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If you like Asian inspired foods, you’ll love these Sweet and Spicy Chicken Drumsticks glazed with sweet chili hoisin sauce. Super easy too!
Yesterday, one of Brooke’s friends came over to play for the afternoon after school. I love hearing my daughter and her friends chat. It’s so interesting to hear what their conversations are about. This quick 7 minute conversation was particularly juicy. They talked about bullies on the bus, younger siblings, barbie games to play, princess lego castles to build and this little nugget:
friend: “My mom is crazy in the head.”
Brooke: “Mine too.”
friend: “Why is YOUR mom crazy in the head?”
Brooke: “Because she forgets a lot.”
friend: “MINE TOO!”
Brooke: “Whoa! That’s funny.”
friend: “No it’s not. Well, only a little bit.”
I obviously started chuckling and they took notice and quickly changed the subject.
When I tried to bring it up again 2 minutes later and ask “so why are the moms crazy in the head again?” they ironically couldn’t remember.
This is my life, you guys. Eavesdropping on my 6 year old. That’s what I classify as entertainment these days. But in my defense, 6 year old girls are a TRIP. And I just love ’em to pieces.
ANYWAYS.
I’ve been a little obsessed with sweet chili sauce and find myself adding it to everything. Ever since I made these Thai Chicken Bites {and this Thai Chicken Pizza….and this Better than Take-out Crispy Sesame Beef} I’ve had this sauce in my pantry. It has slowly become a staple and it’s the perfect sweet and spicy sauce you need in your life. When you add it to a few asian inspired flavors like sesame oil or hoisin sauce, it becomes almost like a sticky bbq sauce and becomes amazing when slathered onto chicken wings or drumsticks.
I basted these guys a few times through the cooking process to get that crispy skin and darker color, but it isn’t totally necessary. Obviously, the darker and crispier the skin gets, the stickier and caramelized everything becomes.
Both my kids CHOWED down on these and so did my babysitter who happened to make it to my house for dinner that night before I left for my weekly alone time/sanity saver date night. At first, Brooke did not want to try them at all, but the rule in our house is you need to try everything on your plate so she did and actually said “wow Mom, you were right! These are good!!” Music to my ears, ya’ll.
Baking chicken on the bone will take more time to cook then a breast or thigh that has been de-boned, but both my kids love being cavemen and picking up their meat to eat. Things got messy REAL fast, but I didn’t care because {1} they were eating their meals and {2} I was leaving for the evening and the babysitter was going to have to clean my kids up. Soooooo, yeah. Win win for me. Lol!
If you like spicy but mostly sweet asian inspired foods, then this is the kind of thing you are going to love! Plus, it’s super simple to throw together. Almost no active time at all for this recipe. Holla!
Give it a try tonight 🙂 Printable recipe below.
Sweet and Spicy Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 8-10 chicken drumsticks
- 1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- zest and juice of 1 mandarin orange
- salt & pepper to taste
- sesame seeds for garnish
- finely chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil and top with cooling rack. Spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
- In small saucepan off the heat, stir sweet chili sauce together with hoisin, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, mandarin orange juice and zest, salt and pepper. Dip each piece of chicken into sauce and place onto prepared sheet.
- Place saucepan over medium heat to caramelize and simmer. Bake chicken 40-50 minutes, basting generously 2-3 more times until completely cooked {165 degrees}.
- Top cooked drumsticks with sesame seeds and parsley and serve.
just love chicken recipes they are fast and I can never get enough of them one more for my cookbook thanks
Made this last night (with whole chicken). It was AMAIZING! My husband keeps raving about it still this morning.
I changed the manderine to orange and I stuffed the two orange’s halved (from the juice and zest) into the chicken cavity. Delish! Thank you!
Lauren…These look fantastic. I am always looking for a great recipe for chicken on the grill. I love finding alternatives to regular old bbq sauce, and you have done it! The Asian twist gives it a whole new feel. Can’t wait to get outside and grill. 🙂
Oh god, I could eat hoisin sauce by the spoonful, these photos are phenomenal, pinning!
Sweet chili sauce deserves to be on all the things. It’s the perfect as a dipper for egg rolls (among other things). This chicken is totally being made in my kitchen next week, pinned!
I’ll make anything as an excuse to eat more hoisin sauce. That stuff is like liquid gold. And you added sweet chili sauce? YUM!
We love sweet and spicy in my house! These drumsticks looks mouth watering. Pinning!
Spicy and sweet is just my thing. These drumsticks look lip smacking good.
I have just recently found a love for sweet chili sauce too! It is just so darn good. These drumsticks look DIVINE. Also, is it weird for me to consider quitting my full-time job, move cross country and become your babysitter? Your kids are adorable and clearly a hoot!
Would this work with chicken breasts instead?
Yes! But they’ll be done a lot quicker, so you may have to baste them a little more frequently to get that dark color.