Baked Buffalo Drumsticks

Baked Buffalo Drumsticks

I'll admit it...Buffalo Wings are my weakness.  I can't resist those fried, butter slathered, hot sauce laden goodies and the drummies are my absolute favorite! 
It's time for me to slim down a bit and start cooking healthy, so to kill my craving, I bought some great big chicken drumsticks, a giant jar of Frank's RedHot Sauce and fired up my oven!
To get the full veggie effect, I served them up with a big salad full of carrots, celery and Ranch dressing, since I prefer Ranch with my buffalo wings instead of Blue Cheese.  Of course, if you're more of a Blue Cheese dressing person, you could easily substitute one dressing for the other, just make sure its the low-fat version to stick with our calorie cutting theme!
I tossed the drumsticks in an olive oil and hot sauce marinade for about 5 minutes and baked them in the oven for 30 minutes.  If you like the crispy skin, stick them in the broiler for another 10 minutes at the end.  Before I served them, I brushed on some additional hot sauce and garnished them with fresh scallions.

Baked Buffalo Drumsticks

Prep Time: 10 minutes / Cook Time:  40 minutes / Servings: 6 drumsticks

Ingredients:

• 6 large chicken drumsticks, skin on
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup Frank's RedHot Sauce
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh scallions

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, hot sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Whisk until all ingredients are combined, about 1 minute.  Add the drumsticks and toss with your hands until coated.  Allow the chicken to marinate for about 5 minutes. 
3. Arrange the drumsticks onto a cookie sheet and pour the remaining marinade over the chicken.  Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  FOR CRISPY SKIN:  Place the drumsticks in the broiler for an additional 10 minutes after baking. 
4. To Serve:  Brush with some additional hot sauce, garnish with fresh scallions and serve over salad recipe that follows.

Buffalo Veggie Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes / Cook Time: 0 minutes / Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 head leaf lettuce, washed and chopped
• 3 large carrots, peeled and shredded
• 3 large celery stalks, sliced
• 1/2 cup Low-Fat Ranch Dressing
• 1 Roma Tomato, sectioned

Steps:

1. Combine lettuce, carrots, celery and dressing.  Toss well until all ingredients are combined.
2. Serve onto plates and garnish edges with Roma Tomato.

Baked Buffalo Drumsticks