How to cook chicken drumsticks in a slow cooker: 4 recipes, cooking features

If a few years ago one could only dream of a multicooker, now this technique has appeared in many kitchens.

The potential capabilities of a multicooker allow you to prepare a lot of delicious dishes in it. Despite the fact that some products take longer to cook in it than on a stove (especially if the power of the unit is low), the housewife has a lot of free time.

The temperature regime in it is selected in such a way that the dish is subjected to gentle heat treatment, while preserving most of the nutrients and the natural taste of the products contained in it.

Some housewives are wondering: how to cook chicken drumsticks in a slow cooker? After all, the meat of this particular part of the carcass does not always turn out juicy and soft, as we would like.

How to choose drumsticks

It is not enough to know all the nuances and secrets of preparing shin; it is equally important to choose the right product.

The most important thing is appearance. Using it, you can first of all determine the freshness of any product, including drumsticks. What should the appearance be like? There should be no bruising or dark or pink spots. The skin of fresh legs is light, without traces of feathers, without water or ice.

Currently, before releasing chicken for sale, manufacturers like to pump it up in the places where the meat should be. No matter how strange it may sound, these manipulations are also carried out with frozen foods. Thus, the bird appears large, juicy, and feels soft when pressed. The buyer, seeing such a product, will immediately want to purchase it, but when he comes home he will be disappointed. On the other hand, he didn’t even overpay, the air doesn’t add weight, but it’s still a shame. To prevent us from making the same mistake, we need to not only pay attention to the appearance, but also carefully feel the meat from all sides. Such deception does not occur often, but it is best to play it safe and check several times; no one can know for sure about the honesty and integrity of the supplier.

The third point when choosing drumsticks: the fat should not be reddish in color, but slightly yellow or just white without clearly visible shades. The smell is also no less important; if the drumsticks are damaged, you will immediately feel it. In addition to all of the above, you need to remember that under no circumstances should you take any meat from the top shelves, visible to every buyer. It’s better to find a juicy piece somewhere at the bottom, because sellers put less fresh pieces at the top so that they are bought up as quickly as possible.

When pressing, the shin should not bend too much. After you remove your hand, the meat will return to its place; if a dent remains, then feel free to go to another store. The skin must be thin; on such pieces of meat you won’t have to overpay for the skin, and when cooked it will turn out crispy and thin. Refrigerated meat can be stored for no more than five days; if moisture is noticed in the packaging, it means it has been thawed.

Cutting chicken drumsticks

We've figured out how to choose the right one, and now let's see how to cut it in such a way that there is as little waste as possible. Some people like drumsticks completely boneless so that they can simply enjoy the juicy meat, this method is just right for such a case.

Rinse all the drumsticks thoroughly under running water, place them on a waffle towel and allow time to dry thoroughly to avoid excess moisture. On the bottom of the first drumstick, cut the veins.
Turn the drumstick over to the other side. You need a very sharp knife, and you must keep it away from you, because it can easily break off and injure your finger. Begin to carefully and slowly cut the meat with tendons and separate it all from the bone.
When the knife begins to reach the opposite side, gently pull the bone; it will easily come out of the shin. Do this with everyone else. You can give the bones to the dog or cook a good broth with them; in any case, you should not throw them away. If you like bone-in drumsticks, there is no need to peel them, just cook them in the slow cooker.

Pros of cooking chicken drumsticks in a slow cooker

This machine itself has a huge number of advantages that can be listed until the evening, for example, milk does not run away, and vegetables do not burn, but what are the advantages for cooking meat?
Let's look into this too. Firstly, the process of creating meat dishes is so simplified that the cook practically does not need to do anything, just cut, combine the necessary products and place them in the multicooker bowl; she will do the rest for him.

Secondly, when we cook in a frying pan or in the oven, the number of beneficial properties gradually decreases, but a multicooker, due to its coating and a certain method of preparing all products, retains a maximum of vitamins and allows you to enjoy not only a tasty and juicy, but also a very healthy dish.

And of course the last one, most likely the most important of the three for girls who are losing weight and constantly watching their figure. To cook meat in the usual way, a certain amount of vegetable or olive oil is required, but you don’t need to add it to the slow cooker, only if desired. This helps to maintain your figure by eating any, even the most high-calorie meat.

