Sweet Chili Garlic Butterfly Drumsticks

These Sweet Chili Garlic Butterfly Drumsticks are one of those recipes where I take an inexpensive cut of chicken and turn it into something packed with flavor.

Instead of leaving the drumsticks whole, I butterfly them by cutting along the meat and opening them up. That gives me more surface area for the seasoning, helps the chicken cook more evenly, and creates more edges that can brown and caramelize.

I season the chicken with soy sauce, salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and sesame oil. Then I cook the drumsticks until they're browned and cooked through.

But the sauce is what really brings everything together.

I start with butter and plenty of fresh garlic, then add soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, and chili oil. As everything cooks together, it turns into this buttery, garlicky, sweet and spicy sauce that coats every piece of chicken.

You get savory flavor from the soy sauce, sweetness from the chili sauce, heat from the cayenne and chili oil, and plenty of garlic in every bite.

It's sticky, buttery, spicy, sweet, garlicky, and messy in exactly the way chicken should be.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

This recipe takes ordinary chicken drumsticks and gives them a completely different personality. Butterflying exposes more of the meat, which means more seasoning, more browning, and more sauce in every bite.

The sauce also hits several flavor notes at once. It's sweet, savory, garlicky, buttery, and spicy without requiring a complicated list of ingredients.

Best of all, you can make the chicken in the air fryer or oven, so it's an easy recipe for weeknight dinners while still being impressive enough to serve when people come over.

Recipe Variations

• Extra Spicy: Add another tablespoon of chili oil or a little extra cayenne.
• Mild Sweet Chili: Reduce the chili oil to 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon and let the sweet chili sauce dominate.
• Honey Garlic: Add 1 to 2 tablespoons honey to the sauce for a sweeter, stickier glaze.
• Ginger Garlic: Add 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger with the garlic.
• Lime Chili: Finish the sauce with fresh lime juice for some acidity.
• Sesame Chicken: Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over the finished drumsticks.

Chicken Thighs: Use boneless or bone-in thighs with the same seasoning and sauce, adjusting cooking time accordingly.

Sweet Chili Garlic Butterfly Drumsticks

These Sweet Chili Garlic Butterfly Drumsticks feature seasoned chicken drumsticks cooked until browned and juicy, then tossed in a butterygarlic sauce made with soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, and chili oil. Butterflying the drumsticks creates more surface area for seasoning and sauce, giving you flavorful chicken in every bite.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course main dish

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 4 to 5 large chicken drumsticks
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 cloves garlic finely minced
• 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons chili oil
• Cooking spray as needed

Instructions

 

• Place each drumstick on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut a slit lengthwise along the meaty portion of the drumstick toward the bone. Make additional cuts to the left and right to open the meat away from the bone. Use your fingers to spread the chicken outward, creating a flatter, butterflied drumstick.
• Place the butterflied drumsticks in a bowl. Add:1 tablespoon soy sauce, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil Massage the seasonings thoroughly into the chicken, making sure you get seasoning into the cuts and exposed meat.
• Lightly spray the bottom of your air fryer basket or an air fryer-safe dish with cooking spray. Arrange the chicken in a single layer. Air fryer: Cook at 375°F for approximately 15 minutes, turning as needed. Conventional oven: Bake at 375°F for approximately 20 minutes, or until completely cooked through.
• Because drumstick size varies, use temperature rather than time alone to determine doneness. The thickest part of the chicken should reach at least 165°F, without touching the bone when checking.
• While the chicken cooks, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over very low heat. Add 4 cloves minced garlic. Cook gently until fragrant. Don't let the heat get too high because you don't want the garlic or butter to burn.
• Add:3 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce, and 2 tablespoons chili oil. Stir everything together. Allow the sauce to gently bubble for about 1 to 2 minutes, until it begins to thicken slightly.
• Add the cooked butterfly drumsticks directly to the skillet. Turn each piece several times, spooning the sauce and garlic over the chicken until every surface is thoroughly coated. Remove the skillet from the heat once the sauce becomes glossy and clings to the chicken.
• Serve immediately while the chicken is hot and the sauce is glossy. These would be great with steamed white rice, fried rice, warm pita bread, roasted vegetables, or even mashed potatoes.

Video

Recipe Tips

Don't rush the garlic butter.

Keep the heat low when you add the minced garlic to the butter. Burnt garlic will turn bitter and can overpower the entire sauce.

Also, because the drumsticks are butterflied, some sections of meat will be thinner than others. Watch the chicken closely toward the end of cooking so those exposed edges get nicely browned without drying out.

Keyword chicken drumsticks, chicken recipes, drumsticks

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