Grilled Chicken Legs with Yogurt Mint Marinade

This is a beautiful, easy, economical, summertime Grilled Chicken Legs with Yogurt Mint Marinade recipe. A bit of lime and yogurt tang combine well in the delicious marinade that coats these drum sticks.

Add some refreshing mint flavors to the mix and this recipe is perfect for a cookout or warm-weather dinner. Fire up your grill and give this grilled chicken leg recipe a try!

🌿 What makes this recipe special?

Chicken legs are an overlooked cut of meat to many people, but it has some significant advantages. Legs are very reasonably priced, which gets this some immediate praise from me.

Also, some folks seem to think that it is easy to dry legs out. Our yogurt mint marinade helps make sure these chicken legs are very moist. Additionally, as long as you are checking the temperature of your legs, there is no reason you can’t have moist, wonderful grilled chicken legs.

Plain yogurt, lime, and mint are all reachable and economical ingredients. Combine these together with our meat to make a wonderful and special grilled chicken leg recipe.

Perhaps serve this grilled chicken leg recipe with this Mediterranean  Watermelon Feta Salad recipe and my Rancharoni Macaroni Salad recipe, or these Grilled Green Beans in a Foil Packet. If you want to make it a special dinner, think about some dessert with this wonderful Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler recipe. No Matter, what you make, make sure to treat yourself!

🍗 Ingredients

This is a grilled chicken leg recipe, and the marinade is essential for making a final tender product. Here are the ingredients:

• Chicken legs
• Plain Greek yogurt
• Lime Juice
• Mint
• Garlic clove
• Smoked paprika
• Salt
• Pepper

See the recipe card for quantities.

🍲 Instructions

Two pieces of this recipe puzzle make it great. First is the marinade. The second piece of the recipe puzzle is the grilling process.

The marinade is as simple as combining the marinade ingredients and then adding the thawed chicken legs to the marinade. I use a freezer bag, as it helps cover all of the chicken.

Really, however, any suitable container would work. If the legs are not fully covered, I suggest shaking it up every once in a while to make sure the legs are fully coated.

Then, put the chicken in the refrigerator. While I suggest a full day of marination, you could take it out as soon as one hour if you are in a pinch for time. Four hours should be fine, but one day is best.

The second piece of the puzzle that makes it great is the grilling portion of the recipe. Once your legs are marinated, remove the legs and cook it on your grill, over indirect heat at 375° Farhenheit for about 30 minutes or until your legs hit 165° Farhenheit. 

I use a Weber Genesis grill with three burners. I use the two side burners and cook in the middle to cook this chicken over indirect heat. For a charcoal grill, create the appropriate zones to allow for indirect heat. 

No matter how you cook these over indirect heat, I suggest getting yourself a good thermometer. The sooner you can get your legs off the heat after it hits a safe temperature, the better they will be. Once your legs hit 165° Fahrenheit, remove them from the grill. 

🤷 Substitutions and variations

There are a few things that might change this up.

• Lime – I use one fresh lime, but if you just have lime juice, this equates to about two tablespoons of juice. 
• Yogurt – The recipe calls for Greek yogurt, but any plain yogurt would do. 
• Different cuts of chicken – I use legs, but this marinade would really work for any chicken cut. It would be treated similarly and just make sure to get your meat to temp. 

📦 Storage

I keep the marinade and the chicken in the same gallon freezer bag while marinating. Dispose of the marinade after it is used. 

After the chicken is grilled and if there is leftover grilled chicken legs, you should be able to keep it in your fridge for 3 or so days. I would suggest a sealed container. 

🎓 History tidbit

Yogurt has a history that is recorded as far back as 5000 BC. While this is speculation and shares an account with the very beginnings of cheese, it is attributed to carrying dairy in containers made from an animal’s stomach. 

The stomach has enzymes that help transform dairy to yogurt or curds. Through the simple act of transporting dairy, yogurt was discovered. 

❓ FAQ

📝 Tips and tricks

• Make sure to cook over indirect grill heat
• When transferring from marinade to grill, allow most of the marinade to fall from the leg. You don’t have to wipe anything down, but you don’t want a bunch of dripping from the leg that could cause flare-ups.
• Ensure your grill is clean and oiled before cooking to help ensure the meat does not stick.
• Remove the legs when they hit 165° Fahrenheit. 

🛠 Products used in this recipe

• Thermometer
• Tongs
• Gallon Freezer Bags

😋 Did you make this recipe?

That is awesome, and thank you so much for giving it a try. If you could leave a rating in the comment area below, it would be greatly appreciated. This lets me know how I am doing and also helps others decide if they want to make this Grilled Chicken Legs with Yogurt Mint Marinade recipe. Most of all, thanks for visiting Ramshackle Pantry.

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