Baked up juicy and full of garden herb flavor, this freezer meal with chicken drumsticks, potatoes, carrots and savory sauce is a tasty family favorite.
Friends, I love freezer meals. What could be simpler than a chicken drumsticks recipe that tastes amazing and waits ready in the freezer until you pop it in the oven? How about one that includes potatoes, carrots and a tasty sauce to go with! Sunday dinners will never be the same.
I started packing freezer meals a few years ago and haven’t looked back. You can’t beat them for convenience…and helping to stick to a budget. And for me, a huge time saver is making less trips to the grocery store.
I keep a stock of different size foil pans and freezer bags in the pantry so when I see a sale on meats or veggies, I can come home and package them up for the freezer.
?TIP – Plan ahead ? if I see a deal on chuck roast to make into Beef Mexican, I’ll buy the tortillas and taco shells at the same time because I know I’ll need them to serve with the meal.
Freezer safe foil pans are a super time saver when making freezer meals. Clean up is a snap and you don’t tie up your baking pans. The pack I buy comes with foil lids making it even easier to prep those freezer meals.
Ingredients for Herb Chicken Drumsticks Freezer Meal
- Chicken Drumsticks – to mix it up, you can substitute chicken thighs or bone in, skin on chicken breasts. The cooking time may be longer or shorter depending on the thickness and cut of chicken parts you choose.
- Potatoes – we love a mix of yukon and purple baby potatoes for this recipe. The skins are thin enough so they don’t need peeeling and Bonus – No chopping needed either! If you’re using larger potatoes or a thicker skinned variety, peel and cut into quarters.
- Carrots – bagged baby carrots (pre-cut and pre-washed!) are an amazing convenience when making freezer meals.
- Chicken Gravy Mix – a few tablespoons or a packet of gravy mix will turn the chicken broth and juices into a tasty sauce for the veggies.
- Chicken Broth – we mix our own using Better than Bouillon. The roasted chicken variety has totally amazing flavor.
- Spices – Parsley Flakes, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Thyme Leaves, Dried Rosemary
For less mess and cleanup (and who doesn’t want that?) I like to use large foil pans to pack this herb chicken drumsticks freezer meal. A 2 gallon freezer bag can be used too, but you’ll want to sprinkle on the herbs right before cooking so the herbs stay on the chicken. If you don’t mind if the herbs get mixed with the veggies, then pack all the ingredients including the herbs into the freezer bag when you prep this meal for freezing.
More Easy Freezer Meal Ideas
- Korean Barbecue Beef
- Asian Barbecue Chicken Bake
- Sweet Spicy Chicken
- Cheese Steak with Peppers
- Freezer Meal Beef and Gravy
Herb Chicken Drumsticks with Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken drumsticks
- 1.5 pounds baby potatoes washed and dried
- 1 pound baby carrots bagged
- 2 tbsp chicken gravy mix
- 1 tsp parsley flakes
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp thyme leaves
- 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 cup chicken broth
- salt and pepper
Instructions
To Freeze:
- Arrange vegetables in bottom of 9 x 13 foil pan.
- In small bowl, whisk gravy mix into chicken broth. Pour over vegetables.
- Place chicken legs in single layer on top of vegetables in pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Dust chicken legs evenly with parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme and rosemary.
- Cover pan tightly with foil lid or piece of cut foil, then a layer of plastic wrap. Label pan and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen or thaw in refrigerator up to 48 hours ahead before baking.
To Bake Now or from Thawed:
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove the plastic wrap (if baking from thawed). Leave the top of the pan covered with the foil.
- Bake on center rack of oven for 45 minutes covered. Remove foil and continue to bake for 15 minutes uncovered until chicken is at least 165°F when a meat thermometer is inserted in the thickest part of the leg and the vegetables are tender. Remember – ovens and chicken leg size may vary so your chicken may take a longer or shorter time to cook.
- Remove chicken from pan and stir vegetables to coat with gravy. Serve immediately with any remaining gravy on the side.
Baking from Frozen:
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove foil and plastic wrap. Cover top of the pan with foil.
- Bake on center rack of oven for 1 hour covered. Remove foil and continue to bake for 30 minutes uncovered until chicken is at least 165°F when a meat thermometer is inserted in the thickest part of the leg and the vegetables are tender. Remember – ovens and the size of the chicken legs may vary so your chicken might take a longer or shorter time to cook.
- Remove chicken from pan and stir vegetables to coat with gravy. Serve immediately with any remaining gravy on the side.
Equipment Used
Nutrition Facts
© Copyright Christine Mello for Must Love Home. We would love for you to share a link to this recipe but please do not copy/paste the recipe instructions to websites or social media. We are happy for you to share a photo with a link back to this website instead.
Hi Mary Ann. Whole Baby potatoes are used for this recipe and are added to the other ingredients uncut. I haven’t had any negative results freezing them this way. Hope that helps.
Hi – I just made this… and have them in the freezer now for busy nights. Just wondering if you ever have problems with the potatoes? I’m a little afraid of how they are going to turn out – but thought I’d try anyway. Never have frozen raw potatoes before and reviews of other dishes sound like they might turn out poorly??
Hi Christine – I want to make this – looks good and I’m trying to make a bunch of freezer meals to save time and money … but I have a question – sometimes my potatoes get mushy in the freezer… will these, or does using whole baby potatoes prevent this? Thanks for the help!