If you only tend to use chicken breasts, it is time to consider chicken legs too. Why do so? Because chicken leg has dark meat that holds butter and adds flavor to your dish. This makes chicken legs more reliable compared to white meat. More so, chicken legs are easy to cook than the entire chicken.
Don’t worry because this article has got your situation covered. It is not my wish to make you drool but to show you how to cook chicken legs for your family. How can you do that, and what ingredients do you need? You can cook chicken legs in several ways, like pouching, pan-frying, and baking.
Therefore if you wish to try it, below are steps to help you. These ways are straightforward. What you only need is ingredients and your time.
1. How to Cook Poached Chicken Legs
Submerging chicken in flavorful stock will make it tasty and juicy. Let this situation not remind you of old ages because poaching chicken will depend on ingredients in your stock. More so, pouching chicken has its full flavor than others.
Ingredients you require
1 leek
Yellow onion
Carrots
2 quarts of chicken stock
Bay leaf and thyme leaves
Celery stalks
Pepper
Chicken legs
Salt
Olive oil
Water
Simple Steps
Step 1: Prepare Your Stock
First, you must chop the onion, leek, and garlic.
Position well your cooking vessel on the heat source. If it is a burner, use medium-low heat, then pour olive oil into the cooking vessel carefully.
Sweat your chopped ingredients and get them out.
Step 2: Add Your Chicken Legs
Maintaining the medium temperature, place your chicken legs in the cooking pot; give it about 7 minutes to heat on both sides or until they turn golden.
Add chopped carrots, celery, and onion, followed by herbs. Add salt for seasoning.
Step 3: Pouring of Enough Water
Add hot water to cover your herbs and chicken legs, then cover the pot with a lid and allow it to boil. Give it time to simmer, uncover the pot, and then continue cooking for about 12 minutes.
Step 4: Boil For ½ an Hour
Leave your mix to boil for about 30 minutes or until they are ready. Ensure the internal pot temperature is 165 degrees. If you have a thermometer, measure the temperature. You can use a perfect small slow cooker to cook the chicken using the boiling feature.
You can check if it’s prepared by cutting into your chicken legs and making sure they are not pink.
Step 5: Give it 10 Minutes to Cool.
Before serving your chicken, place it on a dish and give it 10 minutes to cool. There you are through with pouching chicken legs. You may decide to serve it alone or with other meals like potatoes, sautéed asparagus, and rice.
2. How to Pan-fry Chicken Legs
This is another method that you can use to cook chicken legs. It is also an easy method with common ingredients like;
8 or 6 Chicken legs
5 tablespoonfuls of Olive oil
4 tablespoonfuls of Kosher salt
3 tbsp. Fresh black pepper powder
2 tbsp. Cayenne pepper
2 teaspoonful Garlic powder
2 tsp. Onion powder
1 tsp. Mustard powder
Step 1: Marinate Your Kitchen Legs
Combine all spices and improve your chicken legs’ flavor by rubbing them in the already prepared spices. Allow it to soak for around 60 minutes in the fridge before frying. Here, giving them enough time to soak in your marinate enables the chicken legs to get deeper flavor and color. Therefore, be patient.
Step 2: Pour Olive oil into The Frying Pan and Warm it With Medium Heat.
Add less than 2 tablespoonfuls of olive oil to your frying pan, or ensure the olive oil reaches a thin coat at the bottom. Give it enough time to sizzle; this can only take up to 2 minutes before adding your chicken legs.
Step 3: Place Your Chicken Legs in The Frying Pan
Under this step, you must put all your chicken legs in the pan, allowing it to sizzle for about 10 minutes. Continue frying until their bottom turns dark and becomes brown and crispy.
Step 4: Turn Over Your Chicken Legs
At this step, turn over your chicken legs to fry both sides. Cook them again for about 10 minutes or are of the same consistency or color.
In short, ensure all parts turn golden. However, you can check if your chicken leg is ready by cutting through the thickest area of one of the legs.
