This spaghetti and chicken drumsticks recipe is one of my favourites because it only requires one baking dish. The result is an easy chicken and spaghetti dinner full of flavour.
It’s hard to know if the chicken or the spaghetti is the best part of this dish. I’ll let you decide!
The secret to this recipe is that the spaghetti cooks completely in the tomato sauce to absorb the flavours from the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and seasonings. There is no separate boiling time required for the pasta.
To maximize the flavour of this recipe, you’ll want to use chicken pieces with bones so either chicken drumsticks, whole chicken legs, chicken thighs, or chicken wings. This recipe wouldn’t work as well using chicken breasts since so much of the delicious flavour comes from the chicken roasting in the pan with the spices and tomato sauce.
The time the chicken pieces need to cook in the oven will vary depending on the size and type of chicken parts you choose to use. For example, I used 6 chicken drumsticks (approximately 500 grams) for this recipe.
This is the perfect recipe to make for a Sunday dinner that the entire family will love! It’s one of my favourite recipes because it’s so comforting.
It does require a little more maintenance than a “set it and forget it” oven recipe, but it’s worth it! Plus, the baking dish can go straight from the oven to the dinner table, so there are fewer dishes to clean. Win-win!
RECIPE TIPS
You’ll be adding canned tomatoes (including the liquid), oil, and water to the baking dish, so you’ll need to use a baking dish that has a little depth as opposed to a baking sheet or thin sheet pan.
If you’re looking for a super crispy chicken recipe, then you may want to skip this one for another time. The drumsticks will get seared at a higher heat to get some level of crispiness, but most of the time, the drumsticks are baked in the dish with tomato sauce. That’s where all the flavour comes from for the spaghetti.
The uncooked spaghetti will cook completely in the tomato sauce and absorb all the amazing flavours. During this step, you’ll need to keep an eye on the amount of water in the pan so that there is enough liquid for the spaghetti to cook.
If there’s too little water, the pasta will burn or stick together. Gradually add 1/4 cup of hot water at a time if you think the pasta needs more water to cook.
In this recipe, I’ve used a total of 2 1/2 cups of water, but that amount may vary depending on the brand of spaghetti and the heat of your oven.
It’s a good idea to have hot water in a saucepan or in a tea kettle ready to access since you’ll need to add hot water to the baking dish a few times throughout this recipe.
It’s important to add hot water (except at the beginning) so that the temperature of the dish doesn’t drop too much when you add the water.
The chicken and the pasta don’t need to be covered while baking in the oven for this recipe.
HOW TO MAKE BAKED CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS WITH SPAGHETTI: STEP BY STEP
STEP 1: Remove the chicken drumsticks from the packaging and rinse them well with cold water.
STEP 2: Place the chicken drumsticks into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.
STEP 3: Peel the shallots, garlic, and white onion. Dice the garlic. Cut the white onion into quarters. Peel and cut the onion into quarters. The shallots can remain whole. The onions and shallots may break apart slightly as you put them in the baking dish. That’s ok!
STEP 4: Add the peeled shallots, garlic, and white onion to the baking dish.
STEP 5: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F on convection bake.
STEP 6: Rub the chicken drumsticks with olive oil, fresh ground pepper, salt, dried oregano, garlic powder, and seasoning salt.
STEP 7: Add 1/4 cup cold water to the pan. This is so that the onions and garlic don’t burn while you’re cooking the chicken at a high temperature.
STEP 8: Place the pan with the chicken and onions into the oven once the oven has been preheated to 400 degrees F. Leave the chicken in the oven for approximately 10 minutes. The high heat initially will sear the outside of the chicken and lock in some of the flavour.
STEP 9: While the chicken is in the oven, open the can of Italian peeled plum tomatoes and pour the whole can into a bowl. Add in one tablespoon of sugar. Squish or cut up the tomatoes with your hands or a fork and knife. Set aside.
STEP 10: After 10 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and flip the drumsticks over so that the other side is facing up.
STEP 11: In a separate saucepan or tea kettle, heat about 3 cups of water so that you can easily access hot water to add to the pan as the chicken cooks.
STEP 12: Place the chicken back in the oven at 400 degrees F for another 10 minutes. You may need to add another 1/4 cup of hot water to the pan if the bottom of the pan is drying out.
STEP 13: After 10 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
STEP 14: Then, add all of the tomato sauce to the pan.
STEP 15: Place the chicken back into the oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
STEP 16: After the chicken is in the oven for 30 minutes, remove the pan and carefully flip the chicken over so that the other side can brown. Add in 1/4 cup of hot water to the pan. Place the chicken back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
The chicken drumsticks will have 1 hour and 10 minutes total cook time. But, the cooking time may be shorter or longer depending on the size of your chicken pieces. It’s good to point out that the internal temperature should be at least 165 degrees F using a meat thermometer.
STEP 17: After 20 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. Place the golden brown chicken onto a separate plate. Cover the chicken loosely with aluminium foil and set it aside.
STEP 18: Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and add 1/4 cup salted butter to the tomato sauce.
STEP 19: Add 2 cups of hot water to the baking dish. Stir all of the ingredients in the baking dish.
STEP 20: Place the pan back in the oven at 375 degrees F with just the sauce (no chicken). After a few minutes, the sauce will start to boil. The tomato sauce should be simmering or as hot as possible when adding the spaghetti.
STEP 21: Once the sauce is hot, add all of the spaghetti to the pan and stir so that the spaghetti is covered with tomato sauce.
