You only need 5 ingredients to make easy and delicious Crockpot Chicken Drumsticks. Toss everything into your crock pot and dinner will be a breeze. Everyone will enjoy these tender and flavorful slow cooker drumsticks.
This Easy Chicken Drumsticks slow cooker chicken recipes is a must try. Whether you need something tasty and easy for game day or the next big party, this is the best and easy appetizer recipe with very little work.
It is delicious enough for company but easy enough to make on a busy weeknight. Our entire family loves this and the kids can’t get enough. These crock pot chicken drumsticks are requested weekly by my family. If you make the best crock pot drumsticks, then you must try Crockpot Barbecue Drumsticks, Grilled Chicken Legs or these Instant Pot BBQ Drumsticks.
Ingredients
- Chicken Drumsticks – You can also use chicken thighs, wings or boneless chicken breasts
- Paprika – See Best Paprika Substitute if you are out
- Cumin – If you are out check out these Best Substitute for Cumin
- Garlic Salt – We have even used fresh garlic cloves, garlic powder or minced garlic.
- BBQ sauce – We love using our Homemade BBQ Sauce but you use the store bought
Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe and ingredients in the recipe card.
How to Make Crockpot Drumsticks
Step 1 – In a small bowl whisk the tablespoons paprika, cumin, black pepper and garlic salt. Stir to combine.
Step 2 – Sprinkle over the drum sticks and rub all over chicken skin.
Step 3 – Place chicken drumsticks in slow cooker.
Step 4 – Pour 1 cup of barbeque sauce over the chicken drumsticks.
Step 5 – Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours until the chicken is tender. (You can cook on high if you prefer but reduce the hours on high.)
Step 6 – When finished place the chicken on a baking sheet lined with foil and cooking spray.
Step 7 – Brush half of the BBQ sauce on the drum sticks. Broil for 1-5 minutes until it begins to brown and has a crispy skin.
Step 8 – Remove from oven, flip the drumsticks, and brush with the remaining BBQ sauce.
Step 9 – Broil on high heat another 1-5 minutes until brown. Serve hot with ketchup to dip them into and Enjoy!
Crockpot Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 ½ cups bbq sauce (divided)
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Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the paprika, cumin, and garlic salt. Stir to combine.
- Sprinkle over the drum sticks and rub all over chicken skin.
- Place chicken drumsticks in slow cooker.
- Pour 1 cup of barbeque sauce over the chicken drum sticks.
- Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours until the chicken is tender. (You can cook on high if you prefer but reduce the hours on high.)
- When finished place the chicken on a cookie sheet lined with foil and cooking spray.
- Brush half of the bbq sauce on the drum sticks. Broil for 1-5 minutes until it begins to brown.
- Remove from oven, flip the drumsticks, and brush with the remaining bbq sauce.
- Broil another 1-5 minutes until brown.
- Serve hot. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Recipe Tips
- BBQ Sauce – Have you ever tried making your Homemade Barbecue Sauce? It really is a simple process to make and it taste amazing. You can use the store bought also and they will still turn out great.
- Leave Skin on Chicken – Make sure to leave the skin on these juicy chicken drumsticks. This allows the skin to get crispy and from drying out.
- Broil Chicken – If you prefer your drumsticks crispy, make sure when you put them in the broiler to watch them closely. It doesn’t take long to get that crispy edge.
Variations Ideas
We love recipes that you can change the recipes to use what you have or add in some extra spice. Here are favorite variations when making this recipe:- Spicy – If you like your crockpot chicken legs a little spicy add in some chopped jalapeno’s or sprinkle with crushed peppers.
- Honey – Add in some honey for the honey BBQ flavor.
- Brown Sugar – You can also add in some brown sugar for a touch of sweetness.
- Seasoning – You can also omit the BBQ sauce and just add the seasoning if you don’t want to use BBQ Sauce. Onion powder or Italian Seasoning is a great addition.
- Soy Sauce – Instead of BBQ Sauce add in some soy sauce.
Nutrition Facts
What to Serve with Chicken Drumsticks?
- We love serving with a side dish of Crockpot Mashed Potatoes Recipe or Roasted Red Potatoes topped with melted butter.
- Side of Steamed Broccoli, Crockpot Glazed Carrots or other vegetables would great with this recipe.
- Homemade Mac and Cheese is always a family favorite.
- A side of Instant pot White Rice Recipe also is a great option.
Frequently Asked Questions
I like my chicken drumsticks to have a little crisp to the edges. If you are concerned that they might be soggy in the slow cooker, we have a tip for you. When the chicken is finished cooking, place the drumsticks on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Broil for 1-5 minutes until it begins to brown.
Remove from oven, flip the drumsticks, and broil the other side for another 1-5 minutes until brown. This will give you just the right amount of crispiness to the outside of the drumsticks. This has quickly become one of our favorite Chicken drumstick slow cooker recipes easy and simple for any day of the week.
Yes, you can. Simply, follow the same instructions but increase the cooking time for the frozen chicken. If you chicken is frozen, the spices might not stick as well.
Frozen chicken legs in crock pot are just as easy and delicious. If you forget to take something out of the freezer, just toss frozen drumsticks in crockpot for a super easy and tasty meal. You can thaw in the fridge if you prefer.
The only liquid you need to add is the BBQ Sauce. The chicken will produce more liquid as it cooks and the chicken drumsticks will come out juicy and tender.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The leftovers will last about 4-5 days.