Helpful information

Now that you know how to cook chicken drumsticks in a slow cooker, I recommend paying attention to other, no less reliable recipes for tasty and healthy dishes.

Be sure to try cooking an amazingly delicious turkey drumstick in the oven, which has a delicious taste and a truly attractive aroma.
Also, don't miss the most trusted skillet chicken drumstick recipes. This dish will appeal to those who value their time and do not like to spend too much time in the kitchen.
In addition, do not forget about the wonderful chicken thighs in the oven, famous for their relatively low energy value and amazing aroma.
Those who like to experiment in the kitchen will certainly appreciate the recipes for cooking turkey thighs. This dish is ideal for both everyday and festive tables.

Thanks everyone for your attention to the recipes! I look forward to your comments on the options for preparing delicious chicken drumsticks just described. Also, share your experience if you know how to prepare this dish differently, using other ingredients. Let's come up with a truly chic dish together! Bon appetit everyone and more impressive discoveries in the culinary field!

Cooking secrets

If you think that now there will be a whole list of several pages, which will describe in detail all the nuances, then you are mistaken. There will only be five of them, but if you take each of them into account, the dish will be incredibly tasty.

As already written above, first of all, it is important to choose the right meat, consider the smell, appearance and reaction when pressed.
As for cooking drumsticks in a slow cooker, it is necessary that the dishes are very clean and dry; greasy stains or surfaces rubbed off with a hard sponge are not allowed. This machine is made with a special coating that can prevent sticking and eliminates the need to add vegetable or butter fats, so even if you clean this surface a little, you can buy a new bowl and throw away this one, since it will no longer be able to protect your products from soot.
Baking time may vary depending on the size of the chicken drumstick, on average it takes about 40-50 minutes; if you have raw or even steamed vegetables, the time should be increased. Most multicookers have special cooking modes, so instead of long thoughts and calculations, you can simply set it to a certain mode by pressing the corresponding button on the device, and all you have to do is wait a little.
If you want to get an appetizing crust, then after the meat is cooked, you can change the mode to another one, which can fry the drumstick until golden brown. 5. When cooking using the frying mode, the chicken can sometimes turn out a little dry. If you add a small piece of butter, this problem will instantly disappear, and the meat will acquire a delicate creamy taste.

Stewed legs with vegetables

With the onset of the vegetable season, every housewife has the opportunity to somehow diversify the daily home menu. And it’s not at all difficult to do. For example, stew chicken drumsticks in a slow cooker with fresh vegetables.

To do this, it is advisable to use the following set of products:

2 pods of sweet pepper;
1 carrot;
1 kg chicken drumsticks;
2 onions;
salt;
2 small zucchini;
100 ml cold water;
30 ml of any vegetable oil;
spices (dried garlic, rosemary, paprika).

Chicken drumsticks with potatoes in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

500 gr. chicken drumsticks
300 gr. fresh potatoes
100 gr. white onion
100 gr. fresh carrots
salt, ground black pepper to taste
a piece of butter if desired
spices for chicken

Preparation:

Above, we have already figured out how to properly clean the drumsticks from the bones, so there is no need to repeat ourselves, but if you want to cook meat with bones, then peeling is not necessary.
Melt the butter, dip each drumstick in a container with butter and immediately place it in the multicooker bowl.
Peel the potatoes, rinse them and cut them into not very small cubes together with the carrots and add them to the chicken.
Since the vegetables will need to be cooked first, you need to pour in cold water, add spices and put them on cooking mode.
Cut the onion into thin half rings and lightly fry in a small amount of vegetable oil. When all the water has evaporated, switch the mode to frying and add the onion. Fry until a delicious golden crust appears on the chicken and vegetables.

You will notice that cooking does not take much of the housewife’s time; all you need to do is fry the onions and prepare all the necessary products to be sent to the multicooker bowl.

Fried chicken legs in a slow cooker

However, in a slow cooker you can not only stew any meat, but also fry it. Chicken drumsticks, for example, are crispy but juicy on the inside. And if you worry about the triple batter of flour, eggs and corn flakes, then there is definitely no worthy competition for such a dish.

Ingredients:

a kilo of bird legs;
one egg;
a glass of flour;
two glasses of corn flakes;
half a glass of milk;
a little dry garlic;
and a little more dry onion.

