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 minutes mins
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Course: Poultry
Cuisine: American
Diet: Diabetic
Servings: 4
Calories: 267kcal
- 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
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.
- 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.
Serving: 1g | Calories: 267kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 542mg | Potassium: 331mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2644IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg