Okay, so I’ve been trying to circulate this Everything Chicken here for a few months now. For whatever reason the day, time, lighting, etc has never lined up to allow me to do so. Today, I set myself a goal specifically to make this chicken and get this recipe in your hot little hands. Finally.
This Everything Chicken & Green Onion Cream Cheese Sauce is to-die-for. It’s one of the most simple chicken recipes to make, looks high end, and tastes absolutely amazing. Everyone who has tried it, has loved it. So much so, that it’s basically in the standard rotation here at my house.
New York-style chicken spiedies with homemade marinade full of garlic and lemon. Instructions for making these delicious skewers on the grill or inside on the stovetop!
My office is in a pretty quiet neighborhood where there aren’t many spots to grab lunch. We pretty much have the cafeteria – which does have some pretty great options – and then two sandwich places that are great, but get old after so many times.
But in the summer, food trucks line the park and our lunch options explode overnight. Opening day of food truck season is always a huge deal.
This year, things are different. There aren’t many people going into the office and from the pictures I’ve seen it looks like there are only two or three trucks out. I’ve been working from home – and I usually bring my lunch from home anyway – but I do miss the excitement of getting lunch at the trucks.
This chicken spiedie recipe, inspired by my go-to order of pasta salad topped with grilled chicken, is my attempt at recreating a little bit of that excitement at home.
Spiedies are cubes of marinated and grilled meat, usually served as a sandwich similar to souvlaki. Chicken is the most common, but spiedies can also be made with pork, lamb, or beef.
They hail from Binghamton, in New York’s southern tier along the Pennsylvania border, but they’re commonly enjoyed at food trucks and local fairs across upstate New York. (For another classic Upstate NY recipe, be sure to check out my beef on weck!)
It’s all about the marinade
Spiedies are all about the marinade, which is a salty, garlicky mixture of oil, red vinegar, lemon juice, and spices. If you’ve ever marinated chicken in Italian dressing, the flavor is similar but spidies are saltier and have a stronger garlic flavor. They’re so good!!
You can buy bottled spiedie sauce, but I love making my own homemade spiedie marinade. It’s really easy and uses basic pantry staples. Plus making your own allows you to control what goes into it. For example, I use olive oil instead of soybean oil.
Cut your chicken into 2-inch cubes and marinate it in the sauce for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. This is a great recipe to prep on Sunday night for an easy Monday night dinner! You know I love a good Marinade Monday.
How to make chicken spiedies in the grill
For the most authentic spiedie flavor, you’ll want to grill your chicken – preferably over charcoal. After the chicken has marinated, arrange it onto skewers and grill over high heat until the chicken is cooked through. This will only take 5-10 minutes, since the chicken pieces are so small.
How to make chicken spiedies on the stove
If you don’t have a grill – or if it’s a cold, rainy summer like this spring has been – you can still make spiedies inside! They won’t have that same char-grilled flavor, but they’re still fantastic.
When I make this recipe inside, I usually skip the process of skewering the chicken and just throw it right into a hot cast iron pan. Cook the chicken for 5-7 minutes on each side, until it’s deeply browned and cooked through.
You can serve the cooked chicken on soft Italian bread, over pasta salad, or on top of a salad. You really can’t go wrong. I usually end up eating a good amount straight from the hot pan because I just can’t wait.
Welcome to Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a Progressive Dinner Party. This month’s theme is Food Truck Foods, and our host is Ansh who blogs at Spiceroots. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats it’s a virtual party. A theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out. Come along and see all of the delicious Food Truck inspired dishes!
Food Truck Food
SavorySweet
Chicken Spiedies
Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Additional Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours25 minutes
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
1⁄4 cup olive oil
1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar
1 large lemon, juiced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
Lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
Cut the chicken into 2-inch cubes.
Make the spiedie marinade: In a large nonreactive bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper.
Add the chicken and stir to coat well. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, or up to 2 days.
Thread the chicken onto skewers; discard any remaining marinade.
Grill the chicken over high heat for 5-10 minutes, or until cooked through. Alternatively, cook the chicken in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for 8-12 minutes, or until cooked.
Super easy, never fails, grilled chicken legs for the whole family. Pat dry, spice and cook over medium-high heat. Then you will have crispy goodness for all.
Jump to:
Introduction and My Rating
The “art” of the grilled chicken legs (drumsticks)… that is what I have been working on for several weeks.
All the recipes I looked at said things like until “fluid runs clear” or 30 minutes over medium-high heat. I need more precise instructions. Plus overnight marinades and lots of other magic cooking stuff. Not good for me.
My mistakes or at least the ones I remember. First, I cooked them to 165° just like I love chicken breast. They weren’t done. They were tough and stringy.
Then I went to 180°-185°, yep just the right temp. But I cooked it too fast on high heat. Burnt skin. Char is good, burnt is bad.
I tried several spice mixes and settled on the one below. Just some kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper (but not too much of kids but just enough for the taste for adults). But just a sprinkle of salt and pepper is fine.
My Rating
An easy and tasty 5.
👨🍳Method
DO NOT SKIP PAT DRY or you will not have crispy skin. (See https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/chicken-rinse-not-rinse/)
Check the cut joint area for loose parts. You may be handing this to a child and don’t need loose bone aspirated.
You must use a thermometer to be sure you get to 180° plus. Do not guess.
Spice as you want. I frequently add the Cayenne but if you have little ones, skip it.
Scale to any amount you need
Skip the seasoning and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce the last 5 minutes to make great BBQ drumsticks.
♨️The Grill
Gas Grill
The grill should be 450°-500° surface temperature. That is usually a bit above medium on most gas grills. If you have questions about grill set up, see A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill.
Charcoal Grill
In the interest of helping you charcoal people, this comment was posted by Craig on Nov 8, 2016. I believe you will find it helpful
“I’ve made these several times on a charcoal grill. I use about 4 lbs of charcoal (~50 briquettes) and distribute them on one-half of the grill. Cook the drumsticks over the direct heat, but use the other side for any flare-ups or if you have smaller drumsticks that cook faster.
I’ve never measured the surface temp, but rotating every 5 minutes to get a good char until the temperature is right, seems to work out perfectly. I usually end up with 40 min of coin time and apply BBQ sauce liberally in the last 10 min.
We’ve only had success with this recipe, and we’ve found it’s hard to overlook the chicken, just avoid flames and burning early on!”
⏰Time
Chicken drumsticks, like all chicken, should generally be grilled over medium heat on the grill. That would be a surface temperature of about 450° and will take 30 to 35 minutes.
They will need to be flipped every 5 minutes or so to prevent burnt skin and to a final internal temperature of 180°-185° which is best for drumsticks and thighs.
You can use a lower surface temperature, but it will add time and tend to dry more. Again, cook to the correct final internal temperature. You can not get acceptable results with a grill temperature of 500° plus.
And finally, remember that the size and thickness of the drumstick is a big variable.
🌡️Temperature
Many recipes suggest cooking chicken drumsticks to 165° which is the minimum safe internal temperature for chicken for the FDA. There is a difference between safe and done. Pork is safe at 145°, but you sure won’t want your pulled pork to be cooked to 145°. It would be terrible.
Also, some recipes call for cooking “until fluids run clear” or “no pink at the bone.” How are you supposed to do that? Also, I suspect that it may even be below the safe minimum temperature since the pinkness disappears at about 155°.
While I cook my chicken breast to 165°, there is way too much fibrous tissue in chicken drumsticks and thighs. They will be tough and stringy. Just plan not done. Please use 180°-185° as you finish temperature. Check the comments if you need confirmation.
Oven Baked Chicken Legs – The Art of Drummies
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
Easy Grilled Chicken Thighs
Chicken for a Hundred The father of all of them.
🔪Instructions
Preheat grill to get a surface temp of about 450°. That is medium-high on a standard gas grill and medium on a hot gas grill. Clean and oil.
Pat dry the drumsticks.
Trim off excess skin and any loose bones/tissue especially in the joint area.
Season to taste. You can use my 7:2:2 spice mix. A little cayenne is nice. You may want to skip the cayenne if cooking for little ones. Or use the seasoning of your choice.
Lightly sprinkle chicken on all sides to taste. Let rest at room temperature until grill is ready.
Check grill surface temperature and place chicken on the grill. Flip about every 5 minutes until internal temp of 180°-185° degrees. About 30-35 minutes.
Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. They are way too hot anyway.
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📖 Recipe
Grillied Chicken Drumsticks- The Art of Drummies
Super easy, never fails, grilled chicken legs for the whole family. Just pat dry, spice and cook over medium-high heat. Then you will have crispy goodness for all.
Prep Time10mins
Cook Time30mins
Total Time40mins
Author: Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Servings/Adjust Amount: 6
Ingredients
6Chicken drumsticks
7:2:2 Seasoning or salt and pepper – to taste
cayenne pepper – optional – to taste
US Customary – Convert to Metric
Instructions
Preheat grill to get a surface temp of about 450°. That is medium-high on a standard gas grill and medium on a hot gas grill. Clean and oil.
Pat dry the drumsticks. Trim off excess skin and any loose bones/tissue especially in the joint area.
Season to taste. You can use my 7:2:2 spice mix. A little cayenne is nice. You may want to skip the cayenne if cooking for little ones. Or use the seasoning of your choice.
Let rest at room temperature until grill is ready.
Check grill temp if possible and place chicken on the grill. Flip about every 5 minutes until internal temp of 180°-185° degrees. About 30-35 minutes.
Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. They are way too hot anyway.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
Pat dry and season to taste. I like my All Purpose Seasoning – 7:2:1 and 7:2:2. You can add a pinch of cayenne pepper but not if children are involved.
Medium grill with surface temperature of about 450°. Over 500° will not work well.
Final internal temperature of 180° plus is the key to this recipe.
HAVE A QUESTION? – Look in the full post.Make it Perfect First Time and Every Time. Don’t miss out, check the full post above. Almost every recipe includes easy step by step photo instructions so you can visualize yourself cooking this recipe along with helpful tips and options.
ADJUST THE RECIPE SIZE:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Grillied Chicken Drumsticks- The Art of Drummies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 120Calories from Fat 63
% Daily Value*
Fat 7g11%
Saturated Fat 2g10%
Cholesterol 70mg23%
Sodium 660mg28%
Potassium 169mg5%
Carbohydrates 1g0%
Protein 13g26%
Vitamin A 35IU1%
Calcium 8mg1%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition is generally for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
Editor’s Note: Originally published June 26, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos and a table of contents to help navigation.
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