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This 5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken Legsrecipe is flavor-packed and easy to prepare with a few simple ingredients. These chicken legs, made with soy sauce, require almost no effort - dinner is done in 10 minutes!
Easy 5 Ingredient Crockpot Chicken Legs Recipe
This meal is super simple and a major crowd pleaser, and it all comes together with 10 minutes of prep time, 5 ingredients, and a slow cooker. Slow cooker chicken drumsticks are going to be a super easy kid friendly meal that makes it onto your meal rotation in no time!
Ingredients:
- Chicken legs or drumsticks: I love using this cut of meat, it's inexpensive and easy to fine, plus it's fun to eat! You can always use chicken thighs too.
- Jam or jelly: I like something without seeds like a peach, apricot, apple or other light jam
- Ketchup: this adds a tomato base to the sauce
- Soy sauce: this adds so much great salt and flavor to the dish
- Minced garlic or garlic powder: this is the flavor of the dish
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Legs
- This is so easy! Just pop the chicken in the slow cooker.
- Mix all your sauce ingredients together and pour it over the chicken.
- Let it cook! Serve and Enjoy.
- Don't waste the sauce, serve it over rice and cooked veggies. It's very flavorful and good to eat!
Tips and Tricks for Making Slow Cooker Chicken Legs
- You can add so many things to these crock pot chicken legs! Add a tablespoon or three of Siracha or other favorite hot sauce for some spice, add a teaspoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning for a little bit of smokiness, or throw in some favorite spices like onion powder, cumin, or ginger. It's very flexible and very versatile.
- You can use all kinds of jams and jellies for this recipe. My favorites are grape, apple, apricot, or peach. They have a nice flavor and sweetness without being too fruity. I normally avoid jams with seeds such as blackberry.
- The sauce that the cooking chicken creates is delicious. Feel free to serve it over rice. Add a side of steamed veggies and you have yourself a complete meal.
- I normally plan on two chicken legs per person as a serving size. This is a great recipe for a crowd and scales up and down really nicely.
- If you like your chicken legs a little crispy on the outside, you can remove them from the slow cooker after they're finished cooking and put them on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush them with additional sauce left in the slow cooker. Broil them in the oven for around 5 minutes until you reach your desired crispiness.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Do You Need to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Legs?
This recipe to make chicken legs in the slow cooker is a joy because you only need FIVE ingredients: 3-or-so pounds of chicken legs or drumsticks, 1 cup of jam or jelly, ½ cup of ketchup, ⅓ cup of soy sauce, and 2 teaspoons minced garlic.
How Long Do the Chicken Legs Last?
If you have leftover chicken legs, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can cut the leftover chicken from the bone and use it in a stir fry and a salad to remix the meal. Store leftover sauce separately in an airtight container for up to 5 days, as well.
How Can You Customize Slow Cooker Chicken Legs?
There are PLENTY of ways to make this recipe your own! You can use all kinds of jams and jellies in the recipe, but I particularly like grape, apple, apricot, and peach. They add a really nice flavor without being too fruity or seedy (I usually avoid seedy ones, like blackberry or strawberry).
You can also add a couple tablespoons of Sriracha or another favorite hot sauce to amp up the spice levels, or throw in some smoky seasonings to make it even richer. It’s super versatile, so add whatever flavors you love!
You can pair this with just about any sides that you like! It’s pretty rich and so very delicious, so even a nice and simple side salad would go well, or some steamed, rice, or mashed potatoes to soak up that yummy sauce with steamed veggies.
Storing Leftovers
Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. These reheat well in the air-fryer or the microwave.
More chicken recipes:
- The Best Baked Chicken Leg Quarters
- Chicken Kabobs
- The Best Baked Chicken Legs
- One Pot Coconut Chicken and Rice
If you’ve tried thisSlow Cooker Chicken Leg Recipeor any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget torate the recipeand leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me onInstagramso I can repost on my stories.
Other Chicken Leg Recipes You’ll Love
- Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Legs
- 4-Ingredient Honey Mustard Baked Chicken Legs
- Crispy Panko-Crusted Baked Chicken Legs
- The Best Baked Chicken Legs
- 8 Must-Make Recipes for Chicken Legs
- The Best Oven Baked Chicken Leg Quarters
A few more recipes you'll love:
- Slow cooker pork tenderloin: if you like using your slow cooker, you'll love this recipe!
