapeno Chicken Drumsticks were delicious and I will most definitely be making these again!

How do you prefer your drumsticks?  Let me know if you try out this Crockpot Honey Jalapeno Chicken Drumstick recipe, I’d love to hear how it turns out for you!