A great chicken thigh recipe
We had a big package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the freezer so we decided to try a new recipe for dinner on Saturday night. Because the package contained eight thighs and there are only two of us, I wanted to prepare them in such a way that would make it easy to repurpose the leftovers.
We settled on a simple recipe for spicy honey-brushed chicken thighs, which I found on Myrecipes.com (it was originally from Cooking Light). I already had all of the ingredients I needed, which is always a bonus! The recipe calls for broiling these thighs, but we grilled them instead and they turned out well. I love chicken thighs because you can get them a little crispy around the edges and they’ll still be moist and juicy on the inside.
I substituted a little smoked paprika for some of the regular paprika and used Sriracha in the glaze instead of putting the red pepper in the spice mix. I served these with mashed sweet potatoes and salad.
I’m thinking about chopping up the leftovers and putting them in a simple curry sauce over rice. How would you repurpose them?
Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs
Serves 4
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika (I used 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika and 3/4 tsp. regular)
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1. Preheat broiler.
2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.
3. Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.
September 24, 2012 - 10:45 AM
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Love, love chicken thighs. I wonder if this could be converted to a crockpot recipe somehow.
Interesting picture to go with your post haha.
I prefer chicken thighs over the rest of the bird. Breasts are ok but I love dark meat. Plus it is nearly impossible for thighs to turn out dry.
You could always make wraps with the left overs.
Maria, I must admit that’s what happens when I get too excited about a meal and eat it before I remember to take a picture. Whoops.
Kristen, I thought the best part of this dish was the way the rub and glaze coated the outside and was kind of grilled-on. It might be too wet in the Crock Pot but it would still taste good. But if you shake the chicken in the rub before work and let it sit in the fridge until you get home, all you’d have to do is toss them on the grill.
Interesting that the cooking time is only 6 mintues per side.
My favorate way to do boneless thighs is here: http://www.fussfreecooking.com/meat-recipes/grilled-chicken-thigh-fillets/
Still broiled, and the marinade can be anything, but the time is 15 min per side. I think the dark meat needs that extra time to break down a bit, and they are still plenty moist and tender.
BTW, the title says “Grilled”, but it works for the broiler just fine.
That recipe looks good, Bjoe. That Asian flavor profile with hoisin, garlic, ginger and sesame can’t be beat! I turn to it often for chicken, pork and seafood.
I need to ask hubby how long he grilled those thighs but it sure felt longer than 8 minutes per side. But as we both said, the nice thing about chicken thighs is they don’t dry out as quickly as breasts.
Here’s a spicy one:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chipotle-Lime-Grilled-Chicken-234987
I think the chipotle Tabasco branded sauce they use is way too mild. I used chipotles in adobo sauce out of that can that you probably already have. Much better and you can use as much as you are spicy.
We once used chicken thighs in a pan – Yikes! You have to grill these things to get all that fat out of there! Tasty…