Cooking method:

Let's start preparing the dish by preparing the batter. For the first one, take corn flakes and grind them in a blender. For the second, mix flour with dried onions and garlic. For the third, beat an egg, pour milk into it, add a pinch of salt and half a glass of grated cheese.
Turn on the “Fry” mode and pour in the oil.
Once it is well heated, take the drumstick, first coat it with the spice flour, then dip it in the egg mixture and then coat it well with the ground corn flakes.
Fry the legs for five minutes on each side and place on a napkin to remove excess fat.

Chicken drumstick with rice in a slow cooker

This recipe is a little more complicated because the rice requires more attention and time.
Ingredients:

250 gr. long grain parboiled rice
500 gr. chicken drumsticks
1 teaspoon turmeric
spices for chicken
100 gr. fresh carrots
10 gr. dried cloves
salt, pepper to taste

Preparation:

Since rice will take longer to cook than other foods, it needs to be addressed from the very beginning. Rinse it thoroughly, place it in a multicooker bowl with a small amount of water, add salt and turmeric, mix and set to the appropriate setting. It is very important that the rice is not round, but rather long, since due to the high gluten content, round rice can only turn out to be porridge, and we don’t need it. After 10 minutes, you need to add the cloves, and when it reaches half-readiness, turn off the multicooker.
Prepare the drumsticks while you prepare the side dish. If desired, remove the pits, dip them in melted butter, and roll in chicken spices, salt and pepper. You can marinate them for an hour or even overnight before using.
After 15 minutes, add the chicken to the rice, set to normal mode, then wait a little, switch to frying.
If necessary, you can add a little more salt to the dish. If you are afraid that the meat will fry unevenly in the slow cooker, you can turn it over periodically. Also, in order for the drumstick to be salted both inside and outside in sufficient quantity, you need to either marinate it overnight or remove the bone, this is another secret of experienced cooks and housewives.

How to stew with potatoes

An excellent option for a quick dinner for the whole family would be chicken drumsticks stewed in a slow cooker with potatoes. The secret of the dish is that the meat and side dish will be cooked at the same time.

For this recipe you will need:

7 chicken drumsticks;
salt;
400 g potatoes;
3 g cumin;
20 g refined sunflower oil;
pepper.

How to properly prepare this dish:

Wash the poultry parts well and dry with napkins, rub with a mixture of salt and pepper.
Peel the potatoes and cut into slices. Then place in a bowl, sprinkle with cumin, salt and stir.
Pour some oil into the bottom of the bowl. Turn on the machine, set the “Baking” mode. The fat should warm up well.
Place the drumsticks into the boiling mixture and wait until the portions are lightly browned.
Turn the meat over, then place the prepared potatoes on top in an even layer.
Close the multicooker and set the time on the timer for half an hour. The process has begun. After 18-20 minutes, open the device, turn the contents of the bowl over (the potatoes will be on the bottom). Continue cooking until the signal indicates the end of the process.

Chicken drumsticks in sour cream in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

500 gr. chicken legs
salt, ground black pepper to taste
150 ml. full fat sour cream
3 medium cloves garlic
spices, herbs to taste

Preparation:

Wash the chicken knives, remove the bone if desired, rub with salt and spices, and place in the multicooker bowl.
Mix sour cream with salt so that the sour taste is not felt. Grate three cloves of garlic on a fine grater and add to the sour cream, mix thoroughly and pour the finished mixture over the chicken.
Place the dish on baking mode.
How long you need to wait until the chicken is completely cooked depends on the size of the meat. For example, for wings, forty minutes is usually enough, but here you need to increase it a little, to about 55 or 60 minutes.
If you are not completely sure whether the drumsticks are cooked or not, you can open the lid and pierce a piece with a knife; when the liquid is clear, you can take them out.

In sour cream sauce

A real masterpiece of culinary art will be chicken drumsticks cooked in a slow cooker in a fragrant sour cream sauce. Here, in principle, there is nothing complicated either.

First you need to collect on your desktop all the components that are required for this recipe:

1 kg chicken drumsticks;
250 ml water;
1 onion;
35 g vegetable oil;
250 g fat sour cream;
salt;
seasonings;
pepper;
0.5 bunch of fresh parsley.

