My
Shop
Wholesome Yum
Free: Healthy Freezer Meals Recipe Ebook
Get It NowMuch like chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs, these easy baked chicken leg quarters in the oven make for a simple and versatile dinner. Seasoned with basics from your pantry, they have a delicious golden and crispy skin — you’re going to love them! Serve the roasted chicken leg quarters with a healthy side dish and your healthy meal is ready to go.
What Are Chicken Leg Quarters?
Chicken leg quarters are whole chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks) that also have a piece of the back attached to them.
Why You’ll Love These Baked Chicken Leg Quarters
- Savory chicken flavor
- Golden, crispy skin and tender chicken
- Just 5 minutes to prep
- Made with just a handful of pantry staple ingredients
- Healthy chicken dinner
Ingredients You’ll Need
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for crispy baked chicken leg quarters, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Chicken Leg Quarters – I prefer to use organic chicken for best flavor and nutrition, but you can choose the type according to your own preference.
- Olive Oil – Or avocado oil.
- Spices – Paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, and black pepper. If you like a kick, 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper also makes a nice addition. Or, you could use homemade poultry seasoning instead.
How To Bake Chicken Leg Quarters In The Oven
This section shows how to cook chicken leg quarters in the oven, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Prep. Preheat oven. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
- Season. Brush chicken with olive oil and season with paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
FYI: Drying the chicken helps the skin get crispy.
- Bake. Arrange chicken on an oven-safe rack fitted over a baking sheet, skin side down. Bake quarters in the oven for 15 minutes. Flip and bake until done.
TIP: Line the pan with aluminum foil (underneath the rack) if you like.
Lining the pan is not required, but makes for easier cleanup.
- Rest. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. This helps the juices settle so that the chicken won’t be dry.
What Temp To Bake Chicken Quarters?
Bake chicken quarters at 400 degrees F. This gets the skin crispy and keeps the chicken juicy.
How Long To Bake Chicken Leg Quarters At 400?
Baking chicken leg quarters will take about 30-35 minutes, but it is best to use a meat thermometer, as the cooking time will vary a bit depending on chicken leg size.
What Is The Recommended Internal Temperature?
Like all chicken recipes, baked chicken quarters are safe to eat once they reach 165 degrees F. However, because leg dark meat has more connective tissue than white meat, it will be more tender if you cook it to 170-175 degrees F [*].
Storage Instructions
- Store: Keep leftover roasted chicken quarters in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- Reheat: Reheat in a 350 degree F oven for best results, or a microwave for a quick option.
- Freeze: Freeze cooked chicken in an airtight container for 2-3 months. Raw chicken leg quarters can be frozen for 3-6 months.
Serving Suggestions
All these oven roasted leg quarters needs is a healthy vegetable side dish! Try one of these other simple sides:
More Easy Chicken Recipes
If you like baked chicken leg quarters recipes like this one, you might like some of these other easy chicken recipes:
Recommended Tools
- Baking Sheet With Rack Set – I love these nonstick baking pans. I have every size, but the set with rack is particularly useful for crispy foods, such as bacon in the oven or these chicken legs.
- Meat Thermometer – The best way to tell when your roasted chicken leg quarters are cooked perfectly is by testing with a meat thermometer.
Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters Recipe
Baked Chicken Leg Quarters (Crispy, Juicy, & Easy!)
You'll love this simple recipe for baked chicken leg quarters in the oven! You only need a few simple ingredients for perfectly juicy, crispy roasted chicken leg quarters every time.
Remove Ads
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
-
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (218 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with foil and place an oven safe rack on top.
-
Pat the chicken leg quarters dry with paper towels, which will help them get crispy.
-
Brush the chicken quarters with olive oil. Season with paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
-
Arrange the chicken on the rack, skin side down. Bake the chicken leg quarters in the oven for 15 minutes. Flip and bake for another 15-25 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F (74 degrees C).
-
Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Last Step: Leave A Rating!
This helps other readers and also helps me continue to provide free recipes on my site.
Related Easy Recipes
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 chicken leg quarter
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
Want to save this recipe?
Save This Recipe Now© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
81 Comments
baltisraul
0Wanted just a tad more crispy, so did 425 degrees and did both side for 20 min. Extremely juicy quarters!
Marc Joplin
0Definite amateur cook here. The recipe was simple to follow, although at the completion of cook time, much blood and pink meat existed. I ended up cooking on both sides for another 20 minutes per side. In all fairness, these were extremely large chicken leg quarters. Recipe made for delicious moist chicken. Thank you!
Dee Em
0Terrific! Chicken quarters are the best priced poultry option – if you live near a Walmart, they may provide 10 pound bags of quarters for just $7.50, not per pound, but TOTAL – check it out! This recipe not only provided me with a fast go-to meal, but gave a lot of more general tips that I will continue to use for other recipes. Thank you, Maya – this is great!
Chris C.
0Totally! I was shopping for quarters late this past week at my local H‑E‑B (big in Texas), found only a big bag…for $5.72!! Regardless, the smoked ones I did were great, and I have some leftover to tackle this recipe with. I love how simple yet tasty it will be!!
Mark Cameron
0This is a good recipe for those who have limited pantry items. Paprika, sea salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder should be in everyone’s spice rack. It’s always easier though to have a pre-mixed container of these ingredients on hand and ready. It’s better to use a shaker than your fingers to measure how much spice is going on to each piece. Nobody likes too much salt.
Beverly crawley
0I’ve been looking for a recipe for awhile that can help me bake chicken. I found this today. I’m baking my chicken now.
Brenda
0I have basically been making my similar version of this baked chicken for decades. It’s my go-to twice a week, especially when I don’t want to think too hard about making a menu for the week or don’t have a grocery list ready. But to those who feel it needs to be broiled, the way my recipe has evolved is to set oven temp to 425 and cook the leg quarters for 40 to 45 min for smaller leg quarters, 50 minutes if they are larger/plumper leg quarters.
Solomon salsberg
0The last 5 min broiler option is what I saw in the comments. I wash an dry and cut off extra fat, rest an dry in refrigerator, pat dry, pre heat oven while bringing chicken to Lil above room temperature, season, I use parchment an no rack(aluminum bad) kin up 20 min down in fat for 10 min. Skin up broil for as long as needed for internal temp you want. But look for crispyness not burn, I make a lot to be reasoned for other types of dishes so I use digital stick thermometer and highest temp gets eaten first..
Aaron
0Do yourself a favor and turn on the broiler for the last 3-5 minutes.
ERIN LANNING
0Loved it and it was very easy. i put the spicy on a little early to let them “soak” in. delicious!
Nick
0Easy recipe great taste and consistency.
charlene martin
0It had a good flavor I added thyme I couldn’t get it crispy.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Charlene, Sorry this recipe didn’t meet your expectations. Did you pat the chicken leg quarters dry with paper towels?
Marilyn Anderson
0Very delicious
Donna
0Easy-peasy! And super delicious! Just adjust the ingredients as to your taste. For me, little more paprika, sea salt, frequent basting with olive oil.
Diana Anderson
0Was so surprised how good this was! I’m very picky when it comes to chicken!
Cabo Joe (Joachim)
0Being a chef, it is not hard to find something wrong with your recipe. I looked and looked and could not find anything I did not like. Good job. Just use more different spices. Greetings from Cabo.