If you’re looking for an easy recipe that the whole family will love, this Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks recipe is it. It’s mostly hands off with the slow cooker doing the heavy lifting.
For more ways to cook chicken, check out all of our chicken recipes.
We always host friends and family for Sunday Funday. We put football games on the big screen in our garage and make snacks.
The day before one of those parties, my neighbor came over with a package of chicken drumsticks that she had accidentally ordered with her grocery pick up order. She asked if I could use them for our weekly game day party the next day.
Of course we could.
It gave me a good excuse, too, to make our very popular Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks. Well, I guess I should call them “mostly slow cooker.” The majority of the cooking happens in the slow cooker. At the very end, they go in the oven to crisp up the skin.
The result is a really tender, fall off the bone chicken drumstick that’s moist inside with a crispy skin outside. It’s a great snack for halftime. I’d say it’s great during the game too, but I worry about the bones getting flung at the quarterback when he makes a bad pass or the receiver when he misses a catch.
This would also make an easy weeknight dinner too. Just set the slow cooker to be finished at dinner time. Even if you’re rushing to get dinner on the table for the entire family, don’t skip the last step of sticking them in the oven to crisp the skin. It really only takes an extra five minutes and makes such a difference.
Chicken is such a versatile ingredient, so of course, we have a bunch of recipes for it on the site. For more, check out our list of Budget Chicken Recipes.
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
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Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon candied bacon rub
- 1/2 tablespoon onion power
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/4 tablespoon paprika
- 1/8 tablespoon white or black pepper
- 5 pounds (approximately 14) chicken drumsticks
- 18 oz. hickory and brown sugar barbecue sauce
- 6 oz. chili sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
How To Make Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks:
In a small bowl, mix together the candied bacon rub, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and white pepper to make a dry rub. Set it aside.
Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. You want to pat both sides. If the chicken is wet, the dry rub will fall right off.
Sprinkle half of the spice rub across the top of the chicken drumsticks.
Flip them over.
Sprinkle the rest of the spice rub on the back of the chicken.
Add the seasoned chicken drumsticks to the bottom of the slow cooker.
Combine the hickory and brown sugar BBQ sauce, chili sauce, and salt in a small bowl (personally, I do this in a measuring cup because it has a spout). This should make about 2.5 cups of sauce.
Pour all but a half cup of BBQ sauce over the top of the chicken in the slow cooker.
Cook on low for six hours.
Turn the broiler your oven on high.
Use tongs to carefully place the chicken drumsticks in a single layer on a silicone baking mat-lined cookie sheet.
Be really careful when you do this because I’m not exaggerating when I say these are fall off the bone tender. If you try to move them from the slow cooker to the baking sheet too quickly, the chicken will fall off the bone and leave you with a bare drumstick.
Quick note: If you don’t have a silicone baking mat, you can line the baking sheet with parchment paper instead. I don’t recommend putting the chicken directly onto the tray because the sauce is really sticky and may burn and get stuck to the tray, which is a really messy cleanup.
Use a pastry brush to brush the remaining BBQ sauce across the top of the chicken.
Broil for about five minutes until the chicken gets a crispy skin.
If you aren’t sure if the chicken is done, use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 F before serving.
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks: Frequently Asked Questions
Wait until the chicken has cooled down to room temperature, then put it in an airtight container. It’ll last about three to four days.
You can store the chicken either on or off the bone, depending on what’s easier for you.
The best way to reheat leftovers is to put the drumsticks in the oven at 400 F for about 15 minutes, flipping them halfway through so they cook evenly. You could also reheat them in the air fryer at 400 F for about 10 minutes.
If you don’t keep the chicken on the bone, you can microwave it until it’s warm and then serve it over a bowl of rice with some sesame seeds sprinkled on top.
As written, this recipe is for fresh chicken.
If you have frozen drumsticks, you’ll want to thaw them before making this recipe. If you don’t have time, you can add frozen chicken to the slow cooker however it will drastically change the cooking time. Since I haven’t done that, I can’t give you an exact time, but I would think at least two hours.
We’ve only ever made this recipe with chicken drumsticks, but I can imagine it would come out the same with boneless skinless chicken thighs.
The sauce would be delicious with chicken wings or chicken breasts, but you would need to adjust the cooking time. You also wouldn’t need to put the chicken breasts in the oven after since there’s no skin to crisp.
You don’t. The barbecue sauce mixture is enough liquid.
If you have a homemade sauce that you love, you can absolutely use that instead of store-bought barbecue sauce. Just don’t forget to add the chili sauce to it for a little bit of heat to balance the sweetness of barbecue sauce.
If you have a favorite BBQ sauce, you could use that instead too. The hickory and brown sugar barbecue sauce gives a great sweet and smoky balance to the heat added with the chili sauce. So, you could choose a different one, but the balance of your sauce might be off.
This recipe will serve a large group. If you need to make more, you can add more chicken drumsticks to your slow cooker. Just make sure that you don’t fill it more than about two-thirds of the way.
If you overstuff a slow cooker, the food may not cook all the way or may not cook evenly.
More Slow Cooker Recipes:
If you found this recipe because you’re just starting to use the slow cooker, you’re in luck. We have so many really popular slow cooker recipes, from our Slow Cooker Chicken Curry to our Slow Cooker Sweet And Spicy Meatballs Recipe.
For more ideas, check out all of our Budget-Friendly Slow Cooker Recipes.
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks
If you’re looking for an easy recipe that the whole family will love, this Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks recipe is it. It’s mostly hands off with the slow cooker doing the heavy lifting.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon candied bacon rub
- 1/2 tablespoon onion power
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/4 tablespoon paprika
- 1/8 tablespoon white or black pepper
- 5 pounds (approximately 14) chicken drumsticks
- 18 oz. hickory and brown sugar barbecue sauce
- 6 oz. chili sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the candied bacon rub, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and white pepper to make a dry rub. Set it aside.
- Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. You want to pat both sides. If the chicken is wet, the dry rub will fall right off.
- Sprinkle half of the spice rub across the top of the chicken drumsticks.
- Flip them over. Sprinkle the rest of the spice rub on the back of the chicken.
- Add the seasoned chicken drumsticks to the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Combine the hickory and brown sugar BBQ sauce, chili sauce, and salt in a small bowl.
- Pour all but a half cup of BBQ sauce over the top of the chicken in the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for six hours.
- Turn the broiler your oven on high.
- Use tongs to carefully place the chicken drumsticks in a single layer on a silicone baking mat-lined cookie sheet.
- Use a pastry brush to brush the remaining BBQ sauce across the top of the chicken.
- Broil for about five minutes until the chicken gets a crispy skin.
Nutrition Information
Yield
14Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 220Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 42mgSodium 317mgCarbohydrates 40gFiber 0gSugar 38gProtein 8g
Have you made this Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments.