Smoked Chicken Legs
On October 28, 2019 (Updated September 27, 2024)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These Smoked Chicken Legs are a smoky, delicious way to enjoy chicken legs. They’re packed with flavor and can be enjoyed dry or with your favorite BBQ sauce.
Smoked Chicken Legs
I understand that sometimes you want to make a simple smoked chicken legs recipe, and this is that recipe, my friends! This is a true blue BBQ chicken legs recipe. No frills here! This classic, simple technique and method will help ensure you get juicy meat, crispy skin, and lots of flavor on your smoked chicken legs.
This is a basic recipe for smoked chicken legs that you can mess around with to make your own. You can play with the smoke flavor and seasoning to get it to your preferred taste. And lemme tell ya, the combinations are endless!
Another great bonus with smoking chicken legs? Drumsticks are cheap! I often see them in the grocery store for around 99 cents a pound. Talk about a BBQ deal! Chicken legs are a good way to get your legs under you when you’re just learning to smoke. It’s a great way to help you master your skills without spending a ton of money.
Smoked Chicken Legs Seasoning
First up when making our smoked chicken legs is the seasoning. I like to use a nice sweet rub for my smoked chicken legs. My Signature Sweet Rub is available for purchase from Patio Provisions, or you can make it yourself using this recipe for the Best Sweet Rub It’s a combination of 8 amazing ingredients, including brown sugar and smoked paprika. This sweet rub is well-balanced with a kiss of heat at the end.
Before seasoning these chicken legs with the sweet rub, make sure to drizzle with a good layer of olive oil first (this helps to prevent the skin from going too chewy and leathery as well as helping the seasoning adhere to the chicken).
How to Smoke Chicken Legs
Friends, chicken legs are some of the easiest things to make on the smoker. And, as mentioned above, they’re relatively cheap as well. I consider smoked chicken legs to be a great beginner cook when you’re just learning how to smoke. Oh, and for those of you veteran smokers, they’re the perfect thing to toss on the grill for a tasty weekday dinner.
Here’s the ins and outs on how to smoke chicken legs:
- Preheat. Get the smoker cooking at 275 degrees F. In addition to drizzling the chicken legs with olive oil, this temperature is key to preventing leathery skin from developing.
- Season. Drizzle the chicken legs with olive oil, and season on all sides with my Sweet Rub.
- Smoke. Smoke the chicken legs directly on the grill grates for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Target temperature for these chicken legs is 175 degrees F. If saucing your legs: Brush your favorite BBQ sauce (I have 3 amazing sauces to choose from on Patio Provisions!) when the legs reach 165 degrees.
- Enjoy. Before digging into your delicious chicken legs, allow them to rest for a few minutes.
As mentioned before, play around with these! Change up the wood used to smoke the legs. Try a different combination of seasoning or BBQ sauce. You can even divide up your chicken legs and try half with one rub/sauce combo and the other half with another. There is no right or wrong way to flavor these chicken legs!
How Long to Smoke Chicken Legs
It takes approximately 90 minutes (one and a half hours) to fully smoke chicken legs, but this time can vary. It’s best to have a reliable meat thermometer on hand to keep an eye at temperature as you near this 90-minute mark (the ThermoWorks Mk4 is the best of the best, or try the ThermoPop if you’re on a budget).
Chicken legs need to be smoked until they reach an internal temperature of 175 degrees F. If you are smoking your chicken legs dry (without any sauce), pull the chicken off the smoker at 175 degrees. If you are wanting to add some of your favorite BBQ sauce to the legs, brush the chicken with sauce when the internal temperature reads 165 degrees F. Those last 10 degrees on the smoker with sauce will allow the sauce to tighten and caramelize. Quick tip: you can think out your BBQ sauce with a little apple juice to make it more spreadable on your chicken legs.
My recommendation? Do a little bit of both! Leave some of your chicken legs dry and brush half with BBQ sauce for a perfect variety at dinnertime! Winner winner, chicken dinner!
More Smoked Chicken Recipes
Oh, baby, do I love smoked chicken. If you’re a fan of smoking your own chicken at home, check out these delicious recipes available on Hey Grill Hey. I guarantee they’ll all bring a smile to your face!
Smoked Chicken Thighs
Whole Smoked Chicken
Smoked Chicken Breast
Smoked Chicken Legs Recipe
Follow the recipe, and let’s make some really good food! Hey Grill Hey is here to help you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a BBQ hero. Head on over to YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook for more behind the scenes action!
My new Pitmaster Gloves Are here! Pre-Order Now
Smoked Chicken Legs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken legs
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon Signature Sweet Rub
Instructions
- Preheat smoker to 275 degrees F. (This prevents leathery skin from developing)
- Drizzle the chicken legs on all sides with the olive oil and season with the sweet rub.
- Place the chicken legs on the smoker, close the lid, and smoke for 1 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature of the legs reaches 175 degrees F. Optional: At 165 degrees brush the chicken legs with your favorite BBQ sauce (you can thin out your BBQ sauce with apple juice to give you a nice glaze vs. a thick BBQ sauce).
- Remove the legs from the smoker. Let them rest for a few minutes and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
do you smoke the legs on direct or indirect heat for 1 1/2 hrs? and do you turn them over?
I made these in a smoker with indirect heat. You can flip them in the middle if you want.
I love every recipe I get from here. Technically, it’s the only place I get grill and smoker recipes. I did have the same result of they were 170 at 40 minutes. Could be because it’s 95° here today. Still moist and delicious.
Delicious! Ours took 45 minutes at 250° (my pit boss doesn’t have 275°)
These are yummy but chicken legs took 45 minutes at 275 on the smoker to reach 180-190 depending on the size. Turned smoker to 225 and brushed a couple thin coats of homemade bbq sauce. Delicious. Thanks!
I am gonna use this tomorrow and it is good as most of your recipes are I will be using it nj bbq state in july cause my chicken is good but not competition ready and you do good stuff.