3 Easy Chicken Thigh Recipes for Weeknight Meals

Basically the title. I love chicken thighs and how cheap they are, but need some recipes for them. Someone in the family can’t have spicy stuff and onions. Also don’t have a grill unfortunately, so no grill recipes please. Thanks In advance!

Edit:Also no lemon.

Edit: Omg thank you so much for everyone who posted their recipe here, I wasn’t expecting to get a lot of comments but I’m glad I did, I’m very excited to try them so thank you.

Got a family pack of chicken thighs and a bottle of Italian dressing.

I dumped both in a 2 gallon ziploc bag. Didn't trim any of the skin.

We have had a ton of rain this week so they sat in the fridge for 4 days.

Got the PK360 to 225 degrees with a full chimney of B&B hardwood.

I added a slab of Jealous Devil hickory. Side note the slab made a great grill scrapper.

Cooked them till they hit 195 degrees and let them rest in a BBQ Blanket till they hit 150 degrees.

Thighs are tasty with salt and pepper and baked in the oven at 350 for 45 or so minutes. The skins crisp up and the meat stays juicy. Your left with a good amount of chicken fat for gravy, make mashed potatoes and green beans or peas. Old fashioned country dinner. Not low calorie but decently healthy and very cheap.

Honestly chicken thighs have been my holy grail being the cheapest yet tastiest protein on my table but lately, I have been getting sick and tired of my usual ways of cooking them

1. Salt/pepper garlic pan roast
2. Sal/garlic/pepper/onion powder/paprika roast
3. Japanese curry
4. Korean sweet soy stir fry
5. Gochujang roast
6. Japanese donburi style
7. Throw them in an omelette

Any ideas on healthy - possibly no sugar recipes that definitely deviates from my usual ways?

I want yall to roast me on my mundane-ness Thanks in advance!

I'm in an interesting situation so bear with me. Skip to *** if you don't want to read my thrilling backstory.

I'm an omnivore but I've been eating a lot less animal protein lately, since my partner is vegan. Since neither of us want to cook separate meals and since we cool delicious vegan food, I don't have a problem with mostly eating animal products at restaurants.

During this covid-y times, my partner has been doing lots of grocery runs for elderly neighbours, and due to a miscommunication, ended up picking up a tonne of meat for a neighbour who couldn't afford it, so we bought it off her. I already cooked myself the steaks (yum!) but we got about a half dozen bone-in chicken thighs. They're currently in my freezer, waiting for me to get at them.

***So, since I pretty much never buy meat anymore, I don't have anything exciting in my back pocket for a half dozen bone-in chicken thighs.

I have no dietary restrictions, and I do not give one saucy fuck about "healthy" eating in this case.

Dairy-wise, I currently have feta and a bag of crappy tex mex shredded cheese, and am happy to go out and get other cheeses if need be. We also have lots of non-dairy alternatives so if your grandma won't be offended I have no problem using coconut yogurt in lieu of cow yogurt in a recipe what calls for it.

I am a pretty competent home-cook and I have a well-stocked pantry with a good variety of ingredients, including stuff from cuisines outside of North America. I love cooking and I like a challenge!

Equipment-wise, we don't have many "gadgets" (so no deep fryer, no sous-vide, no slap-chop) but I have the hall-of-famers (standard dutch oven, cast iron pans, roasters, casseroles, stand mixer, immersion blender) so I can usually figure out a way to do whatever it is, except I can't grind the meat or sous-vide it.

I also have just got my herb garden going, so I currently have fresh basil, rosemary, and mint going.

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SO! What's your holy grail chicken thigh recipe, to make when you literally don't know when the next time you're going to cook chicken is?!

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EDIT: I made this post intending to use up the chicken and then call it -- but now maybe I just have to buy more chicken??? These all sound so awesome.

I was raised by a single dad with limited skills in terms of cooking (bless his heart for trying though). He used to do bone in thighs in an electric wok with just a can or two of cream of mushroom (or cream of whatever soup we had) as the “gravy”. Season to taste. To this day, still one of my fave meals! Super easy and cheap. I don’t have an electric wok so when I make it for myself I just do it in a deep enough pot or pan!

Tangy Chicken of the Islands (if I remember the name correctly)

Basically, you simmer (about half an hour) chicken thighs in a pan with a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and chopped garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Sorry, but I don't remember the exact ratios. It was from an old cookbook I found years ago but no longer own. Haven't made it in years, but now want to again! So yummy served over rice.

I have shifted most of my chicken cooking to thighs. I typically do a sear and then some random pan sauce, but I’m getting bored.

I’d love to hear people’s favorite thigh things!

I can handle a fairly high level of complexity so bring it.