Once all the products are assembled, you can start working:

Rinse the drumsticks thoroughly and dry well with a paper towel.
Rub them with salt, seasonings, spices and set aside for a while.
Chop the onion into half rings, finely chop the greens.
Pour oil into the multicooker bowl and set the “Frying” mode on the panel. Process the drumsticks in boiling fat on all sides for two minutes without closing the appliance.
Place onion on top of the meat, add sour cream, salt and pour water over everything. Cook covered in the “Stew” mode for 35 minutes.
Add parsley and keep the meat in the aromatic mixture for about 5 minutes.

As soon as the timer goes off, you can turn off the machine and place the juicy drumsticks in sauce on plates.

Sauces for drumsticks in a slow cooker

To make dinner tasty and appetizing, you need not only to properly prepare the dish itself, but also to know which sauces it will go with and which it will not.
Let's say if you want drumsticks a little oriental style, then a sauce based on red wine and tomato paste is perfect. It will turn out a little hot and spicy if you add a couple of teaspoons of ground oriental spices and simmer it for a sufficient time.

There is another great sauce option; it consists of two main ingredients: sour cream and tomato paste. Its main advantage is that drumsticks in this form can be easily given to children; they will eat the entire plate with great pleasure in the blink of an eye. Of course, in addition to tomato and sour cream, the composition contains salt, ground black pepper and other spices to taste. It will be much tastier if you add finely chopped greens.

Here is another unusual version of the sauce: honey. This is just lightly melted honey with the addition of grainy mustard or grated ginger root. There is absolutely nothing complicated in preparation, and after everything is ready, you will see a delicious, slightly soft glaze on each piece of chicken.

And finally, the most famous, sour cream sauce. Most likely, you won’t find it easier to prepare. You just need to grind the herbs to taste and grind a few cloves of garlic in a blender, then add salt, mix and add to the sour cream. It is important to consider that the amount of greens can be any, but the amount of garlic depends entirely on how much sour cream you add, so you need to be careful at this point, otherwise the chicken with this sauce will turn out very spicy.

Cooking tips

This dish can be prepared in different ways and not only using a slow cooker. Chicken drumsticks with potatoes turn out truly tasty and very tender in the oven. Try it and you will see for yourself that oven-baked chicken is in no way inferior to a similar dish prepared in a slow cooker.
To help the drumsticks cook faster, marinate them in prepared chicken seasoning overnight. Some chefs also recommend adding a little (no more than a tablespoon) of balsamic vinegar to the spices - this will make the chicken more tender.
If the components of the dish stick to the bowl during heat treatment, then you have added too little sunflower oil to it. About 30 ml is enough for successful cooking, but less may cause the chicken and other ingredients to burn.

Nuances of preparation

Chicken legs in a slow cooker with potatoes will turn out perfect if you prepare the aromatic breading first.
Surely you like to buy breadcrumbs in the store, but it turns out you can make them yourself at home, and the result will be much better than store-bought ones. We will need a regular city bun. It must first be cut into not very thick slices, laid out on the table and wait until they dry. If you don’t have time, you can use the oven and simply bake the bread there at 200 degrees, turning it over every 10 minutes. This is very important, as the bread instantly darkens and burns.

After this, the pieces must be cooled and transferred to a blender bowl, crushed to the state of breadcrumbs. In cooking, there are cutlets that are prepared not in breading, but in small bread cubes, called Kiev cutlets.

This method can be adopted, the meat in this form turns out crispy and tender, but to cook it in a slow cooker, you need not only breadcrumbs, but also vegetable oil, otherwise the bread will turn out tough. A side dish in the form of potatoes can also be prepared separately, of course not only from potatoes, but also from rice, buckwheat or pasta. To do this, you need to peel it, cut it into large cubes, rinse it, add salt and spices to taste and place it in the multicooker bowl, close it and cook at the desired setting. If you want baked chicken, then the potatoes can be boiled.

With mushrooms

Chicken with mushrooms is a classic combination often used in cooking. To prepare chicken legs with champignons in a slow cooker you need to prepare:

8 drumsticks;

250 g fresh champignons;

4 tablespoons of tomato paste;

60 ml vegetable oil;

4 cloves of garlic;

curry;

marjoram;

sulfur pepper;

salt.

