This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.
Ginger Garlic Baked Chicken - this baked chicken recipe is so easy and delicious. The chicken drumsticks are marinated and oven baked to juicy goodness!
Baked Chicken
Baked Chicken with ginger garlic is so delicious to make! It’s one of those chicken recipes that I make when I wanted to have a quick and easy home cooked meal but too lazy to fire up a wok.
This easy baked chicken always turn out tender, moist and juicy. They’re so delicious and best served on their own, or with rice or noodles. The sticky sweet and savory sauce is crazy delicious!
I started making baked chicken when I first came to the US many years ago for graduate school. I was always the designated cook in the apartment, and chicken drumsticks were always on sale in the supermarkets at the college town.
For $0.99 a lb, I could load up a 5 lb pack of chicken drumsticks for less than $5.00! What’s more, I am partial to chicken, especially the tender, juicy, meaty chicken drumsticks.
For more baked chicken recipes, check out my Baked Hoisin Chicken!
How To Marinate The Chicken
This ginger garlic baked chicken recipe is Asian-flavored. I used soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, and honey to marinate the chicken before baking them in the oven.
I also added a little bit of Chinese five-spice powder to give it a sweet aroma of the spices.
If you don’t have the five-spice powder, you can always skip it, but it’s a good item to stock in your pantry.
All the other ingredients of soy sauce, oyster sauce (buy Lee Kum Kee brand), sesame oil, white pepper can be easily found at any regular supermarkets these days.
If you can’t find white pepper, you can always use black pepper and it will work just fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best temperature to bake chicken? According to Perdue.com, the best temperature to bake chicken is 350F – 375F. Personally, I always bake chicken at 375F.
If you bake the chicken at 375F, here are the average time to bake the chicken in the oven:
Chicken breasts, skin on and skinless – 30 – 40 minutes
Chicken drumsticks – 35 – 45 minutes
Chicken legs – 40 – 50 minutes
Chicken thighs – 40 – 50 minutes
Chicken wings (including wingettes and drumettes) – 30 – 40 minutes
These juicy baked chicken is a comfort food to me. It reminds me of those days when I was a frugal and poor international student in the Midwest of America. Those days were long gone, but the taste continues to please my palate!
This recipe is only 293 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Ginger Garlic Baked Chicken
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Recipes You Might Like
Ginger Garlic Baked Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs (750g) chicken drumsticks
- 1 piece ginger, peeled and chopped, 2-inch/5cm
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 dashes white pepper
- 1 pinch Chinese five-spice powder, optional
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. Add the ginger and garlic to the chicken and gently rub them in. Then, add the remaining ingredients and stir to mix well, ensuring the chicken drumsticks are evenly coated.
- Set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours in the fridge for the best results.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 30-40 minutes in the middle of the oven, or until the surface is golden brown and slightly charred, and the inside is cooked through. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Try steaming your chicken plain first so inside gets cooked to the bone .Then apply your sauce and finish in the oven to the color of your choice and no worries about raw to the bone
Hi Rasa
How do you measure out a 2 inch piece of ginger.
Ginge is kind of long-ish shape so just take about 2 inches. Doesn’t matter…the recipe is flexible.
Hi, this looks so good and would love to make it for dinner sometime this week! Would this work on boneless chicken breasts? I’m just worried that it would turn out dry on the inside? Thanks! xx
Yes it would work the same or chicken thighs will be great, too. :)
I dont have ginger on hand, but I do have ground ginger. What serving portion would you recommend?
Is the ground ginger dry powder? I would skip if that’s the case it’s not the same as fresh ginger.
Hi….I tried ginger garlic chicken…it was really nice and moist…will keep on trying
I would like to replace honey with sugar as I was told NEVER Cook With Honey. If so how many spoonful of sugar would you recommend. And is there any different from using brown or white sugar. Your reply is much appreciate. Thank you.
You can use agave if you don’t want honey. You can add 1 teaspoon of sugar. :)
Hi this looks great. I’m going to try this recipe but I don’t have any Chinese 5 spice powder. Are there any substitutions for that?
You can skip it.
If you use skinless/boneless thighs, do you think this would work in a stir fry? Thanks
Yes you can do a stir-fry with the same marinate and it should taste very yummy!
I made this today and the flavor was great but I was wondering about the cooking time you listed. 20 min seems awfully short for chickrn legs. I ended up cooking mine for 45 min. Is there a typo in the recipe?
I stated 20-25 minutes, all depends on how big your drumsticks are, some are bigger some are smaller. The time stated is when the chicken drumsticks are just cooked so they are tender and very juicy. Over-baked will dry them up and not as moist. You can slice open to check doneness.
I had the same problem and the drumsticks I was using were not very large. Any recipe I could find for drumsticks calls for cooking them 50-60 minutes in the oven.
I think cooking for 50-60 minutes are too long…just check the doneness when the time is up and bake longer if you need to. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil if they gets dark on the surface and the inside is not cooked.
Boy I’m with the other person that asked how you could possibly marinate the chicken in only 2 TBLS liquid. That wouldn’t even be enough marinade for one drumstick! This recipe simply doesn’t add up
Hi J – trust me, just follow the recipe and it will all work magic. Many people have tried with success. The key to marinating is not to drown the chicken with liquid because the flavor doesn’t go in if they are swimming in diluted and watery seasonings. All the seasonings used here, together with the honey, garlic, ginger will draw out the water content in the chicken, and the marinate becomes watery. If you see my pictures, after the baking, the chicken is super moist as the water content from the chicken came out. This recipe is absolutely correct and very good!