These instant pot chicken legs are smothered in your favorite BBQ sauce. You will not believe how tender and juicy these are! This will be your new go to chicken drumstick recipe!
Related: I get all of my grass fed beef and pasture raised chicken from Butcher Box. Read my honest review here.
I am still dreaming about these Instant Pot Chicken Drumsticks...that's how good they were. The meat was so tender it just melted in your mouth. The Instant Pot does an excellent job of breaking down any kind of meat and making it juicy and perfect.
This might be my new favorite Instant Pot meat recipe, but some others that come close are Instant Pot Meatloaf, Crack Chicken, Instant Pot Beef Stew, and Instant Pot Chicken Breast.
The cook time for drumsticks in the Instant Pot is a total of 30 minutes. 10 minutes for the pot to come to pressure, 10 minutes of actual cook time, and 10 minutes of letting the pressure release.
These chicken legs are so full of flavor because we first coat them with a delicious rub, then your favorite BBQ sauce.
The rub consists of paprika, dry mustard, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. Mix all of those seasonings in a small bowl and then rub it all over the chicken legs.
Pour 1 cup of water or broth into the instant pot insert, followed by the trivet and finally the chicken drumsticks.
What is the trivet?
Most electric pressure cookers come with a trivet that is a basket or stand insert for the Instant Pot. This helps keep your food up out of the the liquid that is necessary for pressure cooking.
If you are missing the trivet that came with your Instant pot, you can use anything oven safe that will fit in the instant pot and will keep the meat off of the bottom. A metal steamer basket would work perfectly!
Now it's time for your favorite BBQ sauce to be brushed all over the chicken legs.
I prefer to use a sugar free sauce to keep this keto friendly, but this is totally up to you. You could even make your own!
Now, we just seal the lid and set the Instant Pot to cook at high pressure for 10 minutes, followed by a 10 minute natural pressure release.
Quick release the rest of the pressure.
When the pin drops you can carefully remove the lid.
This next step is optional, but totally worth it. Remove all of the chicken to a foil lined baking sheet and coat each one with more BBQ sauce. Place under the broiler of the oven and broil until the sauce starts to bubble. This took about 5 minutes.
The result is amazingly flavorful BBQ chicken legs that just melt in your mouth. You will not regret making this recipe.
Can frozen drumsticks be used?
This recipe would work with frozen chicken drumsticks. Just make sure to coat the frozen drumsticks with the seasonings so none fall off. You would also want to increase the cook time by 5 minutes.
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Legs
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Water or broth, See notes
- 1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper
- ½ teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
- 8 Chicken Drumsticks (see notes for frozen)
- 1 ½ Cups BBQ Sauce, Divided (Click here to see my favorite brand on Amazon)
Equipment
- Electric Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)
Instructions
- Mix the spices and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Place the drumsticks in a large bowl and rub with the spice mixture.
- Add 1 cup of water and the trivet to the inner pot of the instant pot. Place the chicken legs on the trivet. Pour 1 cup of bbq sauce on the legs and spread with a basting brush.
- Lock the lid of the Instant pot and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, followed by a 10 minute natural pressure release. Release the rest of the pressure manually, then when the pin drops, remove the lid.
- Pre-heat the broiler of your oven. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Carefully place the chicken legs on the foil in a single layer. Use a basting brush to brush the remaining BBQ sauce on the chicken legs.
- Place the chicken legs in the oven under the broiler and broil until the sauce starts to bubble and caramelize. About 5 minutes. Serve
Jennifer's tips
- Please use the required amount of water per your Instant Pot operating instructions.
- Use your favorite BBQ sauce. My favorite sugar free BBQ sauce is this one
- This recipe would work with frozen chicken drumsticks. Just make sure to coat the frozen drumsticks with the seasonings so none fall off. You would also want to increase the cook time by 5 minutes.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy only. Please re-calculate on your own with the ingredients and amounts you used for the most accurate data.
Brian says
Great tasting chicken legs 👍
Stacey Miller says
Best chicken legs I've made in a long time! 😋🍗 My oldest is so picky when it come to eating anything, and she approves!! Definitely going to be keeping this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Paula says
I took the lid off and the trivet out to sautée the legs in the instapot until the sauce was thick and a bit caramelized. I kept turning the chicken with tongs to make sure the meat did not stick or burn.
This was a really great recipe.
Tams says
These are the most delicious drumsticks I've ever made! My only regret is that there weren't more of them. I used a sugar-free BBQ sauce and didn't measure it out (I used half the bottle), but otherwise followed the recipe exactly as written - they came out perfectly!
Will absolutely be making these again!
Angie says
Looks great! Can’t wait to try it! I grew up eating BBQ chicken and spaghetti. We poured the bbq drippings over our cooked spaghetti.
Cobra says
10 minutes wasn’t enough. Maybe 15 would be better? But I was doing chicken quarters
jenniferbanz says
Yes, those are bigger pieces of chicken so 10 minutes wouldn't be enough.
