Chicken Drumsticks With Tomatoes and Peppers
Crisp and golden chicken drumsticks are baked in a delicious sauce made with fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic and bell peppers. The sauce is absolutely out of this word and just perfect to serve over pasta or rice.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 65 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Entree
Ingredients
Scale
- 8 chicken drumsticks (you can also use chicken thighs, chicken wings or chicken breast)
- 1–2 Tablespoons oil (olive, grape seed, avocado, etc.)
- salt, ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 4–6 garlic cloves, minced or sliced
- 2–3 sweet bell peppers, julienned
- 2 1/2 lbs of fresh tomatoes, peeled and crushed (about 4 cups total when crushed), or crushed canned tomatoes
- 1 Tablespoon dry herb seasoning (a chicken seasoning mix, dry thyme, parsley, basil, oregano, etc.)
- 1 Tablespoon fresh herbs, such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Season the chicken drumsticks with salt and ground black pepper. Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a skillet over high heat and brown the chicken until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes, then flip the chicken over and cook until golden brown on the other side as well, about 3-5 minutes. Set the chicken aside. The chicken will not be cooked through at this point but will continue cooking in the oven.
- While the chicken is cooking, prep the tomatoes if you haven’t done so already.
- To peel tomatoes, cut a small, shallow X on the stem and bottom of each tomato. Place all the tomatoes in a large bowl and pour boiling water over the tomatoes and let them stand for about 1 minute. Then pour the boiling water off and place the tomatoes in a bowl filled with ice water. Another way I do it is to boil a large pot of water and drop a few of the tomatoes into the boiling water at a time for about 30 seconds, scooping out the tomatoes and placing them into a bowl filled with ice water. The peel comes right off. Cut out the stem from each tomato. Place the tomatoes into the food processor or blender and crush them until the tomatoes are as smooth or as chunky as you like.
- You can also use crushed canned tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. Use a little bit less of the crushed tomatoes and add some water to dilute the tomatoes. Their flavor will be more concentrated, so I would also recommend adding a teaspoon of sugar.
- In the same skillet that you used to cook the chicken, add more oil if you need to and add the onion, seasoning with salt to taste. Lower the heat to medium and cook the onions, scraping the bottom of the skillet to release all the browned bits from the chicken for about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and peppers, seasoning with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Cook on medium heat until the peppers have softened as well, 3-5 minutes.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes, seasoning once again with salt and ground black pepper, as well as any dry herbs that you like, a chicken seasoning mix, thyme, parsley, basil, oregano, etc. Bring the tomatoes to a boil, reduce them to a simmer and cook for about 5-8 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly.
- Pour the sauce into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
- Nestle the browned chicken drumsticks on top of the sauce.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh herbs, such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil.