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Home > Recipes > Dinner

Crock Pot Cranberry BBQ Drumsticks

Written by Chrisy | 09/25/17

Dinner Recipes chicken cranberry crock pot video

Chicken drumsticks slow cooked in a cranberry bbq sauce make for an easy weeknight dinner or serving a crowd on game day. It's pure fall comfort food!

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Crock Pot Cranberry BBQ Drumsticks! Chicken drumsticks slow cooked in a cranberry bbq sauce make for an easy weeknight dinner or serving a crowd on game day. It's pure fall comfort food! | HomemadeHooplah.com

About Crock Pot Cranberry BBQ Drumsticks

Crock Pot Cranberry BBQ Drumsticks! Chicken drumsticks slow cooked in a cranberry bbq sauce make for an easy weeknight dinner or serving a crowd on game day. It's pure fall comfort food! | HomemadeHooplah.com

I know that summer is gone and fall has just arrived, but, technically, we’re still less than five days into the official season. Crazy, right? I’m so really for all things fall, but since I live in Phoenix, for me it feels like I’ve been trapped in Westeros and we’ve just started a five-year summer.

Have I mentioned that I’m still obsessing over the last season of Game of Thrones? And that I tend to have the previous seasons on in the background while I work?

Because, nerd. I am and always will be a nerd.

But, I digress. I’m making small talk about the weather with you because I have a feeling you’re going to totally relate when I say that even though it’s fall, it’s still too hot out to cook. And what better way to get around cranking up that oven than with a delicious crock pot meal?

Crock Pot Cranberry BBQ Drumsticks! Chicken drumsticks slow cooked in a cranberry bbq sauce make for an easy weeknight dinner or serving a crowd on game day. It's pure fall comfort food! | HomemadeHooplah.com

And if it isn’t already apparent, I can’t wait for the “true” fall weather to arrive. I usually never say this, since I am one of those crazies who likes her dry Phoenix heat, but for whatever reason, I’ve been “done” with summer, like, May. Totally over it. Finito.

Because I want fall leaves.

I want crisp winds.

And tacky Halloween decorations sitting right next to tacky Christmas decorations.

I want holiday candy.

And, yes, even pumpkin flavored everything (don’t hate me!)

All these strange, early-season yearnings are also what made me love the cranberry BBQ sauce in this recipe so much, because not only does it embrace the ease of summer but also the tastes of fall. And, yes, the flavor is as amazing as it sounds.

It’s like summer and winter decided to put aside their differences and worked together for an awesome dinner solution.

If only all of our problems could be solved so easily, amirite?

Crock Pot Cranberry BBQ Drumsticks! Chicken drumsticks slow cooked in a cranberry bbq sauce make for an easy weeknight dinner or serving a crowd on game day. It's pure fall comfort food! | HomemadeHooplah.com

Now, I’ll fully admit that drumsticks (or wings or whole chickens or pretty much anything with bones) are more an old friend of mine’s idea of a great dinner than mine, but I can totally be swayed when the dish is flavorful and the meat is tender.

And by flavorful, I mean that I want to discover whole new levels of deliciousness with every bite.

And by tender, I mean that I want the meat to fall off the bone if I so much as look at it funny.

I totally had both of those with this dish.

Notes & tips for these drumsticks with cranberry bbq sauce

  • If you’re in the market for a new crock pot, I recently discovered this one and I’m seriously impressed. It has three sizes in one!
  • This recipe works best when you use a BBQ sauce that you already love. For best results, stick to classic or spicy variations without a lot of extra flavoring.
  • For the cranberry sauce, you can choose between jellied cranberry sauce or whole berry cranberry sauce. I used jellied cranberry sauce in the above video, but I’ve also used whole berry and it turned out just as good!
  • In the moon for more drumsticks? Be sure to check out Drumsticks in Creamy White Wine Sauce and Sticky Honey Sriracha Chicken Drumsticks.

More great crock pot recipes

Sweet Crock Pot Pulled Pork

    Crock Pot Cincinnati Chili

      Crock Pot Chocolate Caramel Monkey Bread

        Crock Pot Bourbon Chicken

          This recipe was originally posted on July 11, 2016. It received a TLC update with new photos on September 25, 2017.

          Crock Pot Cranberry BBQ Drumsticks! Chicken drumsticks slow cooked in a cranberry bbq sauce make for an easy weeknight dinner or serving a crowd on game day. It's pure fall comfort food! | HomemadeHooplah.com

          Recipe Details

          PRINT THIS RECIPE
          RATING:
          4.12 from 17 votes
          Crock Pot Cranberry BBQ Drumsticks! Chicken drumsticks slow cooked in a cranberry bbq sauce make for an easy weeknight dinner or serving a crowd on game day. It's pure fall comfort food! | HomemadeHooplah.com

          Crock Pot Cranberry BBQ Drumsticks

          Chicken drumsticks slow cooked in a cranberry bbq sauce make for an easy weeknight dinner or serving a crowd on game day. It's pure fall comfort food!