Margaret Cockerill says
We really enjoyed these..I had 2 legs with thighs and the spice mix was just right. Also, I saved the water left in the pot and will use it next time for soup as it is nicely flavored.
Letlifelive says
So simple and fall off the bone amazing! It's always a hit when I make it. Thank you for keeping this family full of weird dietary restrictions happy!
Kimmer says
Turned out perfect!
Sue says
What do you do with the remaining liquid after cooking?
jenniferbanz says
I just toss it.
Jenifer says
I make this fairly often and everyone enjoys it. I use Penzeys Arizona Dreaming, and usually mix a honey BBQ and a spicy BBQ sauce. So good!
Janie says
Is it better to leave skin on the chicken legs, or off?
jenniferbanz says
For the Instant pot I usually remove the skin as it stays flabby
Elizabeth says
Crazy picky kids. Whole family was silent for the first 5 minutes of dinner, except for the occasional "mmmm".
A says
My chicken was still slimy at the middle. I pressure cooked for 15 minutes and broiled for 10.
Pierre-Olivier Robert says
Was good my only comments is the drumstick were falling appart. I added more cayenne pepper and it was still not really spicy.
Rachel says
I've never been a real big fan of drumsticks until today. First time we made drumsticks in our insta pot and this recipe is awesome. A new favorite.
Anike Robichaud says
This was a delish! The whole family loved it.
Myke says
Is there a way to cook the drumsticks from frozen like you can with chicken breasts?
jenniferbanz says
Yes, I would increase the time by 5 minutes.
Novice says
Thanks, Jennifer. Your recipe was very good.
One more novice question: would it help if, after I rubbed the spices onto the chicken, I let it sit to "marinate"? If so, for how long? Or would it be better to let it marinate after I apply the BBQ sauce? (I know this would deviate from the recipe's steps to have it marinate in a bowl before setting it inside the IP.)
I followed your recipe because I was short on time and it produced a very nice meal in short order. But I'm wondering if I had lots of time, could I improve the taste of the chicken meat (the meat under the skin) if I marinate.
Alja says
My favorite kind of recipe: easy and delicious! My only note is that my drumsticks were a bit plump so they could have used another minute or two in the instant pot. Will definitely make again, and again....
speerfaye@yahoo.com says
Can you use chicken breast with bone in and skin on for this recipe?
jenniferbanz says
Yes, those would work perfectly
B says
To save time, I just used Stubb's chicken seasoning and then my favorite bbq sauce and followed the rest of this. They were amazing and I tell everyone about this recipe now!
Felicia says
Best I’ve ever had. My family loves it. I make this weekly, as part of meal rotations.
Cass says
Probably a dumb question (I'm new to Instant Pot!) but could I use both legs and thighs? Would I have to adjust the cooking time at all? Thanks - can't wait to try!
jenniferbanz says
You can use both! The cook time would be the same.
Cass says
Thanks! I forgot to come back and check for an answer, since I ended up doing my first one with only legs. It was delicious! I'm making it again tonight and this time I'm making more (two batches, different flavors of BBQ sauce on each) with both legs and thighs. What a great recipe. I'll be using it over and over.
Erica says
What kind of vegetable can I add in there?
jenniferbanz says
I think the only vegetable that would work would be whole brussels sprouts. Everything else would just turn to mush. Let me know how it goes!
Alisa says
I did 6 tenderloins in beef broth for bbq shredded chicken, and used a steamer basket for 2lbs of drumsticks. Same cook time. Everything came out great.
Sveta says
This was very tasty. I cooked the drumsticks 14 minutes as they were a bit larger and I had more than 8, then broiled topped with two different bbq and one wing sauce and they were perfection! Thank you so much for sharing, Jennifer!
This one is definitely a keeper.
Dawana says
Delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Polly says
This was awesome!! You have a new fan!
Felicia says
This is the BEST BBQ recipe I’ve found so far for legs in IP. I actually used 1 lb legs and 1 lb wings. I used Puckett’s BBQ sauce. Absolutely the best!
Christina says
Best BBQ chicken I've ever made. Thank you for sharing!
Dan says
I made a batch for lunches at work, and the whole office loved them.
Diane says
Do you leave the skin on the chicken?
jenniferbanz says
yes, but you can remove it if you like
Justine Jacobs says
Would this work with more than 8 legs you think???
jenniferbanz says
Yes!
Patricia says
I have two left over chicken legs, can I follow this recipe and just cook 2 legs? Same time?
jenniferbanz says
yes, same time
JayeMix says
If 14 legs will fit, do I cook them longer than 10 minutes?
jenniferbanz says
You shouldn't need to cook them longer
Sonia says
Great recipe! The whole family loved it!
Dini says
I've never cooked chicken legs in the IP before, but these sound delicious and easy! And YES for getting smothered by BBQ sauce! 🙂
Wilhelmina Wessel says
I absolutely love BBQ chicken! Delicious!