Tender, juicy chicken with a sweet and savory kick and a delightful crispy crust. This dish is surprisingly easy to make, and the results are always impressive. Another great perk — you can marinate the chicken the night before. You won't need any hard-to-find ingredients like mirin, oyster sauce, or Worcestershire sauce. It's all completely straightforward, accessible, and absolutely delicious. For extra flavor, you can add sweet paprika powder, a little grated ginger, or finely sliced green onions. In general, this marinade is very forgiving and easy to customize — it's nearly impossible to ruin, unless you over-salt it or dry it out in the oven. By the way, this method works just as well with chicken thighs or wings. All in all, this dish is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser — perfect for a family dinner or entertaining guests.
Ingredients:
- 12 chicken drumsticks (~1.5 kg)
- 6 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp whole grain mustard (or 1 tsp regular mustard)
- zest of half a lemon
- juice of half a lemon
- salt
- pepper
How to cook chicken drumsticks in honey soy sauce
Zest the half lemon, being careful not to include the white pith. Then squeeze the juice from the same lemon half.
In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, vegetable oil, honey, whole grain mustard, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Season generously with pepper and add salt if needed. If your soy sauce is already quite salty, you may skip the salt (I do add some, but less than usual).
Place the chicken drumsticks in the bowl. Pour the marinade over them and mix thoroughly with your hands, rubbing the marinade into each drumstick.
Press the drumsticks down so they are as submerged in the marinade as possible. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or for at least 2–3 hours).
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