- How to cook asparagus on the stove top: goes great as a side for the chicken!
- Deli-Style Broccoli Salad
So many great chicken and slow cooker recipes! I hope you have time to make this one because it's a keeper. You'll love making crock pot chicken drumsticks because they are so easy to make and your whole family will love them too.
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Chicken Legs
Melissa Griffiths
This 5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken Legsrecipe is flavor-packed and easy to prepare with a few simple ingredients. These chicken legs, made with soy sauce, require almost no effort - dinner is done in 10 minutes!
5 from 51 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 4 hours hrs
Total Time 4 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Servings 6
Calories 464 kcal
Ingredients
- 3 to 3.5 pound chicken legs or drumsticks
- 1 cup jam or jelly, see notes
- ½ cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (or ½ teaspoon garlic powder)
Instructions
Place the chicken legs in the bottom of the slow cooker.
In a small bowl add the jam or jelly, ketchup, soy sauce, and garlic. Mix to combine well.
Pour the sauce over the chicken legs.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 5-6 or until the chicken is cooked through.
Enjoy the chicken hot.
Notes
- You can use all kinds of jams and jellies for this recipe. My favorites are grape, apple, apricot, or peach. They have a nice flavor and sweetness without being too fruity. I normally avoid jams with seeds such as blackberry.
- You can add so many things to these chicken legs! Add a tablespoon or three of Siracha or other favorite hot sauce for some spice, add a teaspoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning for a little bit of smokiness, or throw in some favorite spices like onion powder, cumin, or ginger. It's very flexible and very versatile.
- The sauce that the cooking chicken creates is delicious. Feel free to serve it over rice. Add a side of steamed veggies and you have yourself a complete meal.
Nutrition
Calories: 464kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 23gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 120mgSodium: 1028mgPotassium: 394mgFiber: 1gSugar: 32gVitamin A: 222IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 30mgIron: 2mg
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About Melissa
Melissa is dedicated to helping parents figure out the nightly questions, "What's for Dinner?!" with her no-fuss approach to cooking. Read more...
Reader Interactions
Comments
Emily
These are amazing! Super easy and delicious. We will definitely be making these chicken legs regularly. I was skeptical about the sauce because I didn’t like it before I put it on the chicken but after simmering in the slow cooker all day, it was phenomenal and wonderful on rice!Reply
Jennifer
I only have 6 lovely legs, how can I adjust ingredients and cooking time?
Reply
Kevin
Must cost you a fortune in footwear... sorry. My dry sense of humour.
They did turn out very good following the recipe I might add.
🤐
Cathy
Can you use skinless?
Reply
Melissa
It should work fine.
JOYCE DORE
Hi Christina, I just came upon this recipe for slow cooker drumsticks and wanted to ask for your marinade recipe if possible using worceshire sauce and rest(vinegar,garlic,s&p,water. to marinafe overnight. It sounds delicious. Thank you. Joyce
Reply
Bill
What size slow cooker do you use for the dump and go chicken legs?
Reply
Melissa
Mines a 6 quart!
Felicia
Delicious! I liberally sprinkled the chicken first with smoked paprika and followed the rest of the recipe like it was,,big hit with mashed taters 👍Reply
Debbie
These drumsticks are absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to share this recipe with my friends and relatives.😊💕👍Reply
Christina Ramos
Can I throw the chicken in frozen?
Melissa
You can but it will change the cooking time and I think the extra liquid it creates makes the sauce thinner than ideal, try it both ways and see what you like!
Lorraine M
Is the chicken skin on or off?
Reply
Melissa
Skin on
Rebs
I’m making this today but I always panic with “walking away” and letting it cook. Do you Stir the sauce or “recover” the chicken as it cooks? Do I need to flip the chicken at all?
Reply
Melissa
I don't do anything... just let it cook. When it's done I'll remove the chicken and reserve the sauce to serve over rice.
Bob
Great recipe for people (like me ) who don't really care for chicken legs. I made this with BOTH legs and thighs with plum jam and a touch of Korean Gochujang paste and it came our great! I thickened the remaining liquid with chicken stock and corn starch.Reply
Melissa
That sounds incredible! Thank you for sharing!
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