BBQ Slow Cooker Chicken Drumsticks

Julia Pacheco

1 year ago

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BBQ Slow Cooker Chicken Drumsticks are perfect for a BBQ with the family or game day! The dry rub is irresistible, and the drumsticks come out so tender and delicious after cooking in the slow cooker all day.

BBQ Chicken Dry Rub

This is my very favorite chicken dry rub recipe. It’s a little spicy, perfectly sweet, and satisfyingly savory as well. I love BBQ dry rubs, especially if they have brown sugar in them. Say what you want, but I want my BBQ chicken spicy AND sweet!

brown sugar
paprika
salt and pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
dry mustard
cayenne

Slow Cooker Chicken Drumsticks

At first, I was a little skeptical about cooking drumsticks in the slow cooker. I thought it was a little odd to throw something that I usually see baked or grilled to crispy perfection into a bunch of sauce and cook like stew!

I was pleasantly surprised to find out how tender and delicious these drumsticks turn out. These slow cooker chicken drumsticks are a different experience than crispy-skinned ones, and they are very delicious. It’s kind of more like a fall-off-the-bone ribs experience, and who can complain about that!

How to Make Slow-Cooker Chicken Drumsticks

The benefit of making drumsticks in the slow cooker is they’re completely hands-off. You dump them into the slow cooker and walk away for 6 hours until you have perfect, fall-off-the-bone chicken.

First, make the dry rub by combining all the ingredients. Rub that into the chicken. You kind of have to get over your fear of touching raw meat when you use a dry rub, haha. The more you rub it in, the better.

Next, combine the drumsticks and 1 cup of BBQ sauce in the slow cooker and cook for about 6 hours.

Now, the chicken will be great, but you can add an extra step to make them even more saucy and delicious.

Add 1/4 cup BBQ sauce to the drumsticks and broil on a sheet pan for 1-2 minutes, until the sauce thickens up a bit. This step is optional, but I highly recommend it!

Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes

Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Fajitas in the Slow Cooker

Slow Cooker Marry Me Chicken

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

Recipe by Julia Pacheco

Recipe rating: 4.3 from 12 votes

Course: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4-5

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

6-7

hours

BBQ Slow Cooker Chicken Drumsticks are perfect for a BBQ with the family or game day. The dry rub adds so much amazing flavor.

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

Dry Rub
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tsp mustard
dash of cayenne pepper
Drumsticks
1 1/4 cups bbq sauce
6 chicken drumsticks

Directions

In a small bowl mix the dry rub together.
In a greased slow cooker, add the drumsticks and the dry rub. Coat the drumsticks evenly with the rub and work it in with your hands.
Add in 1 cup of the bbq sauce and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours.
Once the 6-7 hours is up, remove from the slow cooker and place on a sheet pan. Add 1/4 cup more bbq sauce on top and brush all over the drumsticks. Place under the broiler for about 2 minutes, or until the sauce thickens and turns into a glaze. Enjoy!