Description
This is always a hit when I make it for dinner parties and Boxing Day dinner because the chicken is always fall-off-the-bone juicy and people love the glaze. People always go for seconds! You may quarter 2 chickens instead if you aren’t able to get just legs from your butcher, but I find the legs are juicier and save money. Serve this dish with fragrant rice and dilled carrots or roasted asparagus.
Ingredients
- 8 large chicken legs
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup orange juice with pulp
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 7 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 2 oranges, zested
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (Optional)
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Sprinkle chicken with salt and place in a large glass or plastic bowl.
- Whisk together honey
- orange juice
- butter
- rosemary
- orange zest
- and garlic. Pour orange mixture over chicken; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Place chicken legs in a single layer in a roasting pan; pour orange mixture over chicken.
- Roast for 30 minutes in the preheated oven; reduce temperature to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Baste chicken with pan juices every 20 minutes until chicken is a deep orange brown color
- no longer pink at the bone
- and juices run clear
- about 90 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 2 hrs
Total Time: 3 hrs 20 mins
Servings: 8