Simple and Spicy Paleo Grilled Chicken Drumsticks

Grilling season is finally here to stay in the Midwest! So Mr. Dig and I have been celebrating by making some great food while hanging out in our flower-filled side yard.

But on days when you just want to grab a cider and park your rear in a lawn chair, the last thing you want to do is spend the other half of the day slaving away in the kitchen.  So I wanted to make a recipe that required minimal preparation time but that ended up tasting delicious…and for that desire, this chicken recipe was born!  We ate this with easy foil-wrapped corn on the cob and our lazy afternoon was a pretty delicious one.

Like this post? Want to share the article? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest boards!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken drumsticks
• 1-2 tablespoons salt (I prefer Redmond’s Real Salt)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (amount just depends on how spicy you like your food)

Steps:

1. Combine all the spices in the recipe into a small bowl.  (Optional: I keep my old spice jars and reuse them for homemade spice blends…I just find that it’s easier to use the jars with the holes for sprinkling them on evenly.)

2. Lay your chicken drumsticks on a flat surface (like a cutting board) and sprinkle the spice blend evenly over the chicken. Make sure you get all sides coated fairly evenly.

3. Place the seasoned chicken drumsticks into a large ziplock bag and let marinate in the fridge for several hours.

4. While the chicken marinates, you can start to get your grill ready.  Once the coals are ready to go, place the chicken evenly over the coals.

5. Close your grill (make sure all the grill vent is closed) and let the chicken cook for 10-15 minutes.

6. After 10 minutes, flip the chicken and close the grill for another 10-15 minutes. (Side note: use tongs to flip the chicken over instead of a fork…if you puncture the skin, you’ll lose that yummy crispy crust that we’re trying to make.)

7.  Open the vent holes on your grill and let the chicken cook, flipping every 10 minutes.  The time until the chicken is completely done will depend on the size of your drumsticks and how much of coals you used but it took us roughly 40 minutes from start to finish.

8. Once the chicken is done to your liking, take it off the grill and serve right away.