These delicious roasted chicken leg quarters are an effortless and budget-friendly dinner perfect for any night of the week.
This dish requires minimal prep time (10 minutes max) and is easily adaptable to use your favorite herbs and spices. Serve it with mashed potatoes and green beans for a satisfying dinner everyone will love!
What I love about this recipe is that it goes with just about any side dish and is so simple to prepare. The skin crisps up beautifully with tender, juicy meat on the inside.
Ingredients Notes
- Leg quarters – I used three (about ¾ pound each) in this recipe because that’s all I could fit into my baking dish. This recipe will work for four as well, you will just need to adjust your ingredients and monitor the temperature of your meat.
- Seasonings – Get creative and use your favorites! Ideas that come to mind are thyme, paprika, onion powder, basil and rosemary. I like to use Italian seasoning because it is a mixture of my favorites.
- Crushed red pepper – I don’t think the added heat from the red pepper is too overpowering, but black pepper can be substituted for less heat (if desired).
- Butter – Olive oil can be substituted for butter.
How to Make it
This is most definitely a no-fuss, simple main course.
- Brush chicken with melted butter.
- Drizzle with a little lemon juice.
- Sprinkle seasoning mixture on top.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink and juices run clear (will depend upon size of leg quarters).
Helpful Tips
- Try to use the same size leg quarters for even cooking.
- Allow the chicken to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before baking, if possible. Placing ice cold meat in the oven can lead to uneven cooking.
- Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving to give the juices a little time to redistribute.
- A helpful article is 9 Mistakes to Avoid when Cooking Chicken, According to Chefs by Food and Wine.
More Easy Chicken Dinner Ideas
Italian Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper*
- 3 chicken leg quarters bone-in and skin-on, about ¾ pound each
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter** melted
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
- lemon wedges for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking dish (or spray with cooking spray).
- Combine Italian seasoning, salt, garlic powder and red pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Remove any excess skin from chicken using kitchen shears (or very carefully with a knife).
- Place leg quarters skin-side up in prepared baking dish. Brush evenly with melted butter, then drizzle with lemon juice.
- Sprinkle seasoning mixture evenly over chicken.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes (uncovered), or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear (will depend upon size of leg quarters).
- Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Sprinkle with parsley and garnish with lemon wedges before serving, if desired.
Notes
- Foodsafety.gov recommends a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees F for poultry. Â
- *Black pepper can be substituted for crushed red pepper.
- **Olive oil can be substituted for butter.
Nutrition
If provided, nutritional info is a courtesy, is not guaranteed and should only be considered as a guideline.
Originally published November 2016. Updated with new photographs, helpful tips, recipe slightly revised and republished September 2020.
Recipes look delicious but should I cover whole cooking in oven?
Hi Georgina, Bake the leg quarters uncovered in the oven. I hope you and your family enjoy it!
Thank you
Will make as noted but wonder if I could brush with mayo (not reduced fat) instead of butter. That would also have benefit of vinegar if I do not have lemon available.
Hi Carol, I haven’t tried this with mayo, so I can’t say with 100% certainty how it would turn out. I’d love to know how it worked for you if you try it, and I hope you enjoy it!
Made this as written and it was very easy prep and the result was very tasty and tender. This one is a keeper for our dinner rotation!
How about including at what temperature to bake at for us non culinary experts. Would be helpful
Hi Chuck, Instruction #1 reads, “Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F”. I hope you enjoyed the leg quarters! 🙂
Was amazing did not look the same but it tasted as good as the picture looked.
Thank you Abigail – so glad you enjoyed it!