How long to bake chicken thighs and drumsticks

Got 5 minutes for dinner? Make this incredible baked chicken recipe! Crispy oven roasted chicken thighs and drumsticks that makes its own gravy in the same baking pan.

It’s the chicken version of this Sausage Bake with Gravy, a long time reader favourite. Minutes to prep, zero maintenance to cook. 100% delish!

Gravy Baked chicken recipe – make its own gravy!

This is another one* of those super speedy recipes that came about at the end of a long cook day when I had to use up ingredients before the expiry date but had zero energy to expend. It’s a dump-and-bake recipe, but entirely made from scratch – no canned soup shortcuts around here!

Chicken is coated in a simple spice mix for flavour (plus it makes the chicken crispy!) then it’s baked IN a flour/beef stock liquid that magically thickens into a gravy by the time the chicken is cooked.

Just LOOK at the gravy perfection!! ↑↓↑↓

* Sausage Bake, and the Ultra Lazy Series (Chicken Broccoli Pasta Bake, Chicken Rice Bake and speedy Corn Chowder) being to more such examples! Handy for busy midweek cooking. 🙂

What you need

Here’s what you need for this baked chicken. Very few ingredients, right?? Hard to believe it’s going to make something so delicious… but I promise it does! It’s all in the cooking logic. Read on!

How to make this baked chicken dinner

And here’s how it’s made:

The key to this recipe is how the “self saucing gravy” is made. You simply whisk together flour with beef stock/broth, then pour it around the chicken. As it bakes in the oven, 3 things happen:

1. The chicken flesh under the liquid stays moist and absorbs the stock flavour = tasty chicken flesh even without marinating;

2. The chicken leeches juices into the stock, adding even more flavour into what will end up as gravy; and

3. The flour in the broth makes it thicken into a gravy.

WARNING: When it comes out of the oven, you’ll be looking at a congealed mess in the pan instead of the silky gravy you see. Have faith! Just give it a good whisk and it comes together beautifully!

And here’s what you end up with – crispy chicken….

…. AND a gravy to douse everything on your plate!

And what did that take you to prepare? All of 5 minutes? If that!

Serve with anything your heart desires. Pictured at the top of the post with creamy mashed potato (possibly cauliflower – can’t remember if I was attempting low carb on that day) and a side of Rocket Salad with Balsamic Dressing.

And in the photo above, this crispy baked chicken is served with buttery Seasoned Rice (think Rice-a-roni, except homemade, excellent freezer standby) and steamed greens drizzled with the herb & garlic dressing from this Cucumber Salad.

But honestly? Chicken and gravy. It goes with anything (non Asian). You could even pull the meat off the bones, toss in the gravy then stuff it in bread rolls to make Chicken and Gravy Rolls. YES! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Servings5

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Recipe video above. Crispy baked chicken thighs and drumsticks that magically makes its own gravy - all in one pan! Terrific last minute chicken dinner that takes minutes to prepare and is zero maintenance to cook. The flavour in the gravy is phenomenal because it's flavoured with the chicken juices!

• ▢ 1.25 kg/ 3 lb bone in, skin on chicken thighs and/or drumsticks (all of one, or mix, Note 1)
• ▢ 2 tsp olive oil (or other oil)

Chicken seasoning:

• ▢ 1 tsp paprika powder
• ▢ 1 tsp dried thyme
• ▢ 1 tsp onion powder (or garlic powder)
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp black pepper

Gravy:

• ▢ 4 tbsp flour , plain/all purpose (Note 2 for GF)
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups beef stock/broth (yes, beef, not chicken! Note 3)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp black pepper

• Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).

• Seasoning - mix in a small bowl.

• Season chicken - Place chicken in a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13" baking pan. Drizzle with oil then rub all over Sprinkle & rub in the Seasoning, using most on the skin side.

• Arrange chicken skin side up in the pan.

• Gravy mixture - Whisk flour with about 1/2 cup of stock until lump free, then whisk in remaining stock and pepper (forgot in video!). Pour into the pan around the chicken.

• Bake uncovered for 50 minutes, or until chicken is crispy and golden.

• Whisk gravy - Remove chicken onto a plate, then give the gravy a good whisk to make it smooth. Adjust Gravy thickness if required - Note 4. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed.

• Serve - Pour gravy into a jug. Serve alongside chicken!

1. Chicken - drumsticks and bone in thighs are ideal for this recipe, use all of one or a mix together. I used 4 thighs + 3 legs in the video and some photos, and 6 thighs in the batch for one of the photos.

Needs to be skin on, bone in chicken so they can sustain the cook time required for the gravy to form. To reduce fat, the skin on thighs can be removed (see this baked chicken & rice, that's how the skinless chicken will come out. Same cooked time).

Butterflied whole chicken will also work great for this recipe as the cook time is similar.

Chicken breast - because of the shorter cook time, you need to put the pan with just the gravy in the oven first for 20 minutes, then add the breast for 20 minutes. I'll share that as a separate recipe one of these days!

2. Gravy - to make this gluten free, leave out the flour, bake chicken. Once cooked, remove chicken, cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Mix 1.5 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch with 2 tbsp water, whisk into pan juices. Return to oven for 5 minutes.

3. Broth/stock - beef stock gives the gravy a nice brown colour and also has a deeper flavour than chicken stock. Chicken stock fine to use but gravy will be pale.

4. Gravy thickness - There will be some variable here because the juiciness of chicken varies drastically (quality of chicken, frozen thawed leeches more water than fresh, some economical chicken is injected with brine, accuracy of oven, size and material of pan).

But it's super easy to adjust - If it's a bit thin, pop it back in the oven for a few minutes - without chicken, it will thicken in mere minutes. If too thick, add splash of hot tap water.

Likely there will be a few small lumps in the gravy, rather than being 1000% smooth. We're doing quick 'n easy, one pan here! If the lumps really bother you, strain when pouring into jug. It does not bother me. 🙂

5. Sides pictured in post:

• Seasoned Rice (excellent freezer standby to serve with everything)
• steamed veg tossed with the Herb & Garlic dressing from this Cucumber Salad
• creamy mashed potato (or cauliflower for low carb)
• Rocket/Arugula salad with balsamic dressing (super speedy, no chop salad)

6. Nutrition per serving, assuming all gravy is consumed. You can slash at least 100 calories by trimming the flappy skin/fat off the chicken thighs - I can't accurately calculate that which is why I've erred on the side of caution. 1 tablespoon chicken fat = 115 calories.

Calories: 505cal (25%)Carbohydrates: 5g (2%)Protein: 36g (72%)Fat: 37g (57%)Saturated Fat: 10g (63%)Cholesterol: 208mg (69%)Sodium: 761mg (33%)Potassium: 580mg (17%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 166IU (3%)Calcium: 21mg (2%)Iron: 2mg (11%)

Keywords: Baked chicken, Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Baked chicken thighs, chicken and gravy, Chicken dinner, chicken gravy

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It would be kind of cute that he stands there for ages with his head pushed through the dog door….except it’s winter here, and ice cold air is blasting into the house through that considerably large hole…😖