Traeger Chicken Legs {How to Cook and Favorite Sides!}
Traeger Chicken Legs are amazing when you smoke or grill them on your Traeger! Chicken drumsticks are an easy and inexpensive way to feed a crowd and, as long as you are paying attention, are just about fool proof.
Below are some of my favorite Traeger Chicken Legs recipes and I took the best parts of them to create my own recipe that I am sure you will love!
Honey Balsamic Traeger Grilled Chicken Legs at 325F
I love the flavor packed marinade for this drumstick recipe!
The marinade is made with vinegar, soy sauce, honey and pineapple juice which gives a ton of flavor and has enough sugars to give a nice char on the legs. The author, Nicole, stresses the importance of using local honey if its available to you.
The recipe uses a two step cooking process, first at 325F for an hour with a finishing step at 425F to crisp up the skin. The marinade in the recipe doubles up as a sauce which is safe to do as the marinade gets thoroughly cooked after the chicken soaks in it.
Suggested side dishes are basmati rice along with a salad. Click the Pin to get the full recipe!
Pellet Grill Smoked Chicken Legs at 300F
Next up is a recipe that I love because it provides a great framework that let’s you adapt the recipe towards your favorite flavors.
They start with a two step seasoning process where he legs are seasoned and then refrigerated for at least four hours and up to overnight. The legs are then sprayed with avocado oil and seasoned a second time before grilling.
Many different recipes for seasoning blends are given including Jerk, Cajun, BBQ, Lemon Pepper and Tandoori so you are sure to find one that you like.
The legs get smoked at 300F for 90 minutes and are sprayed with cooking spray (Pam) every 30 minutes.
The legs can be served dry or with sauce.
Must Have Traeger Chicken Legs Recipe at 225F
This is another smoked chicken leg recipe with a two step cooking process. The legs are smoked at 225F for an hour and then grilled at 400F-500F for ten minutes to end up with meat that is juicy and skin that is crispy!
The exact temperature of the high heat step is not that critical and will depend upon which model of Traeger you have as not all of them are capable of hitting 500F.
The legs are seasoned with a flavorful dry rub that contains some non-traditional ingredients such as turmeric and ginger. It’s nice to try new flavors every now and then!
The smoked legs are served dry with no sauce. Suggested side dishes include asparagus, baked beans, pasta and potato salad.
Smoked and Glazed Drumsticks at 275F
This is a great recipe for smoked legs that uses a single step cooking process of smoking at 275F.
The legs are seasoned with a sweet barbecue rub and hen smoked at 275F for about 90 minutes. The trick to this recipe is that the legs get rubbed down with olive oil before the dry rub is applied. The oil serves two purposes as it helps the rub adhere and prevents the skin from getting all leathery.
The author, Susie, makes some great points about the joys of smoking legs as they are a great way of practicing your bbq skills without spending a lot of money.
The recipe calls for cooking the legs to an internal temperature of 175F. If you want to apply sauce then do so when the legs reach 160F-165F. Susie makes the excellent suggestion to thin the sauce out with some apple juice to helps it glaze onto the skin.
After the legs have finished cooking, pull hem from the smoker and let them rest for a few minutes before digging in!
Traeger Chicken Lollipops at 325F
If you want to make your drumsticks extra fancy then you have to try this recipe for Traeger Chicken Lollipops!
Chicken lollipops can look a bit intimidating at first but once you get the hang of the knife work involved you will discover that they are actually quite easy to prepare.
This recipe uses a two stage cooking process. The lollipops go into a 325F Traeger for about 20 minutes and then the temperature is cranked to to 400F to finish them off.
This recipe is more about the knife work and two stage cooking process than it is about the seasoning and choice of barbecue sauce so you can adapt this technique to work with your favorite flavor profiles.
Brined Chicken Legs Smoked at 275F
This recipe makes the list because it uses a brine to make sure the legs stay juicy during a long low and slow cook.
The brine recipe is simple and the legs are soaked for 4 to 6 hours so make sure you give yourself plenty of time in advance to prep the chicken.
This recipe smokes the chicken legs at 275F for 1 hour and 45 minutes followed by a 15 minute “finishing up” step at 350F. This is a long recipe, as far as chicken legs go, but you will be rewarded for your patience.
Suggested side dishes include creamed corn, watermelon salad, potato casserole and Frito corn salad.
Smoked Chicken Drumsticks at 180F with Alabama White Sauce
If you want more smoke flavor on your legs then you can use this recipe! The chicken legs get smoked at 180F for 30 minutes and then grilled at 375F for another 30 minutes.
This is a great temperature combination hat should give lots of smoke flavor while keeping the skin crispy.
The grilled legs are served dry but are accompanied by an Alabama White Sauce and a Texas Style BBQ Sauce.
One of the things that I love about smoking legs is how economical they are. This recipe goes ahead and does the math for you and calculates an average cost of just under $0.70 per serving. How about that for an affordable dinner?
The Best Traeger Smoked Chicken Leg Recipe
After going through all of these great recipes I combined the best aspects of all of them and created my own that I am sure you will love.
Traeger Chicken Legs
Equipment
- 1 Traeger Pellet Grill
Ingredients
- 5 lbs Chicken Legs
- 1/2 cup Peanut Oil
- Chicken Brine (ingredients below)
- 1 gallon Water
- 1 cup Salt
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- Chicken Dry Rub (ingredients below)
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp granulated onion
- 1 tbsp granulated garlic
- 1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon pepper
- 1 cup BBQ Sauce of Choice
Instructions
- Prepare the brine and brine the legs in the refrigerator for at least four hours.
- Rinse the legs with water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Toss the legs with the peanut oil and coat well.
- Combine the dry rub ingredients and season the legs.
- Smoke the legs at 225F for one hour.
- Raise the temperature of your grill to 375F and grill for 30 minutes or until an internal temperature of 175F is reached.
- Serve the legs dry with bbq sauce of choice on the side.
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