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How to Boil Chicken Legs

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Chicken happens to be one of the most widely consumed meats and food items all over the globe. It is consumed in large amounts by people in any country and is now widely replacing other forms of meat because of its nutritional values. In fact, it is quickly becoming a staple food in the diets of many individuals, with the number seeming to be on the rise constantly.

how to boil chicken legs

One of the most favored pieces of a chicken is its legs. One of the best methods of eating chicken legs is by boiling them. Learning how to boil chicken legs is thus essential. But you can also read – How to Boil Whole Chicken. The chicken leg has a juicy mass that is a treat to chew on, and the soft bones that can be chewed on easily. They are a treat to eat no matter how you do it. Here’s how you can boil chicken legs.

Contents

  • How to Boil Chicken Legs (Step-by-Step Instructions)
    • Step 1: Take some chicken legs
    • Step 2: Add water
    • Step 3: Add a carrot
    • Step 4: Put an onion
    • Step 5: Add Bay Leaf
    • Step 6: Add black peppercorns
    • Step 7: Boil the mixture
    • Step 8: Add salt and boil
  • How Long to Boil Chicken Legs
  • How to Boil Chicken Legs (Short Summary)
    • Ingredients  
    • Instructions 
    • Notes

How to Boil Chicken Legs (Step-by-Step Instructions)

Like any other food item, there’s a specific procedure that goes into boiling a chicken leg. You need a specific set of ingredients and follow a process to combine them and boil the chicken legs the way you want to. Here is the process you need to follow to boil chicken legs:

Step 1: Take some chicken legs

Gather 1 kilogram of chicken legs and even lay them out in a pressure cooker or any other utensil. You need to make sure that they have a significant amount of space between them and do not intrude each other’s space. Make sure you clean the chicken legs before you put them inside the utensil for boiling. Having unclean chicken legs means that the boiling process could be impeded during its course.

chicken legs in a pot

Step 2: Add water

To boil the chicken legs, you obviously need to add in water. Add around 2.5 liters of water to be able to boil your current quota of chicken legs. Of course, if you use a smaller amount of chicken legs, you would need less water to boil all of it properly. To regulate the amount of water you add based on the amount of chicken you use.

chicken legs in the water

Step 3: Add a carrot

Of course, you need to add something to bring flavor to the chicken. Moreover, what better to use than a natural ingredient for flavoring? Just add a single carrot, preferably cut into half, to provide some good natural flavor to your boiling mixture. The carrot adds some sweetness to the chicken and gives it a springy taste. It’s one of the best vegetables to use when wanting to add flavor to the chicken.

carrot with chicken legs

Step 4: Put an onion

For some more flavoring, an onion would do the trick. Just add onion to your boiling mixture. You do not need to cut the onion into smaller parts. Simply take off the peel of the onion and put it inside the pressure cooker or utensil whole. Adding more than one onion could end up making your chicken bitterer than you might want. So just add a single onion to counter the sweetness brought by the carrot and add another flavor to the chicken.

onion with chicken legs

Step 5: Add Bay Leaf

You can’t go wrong with adding some more flavor to the mixture. Of course, once again we are going for a natural product instead of using an artificial flavor. This time, bay leaf needs to be added to the mixture to give it the effect of something like an herbal spice. Bay leaf is the best possible product to use for that purpose and works like a charm with chicken. Add 2 pieces of bay leaf to the mixture for that purpose.

bay leaf with chicken legs

Step 6: Add black peppercorns

Black peppercorns are another great idea when you want to bring some flavor to the chicken. The kind of bitter taste they bring is magnificent, and by using just a small amount, you can easily spread the flavor around throughout the chicken. Adding half a tablespoon of black peppercorns will do the trick in this case. Moreover, by doing the trick, it will bring some great flavor.

black peppercorns with chicken legs

Step 7: Boil the mixture

This step involves preliminary boiling where everything that you have put in one place needs to be molded together. Just put the utensil on the stove and leave it to boil. There’s no specific time limit in this case. Take the utensil off of the stove when you feel that the mixture has thoroughly boiled.

boil chicken legs

Step 8: Add salt and boil

Once you have taken off the stove, strain off the excess and add one tablespoon of salt to the mixture. Adding the salt not only provides extra flavor, but it also allows you to make sure that the boiling procedure is carried out strenuously. Just add the salt and boil once again.

add salt to chicken legs

How Long to Boil Chicken Legs

To make the best possible boiled chicken legs with the above ingredients and procedures, a boiling time of 20 minutes is more than decent to get the very best taste. In 20 minutes, the mixture gets time to spread out evenly, and all of the ingredients get their fair share of water movement and salt access. Since the water is already hot because it was boiled previously, it becomes easier to boil it now.

chicken legs on the plate

how to boil chicken legs

How to Boil Chicken Legs (Short Summary)

Vera Stetsenko
Simply take 1 kg of chicken legs and add them into a utensil with 2.5 liters of water. Then add one carrot, one onion, 2 bay leaf pieces, and half a tablespoon of black peppercorns. Boil until you can see the effect and add 1 tablespoon of salt after taking it off the stove. Boil again for 20 minutes, and your boiled chicken legs are ready to be served.
3 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Course main dish
Cuisine all
Calories 405 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • Chicken Legs - 1 kilogram
  • Water - 2.5 liters
  • Carrot - 1
  • Onion - 1
  • Bay Leaf - 2 pieces
  • Black Peppercorns - ½ tablespoon
  • Salt - 1 tablespoon

Instructions
 

  • Take some chicken legs
  • Add water
  • Add a carrot
  • Add an onion
  • Add Bay Leaf
  • Add black peppercorns
  • Boil the mixture
  • Add salt and boil

Notes

Some tips for this are:
  • Using skinless chicken for better boiling
  • Adding more vegetables for more flavor
  • Boiling for longer periods of time to bring more flavor to it

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Previous Post: « How to Boil Shrimp Perfectly Every Time
Next Post: How to Boil Chicken Wings: Step-by-Step Guide »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Denise

    January 23, 2021 at 4:58 pm

    5 stars
    Delicious!

    Reply
  2. FluffyTea

    November 26, 2022 at 11:15 am

    What to do with the water/soup?

    Reply
    • Vera Stetsenko

      December 13, 2022 at 5:07 pm

      You can prepare old fashioned chicken soup

      Reply
  3. Emma

    February 25, 2024 at 12:02 pm

    3 stars
    “Once you take off the stove, strain off the excess” then add salt and boil again??? WHAT is “the excess” ?? Your instructions seem very confusing for a relatively simple thing to do. Please explain what straining off the excess is.

    Reply

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VeraHi! I’m Vera Stetsenko. Easy-to-prepare and time-saving, how-to-boil recipes will rediscover taste in boiled food that will upgrade your daily meals or special dinners.
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