Sweet Cinnamon Garlic Spiced Chicken Legs

My friend Kristen messaged me the other day, asking me if I had any good crockpot recipes for chicken legs. I didn't, but the more I thought about it, it was an awesome idea. Chicken legs have a lot of fat, so they will hold up very nicely in your slow cooker. And they're fairly inexpensive. Since I'm on a very tight budget and generally obsessed with my crockpot, it just made sense.

And then our friend Carrie invited us over for brunch this past weekend and made these awesome breakfast potatoes with cinnamon and cumin.

So if you enjoy this recipe, you have Kristen and Carrie to thank for it.

If you want to modify it and instead of cinnamon, cumin and garlic, try lemon juice, rosemary and thyme... or smoked paprika and cumin... or poultry seasoning and sea salt... by all means, go for it! The flavor combinations are endless!

Just remember: chicken legs + crockpot = awesome. Thanks, Kristen! (And thanks for the flavor combination idea, Carrie!)

Serves 4-6.

The Tools:

6 qt. crockpot (4 qt. would work if you used closer to 2 lbs. of chicken legs)

2-3 lbs. chicken legs
butter (or olive oil for dairy-free)
1/2 onion, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, smashed (not minced or diced!)
1 T cumin
1 T cinnamon
1 t coriander
1 t paprika
3-4 T white wine, chicken broth or water

The Process:

Place a liberal amount of butter or olive oil in your large saute pan. Heat it up and brown chicken legs, flipping them carefully with tongs until they are nice and crispy on both sides.

Place chicken legs in your crockpot. Add your smashed garlic, scattering it around your chicken.

(Sidebar: How does one smash garlic? Peel your garlic and take a large knife and carefully *smash* the garlic.)

Add chopped onions to the saute pan and cook until translucent. Add spices to the onions and saute until fragrant. Scrape onion mixture over chicken legs in the crockpot.

Pour whatever liquid you're using - chicken broth, white wine or water - in the pan and deglaze it, scraping any bits off. Pour over the onion mixture and chicken legs.

Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 5-6 hours, checking to be sure that the chicken legs are cooked thoroughly. Mine were falling off the bone after five hours, but my 6 qt. crockpot tends to cook a bit hotter than the average slow cooker. Use a slotted spoon or spatula to dig them out carefully; there will be quite a bit of liquid in the bottom of the crockpot and you'll want to be sure you get the chicken legs out without them falling apart TOO badly.

We came home from church on Sunday night and devoured these. My two year old LOVED them. The leftovers have been amazing.

Enjoy!