STEP 22: Place the pan back into the oven at 375 degrees F on convection bake. For best results, stir the spaghetti every 10 minutes to prevent it from sticking together or burning. When you take the dish out of the oven to stir the pasta, you can check if the pasta needs more water. Add 1/4 cup of hot water to the baking dish if it does.
The spaghetti will likely need about 25-30 minutes to cook in the sauce. As you near the 25-minute mark, you can take out a little bit of the pasta to try it to see if it’s done or if it needs more water to cook longer.
STEP 23: If the pasta needs more water, gradually add 1/4 cup of hot water to the pan.
STEP 24: After the pasta is cooked, remove the pan and stir the pasta. Add the cooked chicken drumsticks back to the baking dish and bake in the oven for a couple more minutes so that the chicken is hot before serving.
STEP 25: Top with grated parmesan cheese, fresh parsley or fresh basil!
How To Store Baked Spaghetti With Chicken Drumsticks?
You can keep the spaghetti and chicken in an airtight container for up to three days in the fridge. You can easily reheat this dish in the oven or the microwave. If you’re using an oven, the pasta and chicken will get more crispy than if you reheat this recipe in a microwave. But, both options are delicious!

Easy Baked Chicken Drumsticks With Spaghetti
Oven-baked chicken drumsticks with spaghetti and tomato sauce. The spaghetti cooks in all delicious flavours. A must-try recipe!
Ingredients
- 6 small-medium size chicken drumsticks
- 4 shallots (peeled)
- 1 white onion (peeled and cut into quarters)
- 4 cloves of garlic (peeled and diced)
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons seasoning salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 large can Italian peeled plum tomatoes (796 ml.)
- 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
- 1 package spaghetti (454 grams/16 oz/1 pound)
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 1/2 cups water
- Grated parmesan cheese (optional)
- Fresh parsley or basil for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F on convection bake
- Remove the chicken drumsticks from the packaging and rinse them well with cold water
- Place chicken into a 9"x13" baking dish
- Peel the shallots, garlic, and white onion. Dice the garlic and cut the white onions into quarters. The shallots can stay whole.
- Add the peeled shallots, garlic, and white onion to the baking dish
- Rub the chicken drumsticks with olive oil, fresh ground pepper, salt, dried oregano, garlic powder, and seasoning salt
- Add 1/4 cup cold water to the pan. The water is added so that the onions and garlic don't burn.
- Place the pan with the chicken, onions and garlic into the preheated oven. Leave the chicken in the oven for approximately 10 minutes. The high heat will initially sear the chicken.
- While the chicken is in the oven, open the can of Italian peeled plum tomatoes and pour the whole can (including the liquid) into a bowl. Add in one tablespoon of sugar. Squish or cut the tomatoes into smaller pieces with your hands or a fork and knife. Set aside.
- After 10 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and flip the drumsticks over so that the other side is facing up.
- In a separate saucepan or tea kettle, heat about 3 cups of water so that you can easily access hot water to add to the pan as the chicken cooks.
- Place the chicken back in the oven at 400 degrees F for another 10 minutes. You may need to add another 1/4 cup of hot water to the pan if the bottom of the pan is drying out.
- After 10 minutes (the chicken has been cooking for 20 minutes so far), remove the pan from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Then, add all of the tomato sauce to the pan.
- Place the chicken with the tomato sauce back in the oven for 30 minutes.
- After the chicken has been in the oven for 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and carefully flip the chicken over to brown the other side. Add in 1/4 cup of hot water. Leave the chicken in the oven for 20 more minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. Place the golden brown chicken onto a separate plate. Cover the chicken loosely with aluminium foil and set it aside.
- Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and 1/4 cup salted butter to the tomato sauce in the pan.
- Add 2 cups of hot water to the pan. Stir the tomato sauce in the pan.
- Place the pan back in the oven with just the sauce (no chicken) so that the sauce will start to boil and heat up. The tomato sauce should be lightly boiling when you add the spaghetti.
- Once the sauce is hot, add all of the spaghetti to the pan and stir well so that the spaghetti is covered with tomato sauce.
- Place the pan back into the oven at 375 degrees F on convection bake. The spaghetti will likely need about 25-30 minutes to cook in the sauce.
- Gradually add 1/4 cup of hot water to the pan if the pasta needs more water.
- After the pasta is cooked, remove the pan and stir the pasta. Add the cooked chicken drumsticks back to the baking dish and bake in the oven for a couple of minutes.
- Top with grated parmesan cheese, fresh parsley or fresh basil.
Notes
- The chicken drumsticks in this recipe have a total cook time of 1 hour and 10 minutes but the cooking time may vary depending on the size and type of your chicken pieces. The internal temperature of the chicken should be at least 165 degrees F.
- The spaghetti will need about 25-30 minutes to cook in the tomato sauce. Depending on the temperature of your oven, type of pasta, and how you like your pasta, the cooking time may vary. As you near the 25-minute mark, you can take out a bit of the pasta to see if it's done.
- You may need to gradually add hot water to the baking dish. It's a good idea to heat up 3 cups of water in a saucepan or tea kettle so that you have it on hand. You'll want to add hot water to the baking dish so that the temperature stays hot while the chicken and pasta cook (except for the cold water at the beginning).
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
5Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 539Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 140mgSodium: 1547mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 25g
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Easy Baked Chicken Drumsticks With Spaghetti
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