Cooking Instant Pot chicken drumsticks is fast, easy and delicious! The meat is tender and moist, with crispy skin (thanks to a little trick!). Instant Pot Ginger Soy Chicken Drumsticks are bursting with flavor and cook in 18 minutes!
My childhood love of chicken drumsticks was rekindled when I first made Instant Pot Smoked Paprika & Garlic Chicken Legs. For some reason I NEVER make chicken legs; only roast whole chicken, breasts and thighs. Why is that?
Like chicken thighs, chicken legs or chicken drumsticks are full of flavor. Sold with the bone-in and skin-on, they stay moist when cooking and have much more flavor than chicken breasts.
I have been tinkering with this recipe for Instant Pot Ginger Soy Chicken Drumsticks for a few weeks, enjoying taste testing all the batches before landing on the final round I’m sharing today!
I LOVE these flavors!! Fresh garlic and ginger, honey, sriracha, soy sauce or Tamari, lime juice and brown sugar make an Asian-inspired flavor that’s lightly spicy, sweet, and salty. The chicken is cooked to perfection in no time at all making it a wonderful dinner option even on the busiest of nights.
Cooking Instant Pot Chicken Drumsticks
Cooking chicken legs in the Instant Pot is very easy and with a trick at the end, they are irresistible. They cook much faster than traditional roasting (18 minutes total), are moist and tender when cooked in the Instant Pot.
The SECRET is to broil them at the end for crisp skin and a wonderful texture! The entire recipe is done in about 18 minutes cooking time in addition to the time required for the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
Marinating Chicken Drumsticks for the Win
Though all ingredients can be added to the Instant Pot for quick cooking, taking a few extra minutes to prepare and marinate the chicken drumsticks ahead of time yield the best result. It takes about 5 minutes to put the marinade together.
Make up the marinade the morning you plan to cook the chicken legs OR the night before if you want to cook them earlier in the day. The soaking time in the delicious ingredients is worth it for the end result.
SHORT CUT MARINADE TIP: the only ingredients requiring any prep in the marinade is the garlic and fresh ginger. If you are in a pinch for time, substitute stir-in herb, such as Gourmet Garden, which are fresh in tubes in the produce department. I use them all the time.
Suggested Supplies for making Instant Pot Ginger Soy Chicken Drumsticks
A few things make this recipe a slam dunk. An Instant Pot of course, large rimmed baking sheet, foilnon-stick spray and tongs.
I prefer tongs with rounded silicone ends (vs metal) for this recipe. When the chicken drumsticks come out of the Instant Pot they are cooked and tender. Lifting them carefully onto the baking sheet for broiling is key. This type of tongs helps do that quickly and easily, without damaging the meat.
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More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes You’ll Love:
- Instant Pot Chili Lime Chicken
- Mango Chicken in the Instant Pot: Fast, Light and EASY!
- Instant Pot Chicken Taco Soup
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How to make Instant Pot Ginger Soy Chicken Drumsticks – Step by Step:
Instant Pot Ginger Soy Chicken Drumsticks
Chicken drumsticks are marinated in a sweet soy, ginger, garlic, sriracha marinade then cooked in the Instant Pot. Broiling at the end creates moist, tender meat with beautifully crisped skin. Cooking time is only 18 minutes! The Total Time reflects 6 hours for marinating the chicken. Do it the morning you'll be cooking to make actual dinner preparation a breeze.
Ingredients
- 8 Garlic Cloves peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 3 tablespoons Sriracha
- 1/4 cup gluten-free Tamari (or regular soy sauce if not gluten-free)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh peeled, diced Ginger Root
- 2 teaspoons fresh Lime Juice
- 2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
- 3 pounds (about 10) Chicken Drumsticks/Legs
- Optional garnish: torn cilantro leaves, sliced green onion (the green portion only), red pepper flakes
Instructions
In a small mixing bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine all ingredients EXCEPT the chicken and stir to combine. Preferred method: add the chicken legs to a gallon plastic zipper seal bag and pour marinade over the chicken. Seal, squeezing out the air and massage the bag to cover all the chicken legs with marinade. Refrigerate 6-8 hours.
- When ready to cook the chicken legs: Add the trivet to the Instant Pot. Remove the chicken from the bag (reserve the marinade) and arrange chicken legs standing up, meaty side down (refer to photo), on the trivet.
Pour the marinade into a liquid measuring cup. If there is less than 1 cup total liquid, add water to make 1 cup total. If there is 1 cup or more of marinade, no water needs to be added. Pour into the Instant Pot and lock the lid.
- Press the POULTRY button and cook for the default time of 15 minutes. When timer beeps, let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. Quick release any remaining pressure until float valve drops and then unlock lid. Check the chicken using a meat thermometer to ensure the internal temperature is at least 165°F.
- While the chicken is cooking, line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil, dull side up. Spray with non-stick spray.
Meanwhile (while pressure is releasing) position the top oven rack approximately 4 inches below the broiler and turn on the broiler (on HIGH). Place chicken legs on the prepared baking sheet using tongs. Cook the chicken 2 minutes on one side (watching closely to ensure no burning), flip with tongs, and cook 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on the opposite side to crisp the chicken.
- Transfer chicken to a serving plate and serve warm.
Veronica Lee says
March 30, 2018 at 3:24 amYummm! Looks so delish! You can’t go wrong with a soy sauce marinade!
Shopdealman says
March 25, 2018 at 9:10 amWOW, Yummy and tasty “GINGER SOY CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS” delicious.
Richa Gupta says
March 23, 2018 at 6:51 pmI just love how easy it is to do and yet looks incredibly delicious!
ashley says
March 23, 2018 at 12:31 pmI seriously need to get an instant pot!
Toni Dash says
March 23, 2018 at 12:48 pmThere are certainly many delicious recipes waiting for you if you do!
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
March 22, 2018 at 4:23 pmThat sauce sounds like something I’d love! Ginger and soy sauce go so well together.