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Roasted Turkey Legs are perfect for almost any day of the week and small Thanksgiving gatherings. Juicy, tender meat and crispy skin every time you make these! With only a small list of ingredients, you’ll practically be wanting these when it’s not Thanksgiving.

Turkey legs were on sale at my grocery store recently (yes, I’m shocked too), so I decided to buy them and create a recipe. I personally love the darker meat on a turkey. It’s juicy and tender and the most flavorful. There’s also clear advantages of choosing the legs over the breast, such as a shorter roasting time. Roasting parts of the turkey compared to roasting a full turkey avoids the issue of dry white meat, since the white meat cooks faster than the darker meat.

How to make Roasted Turkey Legs

This recipe only requires a few ingredients that are already in your pantry almost at all times. Butter it up, season it, and roast away! It’s less fussy than a whole turkey, plus it’s flavorful and juicy with delectable crispy skin.

• Turkey Drumsticks: Make sure it’s bone-in and skin-on, which is most likely the case when you purchase them. You want to make sure they’re 10 oz each. Any less or more and you will need to adjust the cooking time along with the ingredient amounts.
• Unsalted Butter: This is rubbed on the turkey drumsticks to help them stay juicy and crisp the skin. You can use olive oil or salted butter if you wish.
• Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Paprika, Thyme, Poultry Seasoning: The seasoning mix for this recipe. Try switching up the seasoning mix with Italian seasoning, cajun, or lemon pepper!

Tips & FAQs

• Storage: Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
  • Reheat: Reheat in a 350F oven until heated through, or use the microwave. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t dry out. It’s also great cold!
  • Freeze: Allow the turkey legs to cool to room temperature. Place them onto a baking sheet and transfer to the freezer for about 1 hour or until solid. Transfer to a freezer safe ziploc bag and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow it to thaw overnight before reheating.
• Do not skip the resting period: This will help the juices stay locked in. If you cut or bite right into it as it comes out of the oven, the juices will leak out, therefore the meat might become dry.
• Wouldn’t you roast turkey in a 350F oven? Many recipes will tell you to bake turkey drumsticks for an hour and a half at 350F. However, if the drumsticks aren’t too large, then baking them at a high temperature for a short time yields the best results: crispy, well-browned skin, juicy meat. Having said that, if the drumsticks are larger (about a pound each), then you will need to bake them for at least an hour and a half at 350F in the oven.
• Variations:
  • Swap out the spice mix for lemon pepper seasoning, cajun seasoning, or Italian seasoning. Experiment with different seasonings!
  • Use olive oil instead of butter.
• Serving Suggestions:
  • If you’re serving this for Thanksgiving, then traditional items such as cranberry sauce, stuffing, and a green bean casserole are perfect.
  • At other times, it’s very versatile and can be served with many different items. Mashed potatoes, Corn Risotto, and roasted veggies are great examples.

Want the recipe? Click print below! Let me know how it came out for you by tagging me on Instagram (@missravenskitchen) and using #missravenskitchen! Follow my Facebook page for updates as well! Let me know if I need to tweak anything.

Servings 4

Author Dani Bayer

Prep time

10 Min

Cook time

50 Min

Additional time

10 Min

Total time

1 H & 10 M

Print

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Roasted Turkey Legs

Roasted Turkey Legs are perfect for almost any day of the week and small Thanksgiving gatherings. Juicy, tender meat and crispy skin every time you make these! With only a small list of ingredients, you’ll practically be wanting these when it’s not Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

• 4 turkey drumsticks bone-in, skin-on (10 oz each)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450F. Fit a rimmed roasting pan with a roasting rack, or line a baking sheet with foil then place a wire rack on top. Spray the rack with nonstick spray.
2. Combine the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme, paprika, and poultry seasoning in a small bowl.
3. Pat the turkey legs dry with paper towels. Brush them all over with the melted butter. Sprinkle the seasoning mix all over the turkey legs, then rub them in.
4. Roast in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until the skin is browned.
5. Cover the turkey legs loosely with foil (this will prevent the top from scorching) and continue roasting for about 30 minutes more, or until the juices run clear when pricked with a fork and the internal temperature is 165F (make sure the thermometer doesn’t touch the bone when temping).
6. Remove the turkey legs from the oven and allow them to rest, keeping them still covered with the foil, about 10 minutes. Serve.

Notes

Storage: Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

• Reheat: Reheat in a 350F oven until heated through, or use the microwave. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t dry out. It’s also great cold!
• Freeze: Allow the turkey legs to cool to room temperature. Place them onto a baking sheet and transfer to the freezer for about 1 hour or until solid. Transfer to a freezer-safe ziploc bag and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow it to thaw overnight before reheating.

Do not skip the resting period: This will help the juices stay locked in. If you cut or bite right into it as it comes out of the oven, the juices will leak out, therefore the meat might become dry.

Wouldn’t you roast turkey in a 350F oven? Many recipes will tell you to bake turkey drumsticks for an hour and a half at 350F. However, if the drumsticks aren’t too large, then baking them at a high temperature for a short time yields the best results: crispy, well-browned skin, juicy meat. Having said that, if the drumsticks are larger (about a pound each), then you will need to bake them for at least an hour and a half at 350F in the oven.

Variations:

• Swap out the spice mix for lemon pepper seasoning, cajun seasoning, or Italian seasoning. Experiment with different seasonings!
• Use olive oil instead of butter.

Serving Suggestions:

• If you’re serving this for Thanksgiving, then traditional items such as cranberry sauce, stuffing, and a green bean casserole are perfect.
• At other times, it’s very versatile and can be served with many different items. Mashed potatoes, Corn Risotto, and roasted veggies are great examples.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

440

Fat (grams)

23 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

10 g

Carbs (grams)

1.6 g

Fiber (grams)

0.48 g

Sugar (grams)

0.13 g

Protein (grams)

78.42 g

Sodium (milligrams)

555 mg

Cholesterol (grams)

360.5 mg

The nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and the brands of ingredients used.

https://missravenskitchen.com/2023/07/21/roasted-turkey-legs

turkey, roasted, poultry

Poultry, Roasted, Holiday

American

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