Crispy Grilled Chicken Leg Quarters | Traeger, Pit Boss, or Other Pellet Grill
This grilled chicken leg quarters recipe is a favorite! Super simple with only four ingredients, these smoked chicken quarters are a breeze to make. The combination of smoked chicken rub, barbecue sauce and reverse searing results in perfectly cooked chicken quarters, packed with smokey flavor and crispy skin. Season, Smoke, Sear, and Serve these grilled chicken leg quarters today.
Why Grilled Chicken Quarters Rock!
Tips + Tricks
- pat the chicken completely dry to encourage the chicken skin to get crispy
- grilling at a lower temperature is the best way to achieve juicy chicken when grilling
- remove any extra hanging or loose pieces of skin to avoid any burning or crispy bits of skin
- always grill your chicken quarters over indirect heat if possible or raise the grill grates
- make sure that your grill is preheated before placing the chicken quarters on the grill to make sure that the skin doesn’t stick
- If you have extra time, consider brining your chicken leg quarters before grilling for at least an hour. This Simple Brown Sugar Chicken Brine is quick to whip up, lends great flavor, and can be used on whole chicken, chicken drumsticks, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or chicken wings. It works well on dark meat as well as white meat.
- Don’t skip the reverse sear! Cooking the chicken at a higher temperature toward the end of the grilling process helps to render the fat in the chicken skin, creating the coveted crispy chicken skin.
Key Ingredients + Equipment
Chicken Quarters– Family packs of chicken quarters are always a good choice and can easily be found at your local grocery store! They are super economical and extra grilled quarters can be frozen for soups, salads, and sandwiches.
Olive Oil
Chicken Dry Rub- Check out this easy 5 minute Smoked Chicken Rub or choose your favorite chicken rub. I love to use Traeger’s Pork and Poultry seasoning mix when I am in a hurry.
Barbecue Sauce- If you like a bit of heat, try Traeger’s Texas Spicy rub… it is more of a glaze which works well to achieve crispy skin rather than thick and “globby.” If you are using a thick sauce, consider adding a bit of water to help it spread out over the chicken.
Grill: Whether you are using a pellet smoker like a Traeger or Pitboss, electric smoker, charcoal smoker, or other barbecue, aim to cook your chicken quarters over indirect heat.
Meat Thermometer: It is super important to make sure that 165°F internal temperature is reached when cooking chicken. There are several types of instant-read thermometers that will work great for measuring the internal temperature of your chicken. If you don’t have a good one, I suggest looking into a Meater wireless probe.
Grill Mat: I swear by these non-stick grill mats. They come clean in the dishwasher without any extra scrubbing and make quick work of transferring items back and forth between the kitchen and your outdoor grill. They are a mesh mat, allowing airflow and optimal smoky flavor when compared to using a solid pan.
Exactly How To Make Grilled Chicken Leg Quarters
Step 1. PREHEAT. Preheat your pellet grill or other grill to 275°F.
Step 2. SEASON. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Brush the legs on the top and bottom with olive oil and season liberally with chicken rub. Arrange the quarters on a grill mat and transfer to your smoker or place them directly on the grill grates.
Step 3. SMOKE/GRILL. Place the seasoned chicken quarters (skin side up) on your preheated pellet grill, offset smoker, or other grill. Be sure that you are cooking them over indirect heat for best results. If you cannot cook them over indirect heat, consider lifting up your grates or placing them on a higher rack. Smoke for 45-60 minutes or until the internal temperature of your quarters have reached 165°F (measured with a meat probe thermometer or infrared thermometer). Cooking time depends a lot on the size of your raw chicken quarters, smaller quarters will take less time and larger quarters will take a longer length of time to cook.
Step 4: REVERSE SEAR. Remove the chicken quarters from your grill and crank the heat up to 425 degrees. Brush them with barbecue sauce and cover with foil until your grill comes to temperature. Place them on the hot grill and reverse sear them for 15 minutes or until the internal temperature has reached 175-180 degrees f. At this point the chicken is fully cooked and the skin will have crisped up. If you want to leave them for another 5-10 more minutes to further crisp, that comes down to personal preference!
Step 5. SERVE. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes and serve hot with a slice of grilled lemon, fresh vegetables, and your favorite grilled entree! Try this Loaded Traeger Asparagus, Creamy Dill Cucumber Salad, or Volcano Potatoes.
Recipe Variations
Salt + Pepper Smoked Chicken Quarters- Prepare chicken quarters as directed but replace the seasoning with salt and fresh ground black pepper and instead of brushing on sauce toward the end of the cooking process, sprinkle on a bit of extra salt and pepper or Montreal Steak Spice rub to suit your preferences.
