Baked Chicken Leg Quarters

Exactly What Are Chicken Leg Quarters?

A chicken leg quarter is a bone-in chicken leg (thigh and drumstick in one piece) with a part of the back bone still attached to it.

If the back bone is removed, the cut becomes a whole chicken leg aka thigh-drumstick. Depending on where you shop for chicken you are likely to encounter either type of cut. 

Consequently, baked chicken legs and thighs are simply baked chicken leg quarters with already separated back bones.

How to Remove the Backbone

We prefer to remove the back bone from chicken quarters (see how below) before baking them. In that way there is no need to tackle it once the chicken is cooked. (This is however a completely optional prep step, feel free to skip it.)

If you don't:

• use a sturdy pair of kitchen scissors
• turn around each leg quarter so you can easily see the bone and firmly cut alongside it, in several steps, working your way up

TIP: To save the bones freeze them in a zip lock bag - you can use them to make chicken stock.

Ingredients for this Baked Chicken Leg Quarters Recipe

• Chicken leg quarters. As noted above, you can choose to remove the attached backbones and bake only the thigh-drumsticks. 
• Cooking oil. A little bit to mix with your choice of seasonings to brush over the chicken skin and just enough to coat the bottom of the baking dish before you place the leg quarters in it. We like to use olive oil. 
• Seasonings. We love to use paprika because it gives such a great color to the skin of the chicken. The rest of the seasonings we used here were oregano, garlic powder, cumin and salt and black pepper. For a different flavor profile but just as beautiful golden colored skin you can go with any of these: curry powder (or turmeric), coriander, cumin, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, poultry seasoning. 
• Flavorful liquid. We use equal parts chicken stock and a balanced ale or lager - they create a very flavorful combination and infuse the chicken with tasty moisture as it cooks (not far from the concept of beer can chicken). You can also go with equal parts white wine and chicken stock or only chicken stock. 

How to Bake Chicken Leg Quarters

The goal is twofold - flavorful, juicy, tender meat and crispy skin.

To bake skin-on chicken quarters that are mosit and tender first add a flavorful liquid and create an air tight seal around the baking dish. In this manner it remains moist throughout most of the cooking process and the meat is infused with flavors. Either a braiser or a deep baking dish will serve you best. Use a lid or create one with food wrap and foil as shown below.

• Preheat your oven to 350 - 375 F, depending on how strong it tends to be.
• Pat dry the chicken with paper towel, place in a greased baking dish, mix the oil and spice mixture in a small bowl and brush over the chicken.
• Add the flavorful liquid of your choice, then cover. 
• Cook covered for about 30 minutes to give time to the chicken fat to render and the collagen of the connective tissues to begin breaking down. Simultaneously the meat will be infused with the deliciousness of the stock and the beer. 
• After 30 mins remove the lid/food wrap and foil and bake for about 20 more minutes, as needed. The skin will begin to get crispy. 

TIP: You can always simply bake at 350 to 375 F, uncovered until done, but in that case we recommend that you brine the chicken first as a counter measure to excessive drying.

TIP: The reason we use food wrap and then aluminum foil is because during baking, if in contact with the salt and spices over the chicken skin aluminum could leach into it and increase the total aluminum content. You do not have to do it, but since this is the food safety compliant method Chris uses in a professional kitchen, we decided to show it here for your benefit.

How Long to Bake Chicken Leg Quarters?

Note that the following times are intended as guidelines. Oven calibrations vary, so simply bake until the chicken quarters are done. 

• At 375 F bake chicken leg quarters for about 55 mins (we recommend you do this and stay true to the instructions above)
• At 400 F bake chicken leg quarters for about 45 mins
• At 425 F bake chicken leg quarters for about 40 mins
• At 450 F bake chicken leg quarters for about 35 mins

How to Know When the Chicken Legs and Thighs Are Done?

It depends on how many and how large the chicken legs are, if you brought them to room temperature before baking or not, the calibration of your oven. It is not an exact science - bake until done.

Overall, oven baked chicken legs are done when the internal temperature reaches 165 F and the skin gets crispy enough for your liking. 

Use a meat thermometer to take internal temperature and be sure to measure it from the very center of each chicken quarter.

TIP: For extra crispy baked chicken leg quarters you can turn on the broiler for the last couple of minutes. Watch them closely.

How To Serve Baked Chicken Thighs and Legs

Obviously, you can serve the delicious dark meat with whatever you'd like. We like to make sides complementary to the seasonings for the chicken.

For this post we cut vegetables (eggplant, yellow and orange bell peppers) into more or less uniformly sized pieces, tossed them in 2 tablespoon of olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and spread them over a parchment paper lined baking sheet (for easy clean up later). We placed them in the oven at the same time we opened it to remove the covering from the baking dish.

It is a convenient way to prepare a side without using the stove and piggyback on the oven.

Other suitable side dishes are oven roasted potatoes, boiled potatoes with butter, salads, roasted carrots, Yukon gold potatoes, roasted yellow squash or garlicky green beans.

Gravy from the pan drippings

If you choose to add a bit more liquid in the beginning you will end up with plentiful pan drippings at the bottom of the pan which can be scraped off with a bit of extra chicken stock and converted into a gravy. 

To make it: Heat a small sauce pan over medium heat. Melt 2 tablespoon butter, mix in 2 tablespoon flour, cook until slightly browned and add the pan drippings (plus any small amount of chicken stock you used). Stir until smooth. If too thick, add a bit more chicken stock until satisfied.