More so, the meat of your chicken legs should be opaque and not pink. If it is pink, continue frying.
Step 5: Remove Your Chicken Legs From The Frying Pan
After confirming if your chicken is ready, remove them from the frying pan and give them time to cool. Place them on a dish or a plate for not less than 10 minutes or until your chicken is cold.
Step 6: Time to Serve
If all the above steps are successful, it is time to serve your chicken. You can take your chicken alone or serve it with other delicious dishes such as potatoes and veggies. There you will have your fried chicken after a long journey.
Remember, you will enjoy it more if the chicken is still hot.
3. How to Bake Chicken Legs
Let us try to cook chicken legs using a different method: baking. It is the easiest way to prepare and cook chicken legs because it involves few ingredients.
These ingredients include;
5 tablespoonfuls of olive oil
8 or 6 chicken legs
Salt and pepper for tasting
The Following are step-by-step guides on How to Cook Chicken Legs Through The Baking Method.
Step 1: Preheat The Oven
Heat your oven in advance to 400 degrees (F) or 204 degrees Celsius
Step2: Apply Olive Oil at The Bottom of Your Roasting Pan
Under this step, you can use about 3 tablespoonfuls of olive oil to coat the pan’s bottom part.
Step 3: Prepare Your Chicken legs
Get your chicken legs ready for baking. Rinse them in cold or hot water, then pat your chicken legs to dry using a paper towel.
Rub them with a small amount of olive oil. This not only gives them richer flavor but also prevents your chicken legs from burning.
It is now time to use pepper and salt. Apply these ingredients to all sides of your chicken legs for a taste. You can use an indoor smokeless grill to grill the legs, but here we will discuss about cooking in an oven.
Step 4: Arrange Your Chicken Legs in the pan
Arranging your chicken legs prevents them from crowding in the roasting pan. Create a room between them using a cooking stick or a cooking fork.
Step 5: Cook Your Chicken
Place the roasting pan in your oven and cook for about 35 minutes.
Step 6: Lower Oven Temperature
Lower the temperature to 350 degrees (F) or 176 degrees Celsius, and cook your chicken legs for 25 minutes more.
Make sure they are opaque, or their juices run transparent; also, confirm if they are ready by cutting through thicker areas. If they are still pink, continue cooking for another five minutes to golden.
Ensure the internal temperature is 165 degrees (F) or 74 degrees Celsius.
Step 7: Remove Your pan From The Oven
Remove your chicken from the oven and place them on a plate (aluminum), tending them with foil. Allow it to cool for about 7 minutes before serving.
Step 8: Serve
Take these delicious chicken legs while hot. You may decide to serve your chicken with other suitable meals like bread baked in a proper bread maker.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is The Advisable Temperature For Cooking Chicken Legs?
The most advisable temperature to prepare chicken legs is 200 degrees Celsius with the assistance of a fan or 215 degrees Celsius without a fan. Sometimes, you can preheat the oven up to 400 degrees Celsius.
2. How Many Hours or Minutes can You use For Cooking Chicken Legs?
You can cook chicken legs for about 1 hour or 50 minutes. This depends on the source of heat or temperature you are using. Ensure that the internal temperature of your pot is 180 degrees (F) when it is ready. However, you can use 40-60 minutes for cooking chicken legs at a temperature of 350 degrees (F).
In short, the higher the temperature, the lower the time.
3. Why do I Need to use Pepper and Salt When Cooking Chicken legs?
The primary purpose of these two ingredients is for tasting. Your chicken will lack taste without them.
4. How Can I Make Chicken Legs?
It is simple: place your chopped garlic in the incision and then place your chicken on a baking tray, apply salt, and rub. Sprinkle mixed herbs and black pepper onto all sides.
Conclusion
It is time to enjoy fresh chicken legs. This article will be more critical if you try making your chicken legs. However, there are many other ways how to cook the legs, but the above three are the simplest and best ones. However, it will depend on your available ingredients and preferences, but all methods will give you a delicious dish.
For better results, avail yourself of your ingredients before the cooking process begins.