Sweet and Sticky Chicken Drumsticks is a recipe that’s perfect for tonight’s dinner. Easy to prepare, no fuss, and very little clean up; a perfect weeknight family recipe!
When it comes to a sweet and sticky chicken recipe, my mother was the queen. A sweet and sticky chicken is the ultimate comfort food for me. I grew up eating chicken baked this way. Fried chicken was not something my mother regularly prepared, but this type of recipe is certainly more than familiar; it’s ceremonial!
As I have mentioned before, I love recipes which deliver a big bang for your buck. Any recipe that has a flavour profile with all of the elements a good dish needs, and with only a few ingredient. So, allow me to introduce you to my mom’s Sweet and Sticky Chicken Drumsticks recipe!
MOM’S RECIPES ARE ALWAYS THE BEST RECIPES!
As previously mentioned, as a child, my mom would make chicken like this all the time. She would pair it with homemade French fries, or rice. Remember that fried rice that came in a can with a seasoning pouch and it was all packed for sale in a square box? Dainty was the brand name.

That stuff was worth its weight in gold! I used to love it!! It’s been many, many years since I’ve eaten it, but I do have my own copycat version of it – Copycat Dainty Beef Flavoured Rice! As a working mom, my mother took a lot of shortcuts. This rice was one of them!
Before my mom passed away, she would come to visit us in Toronto at least two or three times each year and she would always stay for a week or so. Every time she came to visit, without fail, she would provide me with a menu of what she wanted to eat while she was visiting. Provide is probably the wrong word to use. It was more like demand!
THESE MEMORIES ARE PRICELESS!
It’s funny now to look back on it and it makes me smile. One of the last times she came to visit, I spent about $400 dollars on groceries in four or five days. Let me explain. We don’t usually buy any meat, because both John.e and McKenna are vegetarians. My mom was one to believe that you needed to have some type of meat with every meal, so I’d have to buy enough meat to get her through three meals a day for those four or five days.

But, in addition to meat, sides were just as important. I’d have to buy oil to make fries, because baked fries were not an option for her. Brown, basmati, jasmine rice, etc., were out of the question. So even though I had those on hand, I had to buy plain white instant rice for her.
My mother grew up, and spent most of her life in a small out port fishing village in Newfoundland where fresh produce was not always readily available. She became accustomed to canned and boxed grocery items and those tastes became familiar to her. And even later in life, she never did get the appeal of fresh produce.
NOT MY DC!!!
Even my regular stash of Diet Coke had to be changed to Diet Pepsi, because that’s what she demanded. I remember one of her visits (my dad came too) when she wanted homemade pizza for dinner. McKenna was living with her mom at that time, so there would have been me, John.e, my mom and my dad at the dinner table that night.
To satisfy everyone’s personal tastes, I had to make four different pizzas. Usually, it’s one vegetarian pizza and another pizza with pepperoni and bacon. Well, that night, there had to be four!

I’m certainly not complaining – although you can bet I wasn’t too happy at the time! If she could only visit one more time, I would put all of my frustrations aside and gladly make those four pizzas, buy the copious amounts of pork, chicken, bacon, and beef, and I’d gladly stink up my kitchen with the smell of hot oil.
This recipe for Sweet and Sticky Four Ingredient Chicken Drumsticks is an exact replica of my mom’s famous chicken recipe. Enjoy!

Sweet and Sticky Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 12 chicken drumsticks
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/4 cup yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Wash and pat dry the drumsticks. Set aside.In an oven-proof baking dish, which has been very lightly greased, place the chicken drumsticks in a single layer and season with salt and pepper.
- Lay a sheet of parchment paper onto a baking sheet and place a wire cooling rack on top. Liberally spray the cooling rack with non-stick cooking spray.
- Lay the chicken drumsticks onto the wire cooling rack. Leave space between each drumstick. Season with half of the salt and half of the ground black pepper.
- Bake for 35 minutes.
- In the meantime, whisk together the remaining ingredients and set aside.
- Once the drumsticks have baked for 35 minutes, remove them from the oven and coat each one in the sauce mixture. Place them back onto the rack and bake for 15 additional minutes.
- Remove from oven. Garnish and serve!
Nutrition

HMSfan says
Once we’re done being “flued” to death here in Hamilton we’ll need a good solid meal or two. I’ll be trying this recipe subbing in President’s Choice veggie ‘chicken’ breasts for the real thing because well.. poor little legless chickens hobbling around the pen on crutches
… it’s all very sad. Anyhow, everything I’ve tried of yours so far has turned out delicious so I’m sure this won’t be the exception to the rule, even with my substituion.
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Hello again, HMSfan! 🙂 We love the PC ‘chicken’ breast too, but I’d worry about using them for this recipe. I’m not sure the fake chicken can withstand being baked for so long. I would offer the following suggestion – place all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer them together until the sauce has slightly thickened. Poor the sauce over the ‘chicken’ and bake for 20-30 minutes (read the packaging, I don’t have one here at the moment) and enjoy! I’m sure you’ll get the same taste and have a ‘chicken’ breast that’s still intact and not overcooked.
Deanna Sofia Gordinier says
Wow Lord Byron you expertise in vegetarian was helped along by family, but I never dreamed you could answer so many questions. I try to sprinkle vegetarian soups for dinner and a playing card size of meat once every 2 weeks, or eggs, no bacon (No gall bladder) or beans and maceral because it tastes better than tuna! I rinse the salt out because it is as tradition would have it stored in brine. I appreciate you so very much!
Deanna Sofia Gordinier says
I was hoping to have you share these other recipes with me on Pinterest so I don’t fell as though I’m stealing them!
Whitney says
The ingredients in this is almost what we would use for a baked ham glaze. Loving your new non-veggie recipes 🙂
byronethomas@gmail.com says
I’m having way too much fun with the non-vegetarian section. I’m glad I decided to do both.
Brian Jones says
I’m loving the sound of these I reckon the sauce would be perfect with a fluffy baked potato with loads of butter and a healthy grind of black pepper 😀
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Oh, I could not agree with you more! 🙂
Paige says
Yum – these look delicious. And I love how easy they are to make!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thanks, Paige. 🙂
Hillary Reeves says
OK, this looks incredible, but I more need to comment on our mutual obsession with Babybel cheese. I CANNOT have that stuff in front of me holy cow..
byronethomas@gmail.com says
I hear that! I went to Costco recently. They have Babybel in super large format. Of course I had to buy it. #noregrets 🙂
Whitney says
LOVING your new recipes with meat — I’m always down for a new wing recipe, and these are surprisingly easy! Not to mention, they look absolutely mouthwatering.
Mary says
This is almost a throwback recipe for me too! My mom didn’t work until I was a bit older, but she did have 3 kids and would make a baked chicken dish very similar to this one.
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Nostalgia; that’s how I’m rollin’ right now. 🙂
SK says
I used dijon instead of yellow mustard, and it was delicious. I used it for meal prep – looking forward to lunches this week!
Teresa says
I think I did something wrong. My sauce came out very liquidy. Should I have poured off the fat after the first bake time before I put the sauce on. It smells wonderful though. Still waiting for them to cool.
Julie says
Goodness gracious . This is delicious.
Allie says
I made these for my family, I peeled the skin off the chicken while washing. My stepdad said it was the best chicken leg he’d ever had! My brother absolutely LOVED the sauce. Only complaint is that the wire racks were hard to clean. But absolutely worth the mess!!