How to bake chicken legs in a Redmond multicooker:

Wash the chicken drumsticks and let dry.
Place in a bowl, add salt, mix with your hands so that the salt is distributed over the entire surface of the legs.
Pour vegetable oil into the bowl so that the layer is 1 cm thick and place the legs. Turn on the “Baking” mode for 30 minutes. During this time, the drumsticks must be turned over several times so that they are baked on all sides.
Meanwhile, wash the champignons and cut into slices or each mushroom into four pieces.
Remove the skin from the garlic, crush it with a knife on the table, then finely chop it.
Place tomato paste in a bowl, add salt, garlic, pepper, marjoram, curry, add a little water and stir.
When the “Baking” program ends, you need to take out the multicooker bowl, put the legs in it, pour in the tomato sauce, and stir. Place the bowl in place, turn on the “Stew” program for 20 minutes.

After the beep, remove the finished dish from the multicooker and serve. It goes well with side dishes of vegetables, potatoes, rice, as well as fresh herbs.

Chicken drumsticks with onions in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

500 gr. chicken legs
100 gr. white onion
2 small cloves of garlic
5 gr. ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
a little soy sauce
a little apple cider vinegar
some cold water

Preparation:

It will take a little longer to prepare the dish than all the previous ones, because it contains more ingredients, but it is still not particularly difficult. Remove the bones from the chicken legs and cut each into two pieces.
Chop the onion into not very thin half rings and mix with the stems. Transfer the contents to the slow cooker.
Grate the garlic on a fine grater, mix with a teaspoon of ground black pepper and bay leaves, sprinkle on top.
Soy sauce, water and apple cider vinegar should be added in about one third of a glass.
Salt the dish, add any other spices to taste or herbs and simmer on the appropriate setting for an hour. Of course, you can not only bake, stew or fry chicken, you can simply boil it in water with vegetables. For example, if you put it on the cooking mode and add onions cut in half, the meat will acquire a delicate onion aroma, and if you lightly fry it first, and only then add the legs to it, the taste will be even better.

If you stew or fry chicken along with the sauce, then to make it much thicker, you can simply hold it for a while under the closed lid and turn off the multicooker at this time. It will also taste better if you add a little flour. First, you need to lightly fry it until a delicate nutty aroma appears, then cool, mix with cold water, pour into the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients and cook for about another five or ten minutes. During this time, the sauce will become much thicker due to the fact that the flour tends to brew.

Chicken legs with rice and vegetables

Meat prepared in this way will appeal not only to gourmets, but also to people who adhere to a healthy diet. When cooking in a slow cooker, significantly less vegetable oil is used than when cooking in a frying pan.

Main ingredients:

Chicken drumstick – 5 pieces;
Large onion – 1 piece;
Carrots – 2 pieces;
Bell pepper – 1 piece;
Water – 350 milliliters;
Rice – 160 grams;
Canned peas – ½ can;
Dried herbs - to taste;
Paprika – ½ teaspoon;
Salt and pepper - to taste;
Sunflower oil.

Calorie content: 110 kilocalories per 100 grams.

Recipe for cooking chicken drumsticks with rice and vegetables in a slow cooker:

Wash and dry chicken drumsticks;
Season the legs with salt and pepper and let stand for 25 minutes;
Rinse the rice;
Wash the vegetables well and dry them from moisture;
Cut the onion into thin half rings, carrots and peppers into small strips;
Turn on the multicooker, pour sunflower oil into the bowl and turn on the “Baking” mode. Place the legs in a heated bowl with oil and fry until golden brown with the lid open;
Place the fried drumsticks out of the bowl, add the onion into it and fry, stirring constantly with the lid open for a couple of minutes. Then add the carrots, and after a couple of minutes add the pepper. Mix all the vegetables and simmer for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally;
Add rice, paprika, herbs to the vegetables and mix well. You can add a little more salt and fry for a couple of minutes. Disable the “Baking” mode;
Add peas to the bowl with vegetables and rice, pour in water, and place drumsticks on top;
Close the multicooker and load the “Pilaf” mode. Cook until the end of the program;
After the signal, turn off the device, carefully stir the rice and vegetables and leave to brew for 30 minutes under a closed lid.