One-skillet oven baked chicken drumsticks with a creamy black pepper sauce and roasted bell peppers. It’s made with extra coarse ground black peppercorns and pickled green peppercorns for a knock-out dish. A slightly decadent and more than satisfying dish, just pure joy.
It’s an easy pan sauce made with chicken stock, a splash of milk and soft cheese with cracked black peppercorns. It has a nice peppery kick and a delicious garlicky note. We’re serving this sauce with a bunch of golden crispy chicken drumsticks for a meal that can make even a regular weeknight dinner feel extra special.
Why you’ll love this oven-baked creamy black pepper drumstick recipe
This one skillet meal is absolutely amazing. The chicken is incredibly juicy and infused with the most delicious flavors. We add roasted bell peppers (from a jar – super easy!) to brighten up this indulgent dish. While the soft cheese makes a bold flavor statement enhanced with lively black peppercorns that add character and intensity. It’s fuss-free and tastes so good. A crowd-pleasing dish, a true back-pocket recipe to have in your arsenal. And it’s super versatile too, if you swap the bell peppers for sun-dried tomatoes, you’ll effortlessly create a totally different dish. Let’s make this delicious chicken dish, shall we? Hands down. It’s amazing.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.
Helpful tips
- You can serve it with orzo, rice, crispy potatoes or mashed potatoes.
- Or use broccoli, or a simple side salad and crusty bread to mop up that amazing sauce.
- Instead of drumstick, you can use chicken thighs or chicken breasts. If you use chicken breasts, you can make this dish without using the oven. Just follow the steps, then add the seared breasts back to the skillet and cook for 5-10 minutes along with the sauce.
How to store creamy black pepper chicken?
- Fridge: Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: I recommend avoiding freezing this dish, as the creamy sauce might curdle after thawing.
More chicken, please!
Cooking Video
Creamy Black Pepper Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
Chicken
- 8 chicken drumsticks
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp salted butter for frying
- 1 tbsp olive oil for frying
Black pepper sauce
- 1 package (150 g/5.5 oz) black peppercorn cream cheese I used Boursin
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 jar (280 g/10 oz) roasted bell peppers cut into thin slices, excess oil drained
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp pickled green peppercorns chopped (young green peppercorns in brine), optional
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- fresh thyme sprigs optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
- To a bowl, add sweet paprika dried thyme, garlic powder, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper and drumsticks. Rub the chicken with spices.
- Heat olive oil and butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add drumsticks and sear both sides until golden brown, about 8 minutes per side. Remove from skillet.
- In the same skillet, add garlic, cook over low heat until soft, 2 minutes. Add ground black pepper and green peppercorns, sauté for 1 minute. Stir in thyme and oregano. Pour chicken stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the cheese, add milk and roasted bell peppers. Give it a taste and season with salt, if needed.
- Return chicken to the skillet. Sprinkle with fresh thyme. Place the skillet in the oven and roast until completely cooked through, about 30 minutes. Enjoy!
- Serve with orzo, baked/mashed potatoes or bread, and broccoli or a simple side salad.
Nutrition
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Made this with boneless skinless chicken thighs. OH SO GOOD. I may use slightly less broth + milk next time as the sauce could have been a little thicker. Probably the thighs released a lot of juice as well. Will definitely make again and I think once we finish the chicken, I’ll turn the sauce into a nice pasta side dish
That’s so nice to hear! I am glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for giving it a try!
This was SO DELICIOUS!
And easy!
I used sun dried tomatoes instead of raosted peppers and served it with baked potatoes and broccoli.
I can imagine mopping up the rich sauce with some good quality bread, will definitely do this next time!
Love hearing this! Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try!
I’m on keto is it possible to replace the milk with heavy cream?
Hi, heavy cream will work well here. I hope you love this recipe!
How would you change the time and oven degree if boneless skinless chicken breast were used instead of chicken legs?
Hi, if you want to prepare this recipe with chicken breasts, you don’t need to use the oven. Just cook the breasts about 8 minutes per side, remove from skillet, then make the sauce. Next add chicken to the sauce and simmer everything for 3-5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Enjoy the recipe, hope you love it!
Can I use chicken thighs? and how many?
Hi, chicken thighs will work great here. For big meat eaters, count on two thighs per person. For kids and lighter eaters, one chicken thigh per person should be enough. Hope you love it!
I prefer to remove skin from legs will thus change anything in regards to cooking
hi, the cooking times will be the same. Hope you love it!
This was excellent!! Couldn’t find brined green peppercorns anywhere and was searching for some other dynamic to add, as the green peppercorns are really critical for that unique, next-level flavor… and a splash of Madeira truly came to the rescue! A fantastic second choice if you find yourself in my predicament!
hi! I’m really happy you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks so much for giving it a try!
I bought green peppercorns and hydrated them in pickle juice. Bring juice and peppercorns to a boil, turn off heat, cover and let set for an hour.
This was incredibly delicious!
I added fresh spinach, and used cream cheese as my “soft cheese”, plus sprinkled grated parmesan! Used heavy cream instead of milk because I had some leftover. It made the sauce nice and thick. Wish I had some biscuits for the remaining sauce. I “cleaned” the pan with bread!
fantastic! that’s so nice to hear. Thanks so much for making this recipe, I’m delighted that it was enjoyed!
Hi! What can I use as a substitute for green peppercorns? Would the Madeira be the only one (from above user)? Thank you so much! I’m so excited to try this!
Hi, you can use pink peppercorns, or capers and some extra freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy the recipe!
Made this thinking it was an unusual combination but it was delicious. I only had skim milk so sauce was a little thin but that was fine for me. I’m on my own now so I aim to cook meals I can freeze into portions and reheat. This reheats really well. Very nice recipe
Not simple and lots of ingredients but worth it
SO glad you enjoyed Carolyn! Thanks for making!
Delicious! And very substitute friendly! Thanks 👍🏼
You’re welcome Eva! So glad you enjoyed!