How to boil Chicken Legs (Thighs, Drumsticks, Quarters)

close up of boiled chicken thighs and drumsticks in a brown bowl.

4.86 from 7 votes

How to boil Chicken Legs (Thighs, Drumsticks, Quarters)

Learn how to boil chicken legs: thighs, drumsticks, or quarters. It’s fast, easy, and delicious! And there are so many ways you can use the tender, flavorful boiled chicken legs.

Prep Time5

Cook Time30

Course: Poultry

Cuisine: American

Diet: Diabetic

Servings:

Calories: 267kcal

Author: Adina

Equipment

Large pot

Ingredients

4 chicken legs Note 1,2
1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
1 small piece celeriac or 2 celery sticks optional
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt or Kosher
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
4-5 cloves optional, Note 3
5-6 juniper berries optional
3-4 bay leaves
a small bunch of parsley
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon paste or powder or 1 chicken stock cube Note 4
cold water

Instructions

Chicken: Place the chicken legs in a large pot, don’t overcrowd the pot.
Vegetables: Clean and halve onion, carrot, and celeriac/celery sticks. Add to pot.
Add spices: salt, peppercorns, cloves, juniper berries, bay leaves, and chicken stock cube.
Cover with COLD water, about 1 inch/ 2.5 cm above the meat.
Cover and bring the water to a boil on medium-high heat. Don’t let the water come to a rolling boil; reduce the heat once it starts to boil gently.
Simmer gently on medium-low heat until the chicken parts are cooked through.
Chicken drumsticks: about 15 minutes.
Chicken thighs: between 20-25 minutes, depending on size.
Chicken quarters: between 25-30 minutes, depending on size.
Check that the chicken legs are cooked through with a meat thermometer; the internal temperature should be 165 degrees Fahrenheit/ 74 degrees Celsius).
If you don’t have a thermometer, cut the leg at the thickest part, the juices should run clear, and the meat should be completely white.

Notes

You can use chicken drumsticks (4 pieces only serve 2, cook 8 of them if serving 4), chicken thighs (4 pieces for 4 modest servings), or chicken quarters (4 pieces for 4 generous servings).
The nutrition is calculated with chicken thighs.
All the spices except salt and pepper are optional, but I recommend using them; they add a lot of flavors.
Also optional, but it adds a lot of flavor to the broth. The cooking time is not long enough to make chicken stock really flavorful; the bouillon or stock cube helps.

Nutrition