Ready for a taste slow cooker meal? Prepare these Crockpot Balsamic Glazed Drumsticks, easy and delish! Can even be prepped as a freezer meal.
This is one of the many recipes from our 40 Meals in 4 Hours Slow Cooker Freezer Cooking post. This recipe is so good, even my pickiest kid declared it delicious and we polished off the entire recipe in one sitting! I was really hoping for leftovers so next time I will double the recipe :).
If you aren’t making these as a freezer meal, I recommended marinading the drumsticks in the sauce overnight. The sauce will reduce in the crockpot and lightly coat the drumsticks.. slightly tangy and sweet and just delicious!
For all the delicious posts in our 40 Meals in 4 Hours Slow Cooker Freezer Meals post, click HERE!
Crockpot Balsamic Glazed Drumsticks
Recipe adapted from [Mark's Daily Apple|https://www.marksdailyapple.com/balsamic-glazed-drumsticks/]
Ingredients
- 8 chicken drumsticks
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil (olive oil would work too!)
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce if you're not GF)
- 1 tablespoon honey
Instructions
- Put all ingredients into a ziploc bag and you can either freeze for a make ahead meal or let marinade overnight
- The next morning just dump it all in the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- Enjoy!
These thes AMAZING!! Pinning 😉 Thanks for the recipe!!
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YUM! I love balsamic vinegar on pretty much anything, and I love my crock pot! Visiting from Miz Helen’s.
Hi Katie,
I really like the combination of the Balsamic and Honey for your Drumsticks, looks so good! Hope you have a great weekend and thanks for sharing your tasty recipe with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
I’m making these for my dad and son tonight, but am wondering if we are supposed to leave the skin on when marinating or take it off before marinating?? TIA!
I left it on but will probably take it off next time! Personal preference 🙂
Thanks for the quick reply!!
If I use virgin coconut oil (solid, wax-like consistency) do I need to melt it?
no need to melt the oil – it will melt in the crock pot! Tell us how you enjoy them!!
These were not good. They were flavorless. The legs were floating in liquid and did not look anything like the picture–which looks like a thick, sticky coating. I REALLY wanted to like them. Sorry! I am not deterred from some of the other recipes though! Thanks anyway 🙂 (ps. I hate to leave negative feedback)
I wonder what went wrong. I tried Katie’s recipe and LOVED it. I also tried a twist on it with some beef. One of my favorite things to make now! Try again if you dare! I hope it turns out better for you. 🙂
What kind of balsamic did you use? I wonder if it could have bee that…It really looks good 🙁
I always broil the legs for about four to six minutes to get that crispy skin!
I am wanting to try this recipe with chicken quarters. Do you think it would work okay? I have 10 lbs and not sure if they will all fit in a crock pot. Thoughts? Cooking for 12-14 people so would love it if it works. Thanks!
I think that quarters would work just fine – however – I think you would need at least 2 crockpots for all that meat!
I am making these right now, and I too am noticing they are sitting in a lot of liquid. the liquid is not getting thick and is not choosing the drummies at all. I have two more hours left for them to cook so I took some of the liquid out hoping it will help make the remaining liquid thicken. Any suggestions? they certainly don’t look like the picture and I hope dinner isn’t ruined.
Hi Mandy,
I LOVE this recipe and makes these quite often. It could be down to the honey/balsamic vinegar you are using. I don’t usually cook from frozen, but I do marinate for at least 24 hours and they are pretty dark before I cook them in the slow cooker. I think they will be fine. Please, also remember than the liquid in this recipe will thicken as it cools. I hope you enjoy!!
I tried these…not very tasty or flavorful. I marinated them, froze them, and then thawed to put into Crockpot. I’m thinking about adding onions, more honey or brown sugar next time to tweak the flavor. They were very tender but there was, indeed, lots of liquid.
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! The chicken fell off the bone and my husband said he’d definitely like them again. Ours didn’t turn out glazed as much as in the photo but they were still delicious. Maybe add more honey and less soy sauce. We could even try them with duck breasts. Either way, we’ll do this again!
Do you defrost or just toss in the pot?
Defrost overnight or more 😉
I’m compiling a round-up of our favorite freezer-to-crock pot recipes and I was wondering if I could include the image from this recipe in my blog post. (Linking back to this recipe, of course!) Thank you!
Of course Kim, thank you for including it 🙂
Thanks again! Here is the round-up: http://pinspiredhome.blogspot.com/2013/11/stock-your-freezer-freezer-to-crock-pot.html
I am making this recipe today, but wanted to know if all the drums should be submerged in the liquid? I doubled the ingrediants for the amount of chicken I am cooking but I have the drums sitting on top of eachother. Will they all cook the correct way. Sorry I am not that good in the kitchen but trying. Thank you in advance 🙂
I didn’t make this Janine – but in the slow cooker everything gets the flavor 🙂 So make sure to stir them around so all the drumsticks have a little glaze on it – and then cook. It’s ok if some our out (maybe rotate them at some point?). Enjoy!
would these work if I just baked them?
Yes! I have baked them and grilled them. Just make sure that they have marinated for a decent amount of time. I always let them sit overnight. Obviously, they must be cooked from thawed not frozen. 🙂
Thank you so much for posting these recipes, and for making the printer friendly version! I am creating a notebook, and it’s nice to have them all in the same format! This is my first attempt at freezer meals, as I am on a quest to eat at home more and fix healthy meals for my family. They all look delicious and I can’t wait to try them!! 🙂
I tried this recipe as a part of the 40 meals in 40 hours recipe collection. They were horrible. Not sure what went wrong, but it was almost as if the vinegar spoiled the meat. I used chicken drumsticks from a quality grocery store that I’ve never had issues with before. I removed the drumsticks from the freezer and put them in the refrigerator overnight. They were still a little frozen this morning. I cooked the drumsticks in the crockpot all day on low (maybe too long?) and they smelled awful. The meat looked so tender – it fell right off the bone, but it tasted greasy and dry at the same time. I ate one, my husband tried two and we threw the rest out.
Not sure what went wrong. Are you a fan of balsamic vinegar? I love this recipe. I make it with every type of chicken sometimes I grill sometimes I use the crockpot. If you thawed before putting them in the crockpot you would need less cooking time for sure.
Marinated and grilled might be very tasty. I think the issue was that these were cooking in vinegar all day – it really made the meat almost sour tasting. It was not any thick type of “glaze” as the recipe suggests; rather it was chicken cooked in balsamic vinegar.
Some people have really liked this dish others have said it’s not their favorite. Taste is really subjective. Sorry it wasn’t the dish for you but be sure to try another one of our dinners:)
Do u think if i marinade the drumstick for a few hours or overnight then freeze will be ok? I was thinking it might pack more flavor in them.
I would think that would work fine. Let us know how it works for you!
Are you sure these weren’t grilled? I’ve made hundreds of crockpot recipes over the years and I have certainly never seen any chicken come out of my crock with the lovely, charred, dark color like the photo shows.
I have made these (not my recipe), depending on the balsamic vinegar you use they can come out this dark (especially if one side sits longer in the mixture). One of my favorite things to make as a slow cooker meal!
What kind of balsamic should I use?
Any