The green crema that goes with these air-fried chicken drumsticks prepared in the Peruvian way is comprised of spinach, lime, cilantro, and some jalapenos to amp up the spice.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- olive oil for brushing
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6 (4 ounce) chicken drumsticks
- 1 cup baby spinach leaves, stems removed
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
- ½ jalapeno pepper, seeded
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, smashed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Brush an air fryer basket with olive oil.
- Combine honey, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, salt, cumin, paprika, oregano, and pepper in a large bowl. Add drumsticks; toss to coat. Arrange drumsticks vertically in the prepared basket, leaning against the basket wall and one another.
- Cook in the air fryer at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of drumstick reads 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), 15 to 20 minutes. Rearrange drumsticks with kitchen tongs halfway through cooking for even cooking.
- Meanwhile, make sauce: Combine spinach, sour cream, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, garlic, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor; process until crema sauce is smooth.
- Drizzle some crema sauce over drumsticks and serve with remaining crema.
- Any extra sauce can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 5 days. Use as a salad dressing, baked potato topper, or on tacos.
- Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of sauce. The actual amount of sauce consumed will vary.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 271 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 6 g |
| Cholesterol | 82 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 22 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 574 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 18 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Loved this recipe. The creama sauce is the star of this dish. Its fresh light and perfectly counter balances the bold taste of the chicken. I also recommend you marinate the chicken for at least an hour for best flavor. The idea of cooking the drumsticks angled against the the edge of the fryer is genius to create even browning. Saving this recipe to for the future. Especially for the sauce!
Just OK, surprised by the rave reviews. I do like the idea of using the the air fryer for chicken legs, but this wasn’t particularly flavorful, even with letting it marinate for a few hours. The creama was OK.
We have found a new family FAVORITE! This recipe has savory and bright flavors coming together in brilliance!
Excellent. Omitted salt, added pinch of cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of granulated garlic (in addition to minced garlic). Turned down the air fryer to 325 to avoid burning too much. Will definitely make again. I’d add a picture but I ate them all!!!
If I could go back, I would have marinated the drumsticks for a couple hours before air frying. The chicken had great flavor! Just not “strong” enough. I also recommend halving the green creama sauce. You simply don’t need that much unless doubling the chicken and/or have extra rice or salad to serve it with. Nice recipe!
The sauce is beyond amazing!! Chicken is perfect
I made the drumsticks exactly like the recipe directed, but I did not make the sauce. The chicken was perfectly done, although a little charred, but tender and juicy on the inside. It was fun to see how well my airfryer cooks chicken and I’ll do it again!
This recipe was amazing. The whole family enjoyed it. Not a single piece left. The green sauce was perfect. I paired it the Peruvian beans on this site.
Thanks for having this here! Made this a couple times for keto (replaced honey with keto honey though honestly might just replace with oil) and it was delicious.
I upped the spice level with a whole jalapeno …so good
I’m just here to stay that sauce is WOW! Made as written except I doubled the recipe.
Made as written other than not having jalapeño. 3 of us thought it was just fine. Have leftovers so will snack on it tomorrow to see if next day helps. Was surprised by all the positive reviews. I mean, not a negative experience, sort of lack luster. Sauce was good to use with a lot of about to expire fresh spinach. Doubt I will make again.
I followed the recipe very closely, but I made 4 large drumsticks instead of six. I don’t have an air fryer so I made them in my countertop convection oven and baked them at 375 degrees until done. I had all of the ingredients so this worked out great. Delicious! The chicken seasoning is perfect, and I scraped the bottom of the pan,after removing the chicken, and I ate that yummy stuff on a corn tortilla. Yee haaa. The sauce! Oh, my…I am glad it made a lot because I made some Mexican red rice and put some extra sauce over it. Yummmm This sauce is so good that I would use it as a salad dressing or a dipping sauce, or criminey! Eat it with a spoon! Delish. Would be good with Indian food as well.
This was delicious! I changed a few things. I used boneless chicken thighs so I quadrupled the sauce. I put olive oil in the bottom of each Pyrex dish then placed the chicken thighs along with the sauce to cook on 350° for 30 mins. As far as the green Crema, which was absolutely delicious! I used plain dairy free yogurt instead of the sour cream because I am dairy free. I served mine over rice and for greens I served spinach and dandelions. I will definitely be making this again! Thank you to the submitter!!
I didn’t use cumin or oregano, but I used turmeric and cayenne pepper. I also did not make the crema because I had left over habanero salsa. It was delicious!
Loved the flavor. I was impressed with my air fryer. First time using it.
This makes for a great dinner you can whip up in no time. It is quick and easy to make, and everyone in our family loved it, especially the green crema! I will definitely make it again sometime!
One of the best chicken dishes we ever made. Followed the recipe exactly, found that it does take the full 20 minutes cook time. It made too much sauce, but it was so good, I’m thrilled to be able to use it as salad dressing for the next few days.
I didn’t let not having an air-fryer deter me from trying this recipe. I used chicken thighs instead of drumsticks. It’s truly a delicious recipe. I definitely will make again! Maybe I’ll get an air-fryer in the new year – I hear they’re great! 🙂
Perfect as written. This recipe is perfect and the leftover Crema makes a great salad dressing. 5 stars all the way!
Great recipe but I made some changes. These changes are for 4 pounds of wings. I doubled the oregano, halved the salt, added a smashed large garlic bulb, added the same amount of chipotle and cayenne powders as the smoked paprika. I also marinated the wings for about an hour. I made the crema ahead of time so the flavors could meld. I added a lot to the sauce. I added a teaspoon each: oregano, garlic, chipotle, cayenne, onion; a whole avocado and red pepper, leaving out the jalepeno. I didn’t have one. I added a tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 cup grated red onion. It came out great! A keeper in my home.