Smoked Chicken Legs with Bourbon Red Pepper Glaze

4.82 from 11 votes

Smoked Chicken Legs with Bourbon Red Pepper Glaze

Sweet, spicy, meaty, and smoky, these chicken legs are bursting with flavor! Adjust the spiciness of the glaze to just where you like it, then pass the napkins and dig in!

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken, chicken legs, smoked, smoked chicken legs, smoked chicken legs with bourbon red pepper glaze, smoker

Servings: servings

Calories: 474kcal

Author: Chef Jenn

Equipment

Ingredients

3 pounds chicken legs
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the glaze:

3/4 cup red pepper jelly
3 tablespoons bourbon
1 tablespoon Sriracha

Instructions

Preheat your smoker to 225-F.
Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Toss the chicken legs in the olive oil mixture to coat.
Secure the chicken legs in the chicken leg rack or set them onto the smoker.
Smoke the chicken legs for about an hour or until they get to about 155-F.
Meanwhile, melt the red pepper jelly in a bowl in the microwave then mix in the bourbon and the Sriracha.
When the chicken legs hit 155-F, remove them from the chicken leg rack and toss them in the glaze.
Turn the heat on the smoker up to 375-F and return the chicken legs to the rack and put the rack back into the smoker.
Smoke the chicken legs until they hit 375-F.
Reheat the remaining glaze in the microwave until it boils (20 seconds or so) and serve it on the side with the chicken legs.

Notes

Chef Jenn's Tips

The bourbon doesn't really add much in the way of alcohol to this recipe. You can omit it if you like.
Adjust the spiciness of the glaze by adding more Sriracha if you like it spicy.
Save the extra glaze for dipping - but you'll need to heat it through first if you dunked the mostly cooked chicken legs into it.
Alternatively, brush the glaze onto the legs - but adding the glaze to a large bowl and then tossing the chicken to coat is much faster and easier.
A chicken leg rack makes smoking chicken legs so easy, but it's not necessary.
To get the skin on the chicken legs crispy, you need heat. Either turn your Traeger up to 375-400F or pop the legs under the broiler but watch the glaze doesn't burn.

Nutrition