Edit: OMG I now have enough recipes for the next 6 months. I knew this sub wouldn’t let me down

Merry happy everyone!

I love a quick dinner with chicken breasts and seasoning or a pan sauce but I'm stuck in a rut with the same few. A dijon sauce, a garlic sauce, a marinara, a brown gravy, and a butter chicken style curry sauce. Looking for more to add to the list!!!

Also, I LOVE a breaded chicken breast but sometimes ya just wanna do as little as possible to get dinner on the table, yknow?

Honey balsamic chicken! I mix honey, balsamic vinegar, garlic, cayenne, salt and pepper and pour it over the thighs and bake it in the oven. Sauté onions to serve on top of the chicken. I usually serve it with rice, peas, and carrots. Also good to sub salmon for the chicken. Saves well in Tupperware for lunches later!

I was able to pick up a slew of chicken thighs for cheap from Sam's Club today. What can I do with them, for dinner, so we don't tire of chicken? Thanks!

I wish chicken was tender like the sandwiches from popeyes. I dont want it to go to waste either.

here are some of the ones we make the most often in our house:

ina garten's chicken thighs with creamy mustard sauce is always a hit here, also extremely easy

j kenji lopez-alt's halal cart chicken is excellent and on our menu for this week

this recipe for thai yellow curry chicken and potatoes calls for breasts but we have always used thighs instead

this butter chicken is one of our favorite meals we ever make

kenji again with fried chicken sandwiches, we always do either potato salad or coleslaw on the side

braised chicken thighs with tomatillo, which is annoyingly a nyt cooking link but good enough to mention anyway

I like baking them in salsa verde, then making burrito bowls or tacos with them

I don't have a recipe but I came here to tell you that your text is hilarious. Thanks for the good laugh. Keep not giving saucy fucks lol

I have bone in and boneless skinless chicken thighs that I always stock up on but I don’t know what to do with them. So far, I’ve made fried chicken (tenders nuggets, etc), pastas, chicken katsu, and teriyaki chicken.

I really want to learn more dishes or something that’s different from what I normally do.

I made Vietnamese Caramel Chicken recently and fell in love

Thighs tend to be juicier and more forgiving than breasts.

I do mine with a simple rub in the air fryer. The skin gets wonderfully crispy.

Rub them with olive oil then sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, paprika and some Italian Seasoning. 400 for 20 minutes. Flip halfway. Start them skin side down. (Go wild and give some baby potatoes the same treatment. They cook about the same)

I use a meat thermometer to check for fineness towards the end of the cycle.

I don't have a favourite recipe but I do have a way that I love to cook my bone-in thighs in a cast iron or dutch oven.

Salt and let your thigh sit in the fridge 8-12 hours. please don't rinse it. Put your thighs in your cast skin side sown and turn on the heat. Cook until the skin release from the pan on medium heat . Remove excess fat and flip the thighs. Bloom in your spice + herb mix + 1 tbs of flour ( I like sage + shallot + Espelette pepper + caper). Lift the fond with 1-2 cups of your liquid choice ( I like a mixture of stock, white wine and lemon juice). Put the whole thing in the oven 10-15 minutes at 375 F.

You will end up with a beautiful cook thighs with crispy skin and a lovely pan sauce that is great for dipping bread in.

Usually I do minimal seasoning ( basic poultry, herbs de provence, or Simon and Garfunkel (parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme)) and just roast them the first night. If they are bone in with skin on I get it crispy and do chicken , rice , vegetable.

Then any leftovers I'll take the meat off the bone and make white chicken chili, tacos, nachos, enchiladas, quesadilla etc. etc. You can also turn it into chicken salad, or a protein topping for a lettuce salad ( balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegrette are wonderful salad dressings). Chicken soup, chicken potpie , chicken a la king, chicken divan, chicken sandwiches, stir fry or add it to jambalaya, or gumbo.

Other meals: Huli huli chicken is a big hit when I have people over. Jerk chicken with coconut rice and black beans on the side. Add it to Thai dishes or Indian curry, moroccan chicken or just do Bbq chicken. Thighs are so flexible.

If the chicken is skin-on, the fat within the skin is enough. you have to be PATIENT though, it takes longer than you think before they'll pull away from the pan with no more than gentle coaxing.

I have always cooked with chicken breast, never chicken thighs. Now that food prices are rising I'd like to try cooking thighs. What are your favorite beginner chicken thigh recipes that I can use to start to learn? And what do you do to make them as healthy as possible?

Sheet pan meals: seasoned thighs + onion + cherry tomatoes. Add your favourite veg (broccoli, cubed new potatoes, squash) bake at 400°F for ~45 min.

This works best with bone-in, skin-on thighs.

This is my primary use for parchment paper.