We like to reheat the leftovers in the oven so that they reheat evenly. Reheat in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
More Easy Chicken Slow Cooker Recipes
If you make this crockpot drumsticks recipe, please leave us a comment or a star review. We love to hear from you.
My family and I loved this chicken! We were happy with the fall off the bone texture and the flavor.
Barbara – Wahoo! So glad it was a success. Thanks for sharing!
I will be making these soon. I use Sweet Baby Ray’s…….NO SUGAR………..Tastes great and it helps keep it KETO
Richard – Sounds great! I love your variations to make this keto!
Richard, I have made this recipe any times and always use Sweet Baby Ray’s NO SUGAR, Turn
out great every time!
looks good and will try this . in your video halfway through can’t hear you talking and then when ya about done the volume comes back
On your video here it has u talking until 04:26-07:35 then all u hear is Music but Not u talking or any instructions just thought you’d like to know. I’m still going to try cuz this looks Yummy
Oh no! Thanks for letting us know Natasha! I do hope you try these delicious drumsticks. They’re so easy to make and delicious too!
Made this many times, don’t even broil and my husband loves it with corn on the cob or mashed potatoes ?
Will definitely be making this again. Was a hit with the family.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Laurie! Thank you for sharing and thank you for the positive review.
Absolutely love this recipe!! Everyone in my family loves it. I will say that I scale it up, usually double it including all of the rub and BBQ sauce (I make my own). Honestly we never get to the crisping stage – not worth the wait as they mostly are falling off the bone anyway. A++
I’m so glad you enjoy them Tim! Thank you for the positive review.
Do you have to broil
No, you don’t have to but I highly recommend it as it add a ton of flavor this recipe!
Made this multiple tes, always great.
Good with corn on the cob and coleslaw
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing!
Great recipe! My family loves it!
Is this recipe for full size chicken legs or is for the little drumettes?
This recipe is for full size chicken legs.
The family loved this recipe. Easy and delicious. Will certainly make these again.
I make this recipev3-4 times a month! Everyone loves it and so tasty too!
I’m so glad you love it!
What are the ingredients for the drumsticks
All the ingredients needed for this recipe are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
After putting the drumsticks under the broiler, is it okay to put them back in a clean crockpot to keep warm till serving? Thank you.
Yes you can do that.
First time doing this, and I love how easy it was to follow the recipe!
How would a mix of legs and thighs work?
Could I use this recipe with wings? Not a fan of legs.
I love this recipe. The drumsticks are always so good and we have them 2 or 3 times a month. Your recipes are so user friendly and taste great.
Excellent and easy. I used Cajun season instead of paprika and garlic and Chile salt for some spice. For the bbq sauce I used a hot and spicy sauce. This dish had amazing flavor and was cooked while I was at work. I have all boys and my husband so this was easy and they loved it!
I forgot to put them under the broiler and they were still delicious! Was a great pot-luck contribution.
Thanks for commenting! I’m so glad you loved it
Really like to try, looks so yummy ?
Used Beef Ribs instead of chicken!
It came out so good. Much better then restraint here in Los Angeles. Just had to tell my butcher to cut the ribs 4” a piece.
So glad you love it.
Can wings be used with this recipe?
Yes, you can. We do have a crock pot wings recipe as well – https://www.eatingonadime.com/crock-pot-buffalo-chicken-wings-recipe/
This was so easy and so delicious. I cooked jasmine rice and grilled pineapple on the side . Thank you
That sounds amazing!
If the recipe is doubled, should the cooking time be increased?
You might need to add a 1 hour cooking time.
Absolutely delicious! A wonderfully easy recipe! Everyone wanted more! Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to comment! I’m so glad you liked it.
If I have 4.5lb of chicken drumsticks, could I just increase the amount of spices and BBQ sauce?
Yes you can.
Could this be prepped the night before, so I can have my daughter start it for me during the day?
Yes that would work great!
This has become my new favorite drumstick recipe!! So easy and so delish! Thank you!!
I don’t like cumin…..something about the taste I could leave it out or reduce the amount but do you have a substitute ingredient to replace cumin? If so I would be so grateful as I could sub it in other recipes. Definitely going to try this!
What is best for freezing & reheating?
Made this it was Delicious
I love this recipe need more recipes thanks.
This is our favorite drumstick recipe!! We add BBQ sauce & then bake them
Just curious before I decide to make the recipe, is it really 6 lbs of chicken drumsticks? I lb per person? Looking at the picture of the drums on the cookie sheet it doesn’t appear to be that many. I counted 15 drumsticks. I hope my question doesn’t sound cheeky.
Sorry about that – This was a typo. We made approximately 3 lbs in this recipe. Generally we plan for 2-3 drumsticks per person. I have updated the recipe.
I tried this recipe after seeing your YouTube live where you made them. They were SO easy and yummy! I think I should have maybe added more sauce before I broiled them to make them crispier, but they were a hit with the family. LOVE that my crockpot had them ready for me and saved having to pick up food.
would it make a difference if you did not put them under the broiler? ours is not working right
You can place them on a grill instead and that would work. Adding the high heat caramelizes the sauce on the drumsticks so I do recommend it. Thanks.
It’s hard to find educated people for this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks
How much time for frozen drumsticks?
I would cook on low for 6-7 hours for frozen drumsticks. Thank you!
Hi Carrie ….was wondering how to put recipes from Blog into my Favorites please ???