Paleo, Whole30, & Super Simple:

This is easily the best chicken I’ve ever made. These Green Curry Chicken Drumsticks are baked to a crispy, golden, brown on the outside while they stay tender and juicy on the inside. To me, this is the most perfect, succulent texture for roasted chicken. These are super savory, just the right amount of salty, and very much husband-approved.

I want to point out that while I’m a home chef who deeply enjoys combining all my spice jars into one delicious outcome, I also really appreciate a good time-saving flavor hack. The Green Curry Paste from Thai Kitchen is just that – an unbelievably delicious combination of spices that makes cooking good food easy. Plus it’s clean eating approved with real ingredients.

Why You Should Eat Them

These 4-Ingredient Green Curry Drumsticks are a great main dish to serve up at your next potluck since they seem to go well with pretty much everything! I especially love them with my Cilantro Lime Coconut Cauli-Rice. They’re also a great recipe to make for a crowd since 1) they’re crazy easy, 2) you can make a lot at one time, and 3) they’re super hands off so you get more time hanging out with your buds. Hooray!

Chicken breast usually gets all the glory since it’s a very lean, white meat. While it is a great option with lots of its own health benefits, I want to highlight the fact that dark meat is not the unhealthy monster it’s been made out to be. It can even have a few health benefits over white meat (like extra vitamins and minerals).

Meat eating comes with one main caveat – quality. Buying free-range or grass-fed meats is extremely important, not only from a humane perspective but for your health too. A key follow-up to quality is quantity – it’s better to eat less of a high-quality animal protein than more or a poor quality one. So, enjoy a few of my 4-Ingredient Green Curry Drumsticks with some veggies and you’ll be full, happy, and nutritionally supported.

Conventionally raised chickens are high in toxins and low in nutrition because of their unnatural diets, stressful lives, and sickly living conditions. They are fed waste products and agricultural by-products, pumped with antibiotics, and crammed into horribly cramped, unsanitary spaces.

Free-range chickens, on the other hand, are able to consume a much greater variety of nutrients, from diverse, natural sources, which makes them much healthier birds for you to eat. They are also allowed natural movement and body composition, while conventional birds are bred for bigger breasts, making it impossible for them to even stand up. I know, it’s horrific.

So, what’s this malarkey about dark meat being healthy? Yep, it’s true. Dark meat does contain more fat, however, it’s often denser in certain vitamins and minerals. The chicken legs in these Green Curry Drumsticks provide you with a nice variety of B-vitamins, along with selenium, zinc, iron, and Vitamin K. They’re also high in protein and are extremely satisfying for that hungry belly of yours. As an extra bonus, free-range chicken drumsticks are surprisingly inexpensive! I think I bought a 5-pack at Trader Joe’s for around $3.50.

Dark meat does contain saturated fats, which have been wrongly accused of being “bad fats”. Plenty of research shows these fats do not necessarily contribute to the cardiovascular problems, blood sugar imbalances, and weight gain that they were once made out to cause – it’s refined carbs that do that! But that post is for another day. As with any dietary change, people can respond differently to changes in their fat intake for various reasons like genetics, smoking, and existing health conditions.

Anyway, saturated fats are actually necessary for your nervous system, hormonal balance, and metabolism. When they are consumed in moderation and coming from the right sources they’re part of a balanced diet. Meaning, you can eat these 4-Ingredient Green Curry Drumsticks without worry.

OKAY! On to the food.

How You Can Make Them

After you preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, mix your green curry paste, avocado oil, and mirin in a small jar. Then, simply rub this mixture all over your drumsticks – make sure to get it in between the skin and the meat as well as on the outside. Place these on a pan and pop them in the oven.

Now, you’re going to bake them for about an hour but you have to make sure you turn them every 15 minutes, to get that beautiful, even brown all over… mmmm. Can you believe how easy that was? And how good your house smells?

When their time is up, sprinkle some coarse sea salt over top right after you remove them from the oven, and they are ready to devour with some tasty veggie sides. I displayed the Green Curry Drumsticks in these photos with parsley, purple cabbage, and watermelon radishes for some extra color.

Hope you enjoy these! Drop me a note and let me know what kind of fun feast you decide to serve these up with.

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