Buffalo Chicken Grilled Chicken Quarters- Prepare and season as directed but replace your favorite barbecue sauce with buffalo wing sauce toward the end of the grilling process. Serve with extra buffalo sauce and ranch on the side!
Garlic and Parmesan Grilled Chicken Quarters- Prepare and season as directed but instead of basting with bbq sauce, brush on this simple garlic and parmesan wing sauce before and toward the end of the grilling process. Sprinkle with fresh parmesan to serve.
Batch + Storage + Reheating
BATCH: This crispy grilled chicken leg quarters recipe makes five quarters. It can easily be scaled up or down depending on how many people you need to serve. Look for a bulk pack of chicken quarters to make this recipe even more budget friendly. Prepare the chicken pieces, grill them all and freeze some for salads, wraps, soups, and sandwiches later on.
STORAGE: This smoked chicken quarters recipe can be kept in an airtight container for 3 days in the refrigerator or up to six months in the freezer. For long-term storage, consider wrapping the chicken quarters in plastic wrap before stowing in a freezer bag to help keep the freezer burn at bay!
REHEAT: These large chicken pieces can be reheated in an air fryer for about 10 minutes at 350°F. Microwave for two minutes on high.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fruit woods are a great choice when choosing wood chips for smoking chicken. Other light woods like pecan also lend a lighter smoke flavor to any chicken recipe.
This recipe starts off at a lower heat, followed by a high heat blast at the end. Budget 1 hour and 15 minutes in total to smoke chicken quarters on a grill.
No! Your grill will act as an oven and if placed over indirect heat, it will cook evenly. Flipping the chicken quarters will likely result in ripped skin or skin sticking to the grill. For best results, cook your chicken leg quarters skin-side up and do not flip.
Chicken leg quarters have both the thigh and drumstick portions of the chicken. They have an average of 6 ounces of meat per quarter. One quarter per person is ideal.
Printable Recipe Card For Smoked Chicken Quarters
Crispy Grilled Chicken Leg Quarters | Traeger, Pit Boss, or Other Pellet Grill
Ingredients
- 5 chicken leg quarters
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
- 3-4 tablespoons chicken rub
Instructions
- PREHEAT. Preheat your pellet grill or other grill to 275°F.
- SEASON. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Brush the legs on the top and bottom with olive oil and season liberally with chicken rub. Arrange the quarters on a grill mat and transfer to your smoker or place them directly on the grill grates.
- SMOKE/GRILL. Place the seasoned chicken quarters (skin side up) on your preheated pellet grill, offset smoker, or other grill. Be sure that you are cooking them over indirect heat for best results. If you cannot cook them over indirect heat, consider lifting up your grates or placing them on a higher rack. Smoke for 45-60 minutes or until the internal temperature of your quarters have reached 165°F (measured with a meat probe thermometer or infrared thermometer). Cooking time depends a lot on the size of your raw chicken quarters, smaller quarters will take less time and larger quarters will take a longer length of time to cook.
- REVERSE SEAR. Remove the chicken quarters from your grill and crank the heat up to 425 degrees. Brush them with barbecue sauce and cover with foil until your grill comes to temperature. Place them on the hot grill and reverse sear them for 15 minutes or until the internal temperature has reached 175-180 degrees f. At this point the chicken is fully cooked and the skin will have crisped up. If you want to leave them for another 5-10 more minutes to further crisp, that comes down to personal preference!
- SERVE. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes and serve hot with a slice of grilled lemon, fresh vegetables, and your favorite grilled entree! Try this Loaded Traeger Asparagus, Creamy Dill Cucumber Salad, or Volcano Potatoes.
Notes
- pat the chicken completely dry to encourage the chicken skin to get crispy
- remove any extra hanging or loose pieces of skin to avoid any burning or crispy bits of skin
- always grill your chicken quarters over indirect heat if possible or raise the grill grates
- make sure that your grill is preheated before placing the chicken quarters on the grill to make sure that the skin doesn’t stick
- If you have extra time, consider brining your chicken leg quarters before grilling for at least an hour. This Simple Brown Sugar Chicken Brine is quick to whip up, lends great flavor, and can be used on whole chicken, chicken drumsticks, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or chicken wings. It works well on dark meat as well as white meat.
- Don’t skip the reverse sear! Cooking the chicken at a higher temperature toward the end of the grilling process helps to render the fat in the chicken skin, creating the coveted crispy chicken skin.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 525Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 334mgSodium: 329mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 64g
If you love these grilled chicken quarters, you will also love this Crispy Smoked Chicken Thigh recipe!
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