          Prep: 10 minutes
          Cook: 5 hours 15 minutes
          Calories: 543 kcal
          Yields: 5 servings

          Ingredients

          • 3 lb chicken drumsticks skin on or off, your choice
          • 1 pinch salt to taste
          • 1 pinch black pepper to taste
          • 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
          • 3/4 cup cranberry sauce
          • 3/4 cup orange marmalade
          • 2 tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
          • 1 tbsp mustard
          • 2 tsp sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
          US Customary - Metric

          Instructions

          1. Check your oven to make sure there's a rack positioned 4-5 inches from the top, then preheat oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

          2. Place drumsticks on prepared baking sheet and season with salt and pepper, then place baking sheet on top oven rack. Broil drumsticks for 12 minutes, turning half way through. Drumsticks will be a light golden color when ready.
          3. While drumsticks cook, whisk together BBQ sauce, cranberry sauce, orange marmalade, quick-cooking tapioca, and mustard in a medium bowl.
          4. Add drumsticks to a 6 qt crock pot and pour cranberry BBQ sauce on top. Gently toss drumsticks to coat.
          5. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
          6. Serve immediately with sesame seeds as garnish (optional).

          Nutrition

          543kcal | Fat: 17g | Saturated fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 167mg | Sodium: 564mg | Potassium: 501mg | Carbohydrates: 64g | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 54g | Protein: 32g | Vitamin A: 195% | Vitamin C: 3.3% | Calcium: 54% | Iron: 1.7%
          I do my best to provide nutrition information, but please keep in mind that I'm not a certified nutritionist. Any nutritional information discussed or disclosed in this post should only be seen as my best amateur estimates of the correct values.

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          Recipe shared by Chrisy

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          Dinner Recipes chicken cranberry crock pot video

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          Reader Interactions

          Comments

          1. Diana Johnson
            07/11/16
            Reply

            I totally get not wanting to cook some days! This looks like a great dinner!

          2. Dee Dee (My Midlife Kitchen)
            07/11/16
            Reply

            I am so with you on wanting Fall weather!!! Living in Texas, the weather is brutal, and “Fall” isn’t the same. And I am all over the use of a crock pot to keep the heat in the kitchen right now. Yum!

          3. Jerry Russell
            07/11/16
            Reply

            Crock pot cooking is at the heart of cooking in South Texas. With temperatures in the hundreds outside there’s no way I want to crank up the oven or the stove. And anything with cranberry is a win!

            • bobby John
              10/31/18
              Reply

              I agree……there are other recipes for BBQ chicken in a crock pot without broiling first.

          4. Sophia @ Little Box Brownie
            07/12/16
            Reply

            I can’t wait for summer to get to my side of the world. Isn’t it funny how we always want what we don’t have. Maybe we should swap houses for a month or two. You’ll love Australia I’m sure xx

            • Nadine
              11/13/19
              Reply

              Always wanted to go down under.
              This chicken looks really good. Will have to try it

          5. Citra Kale @Citra's Home Diary
            07/12/16
            Reply

            your cranberry bbq drumstick absolutely looks a finger lickin … gorgeous idea for dinner!

          6. AB
            10/09/17
            Reply

            I’m making this today but we won’t eat it for a couple days. How would suggest re-heating? I was just planning on 350 in the oven, maybe 325?

            • Chrisy
              10/09/17
              Reply

              Hey Ab! You could do that or even put them back in the crock pot on warm setting for a bit. I think the sauce might caramelize a bit in the oven than in the crock pot, so keep that in mind. I would even suggest broiling the drumsticks and then chilling the chicken and sauce (in separate containers) until you’re ready to follow the instructions for the crock pot. Just depends on how much time you have the day you’re serving 😀

              • bobby john
                10/31/18

                Well, while we are it…….why is broiling so important in this recipe? Can’t you just put the legs in the crock pot and let it cook them?

          7. Grace
            11/12/17
            Reply

            This is in the crockpot right now!! For some reason I don’t have mustard (that’s how much we don’t use it I guess) but figured it would probably be alright without it. I’m bringing it to a small broil Bible study tonight without any testing first, so hopefully it’s as good as it looks and smells!

            • Grace
              11/12/17
              Reply

              Small group ** not Broil!!

          8. Natalie
            12/25/17
            Reply

            Can you broil them after? Won’t broiling first make them not as crisp?

            • Chrisy
              12/26/17
              Reply

              Hey Natalie! For this recipe, the broiling is to brown the skin and get the cooking process started. The drumsticks will be tender and soft once they’re done cooking, so as it’s written, this recipe wouldn’t make crispy drumsticks. You can try broiling them after and that *should* crisp them a little, but I haven’t tried doing that myself so I’m not 100% sure how it will turn out.

          9. judy
            01/02/18
            Reply

            Don’t have tapioca, will they turn out ok if I don’t add it?

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