Easy Grilled Chicken Thighs Recipe
Its time to crack open the grill and make room for these delicious Grilled Chicken Thighs! They are a little spicy, a bit of sweet and sticky, and a whole lot of amazing!
Similar to my Spicy Sweet and Sticky Chicken Thighs, this grilled chicken thighs recipe is also packed with bold flavors that even the pickiest of eaters will want to dive right in.
Okay, first of all, lets pause for a moment of reflection on the fact that summer, technically, is one week away. Lets also pause for a minute and say a prayer for all those Moms/Dads/Grandparents/Caregivers that work from home and their kids are OFF for the summer Thank You!
And so usually the answer to my decision on what to make for dinner on any given summer-night is, chicken on the grill. With Grilled Corn on the side. AND Grilled Peach Shortcakes!
Anyways, lets discuss chicken THIGHS and how to grill em!
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Tips For The Perfect Marinade
- This marinade can be made up to 3 days before you plan to use it. The olive oil in the marinade may solidify if stored in the fridge for an extended period of time. Simply let the marinade sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes and the olive oil will liquefy again.
- If youre using boneless, skinless chicken thighs, you really can use any cooking method including grilling, sauteeing or baking in the oven. For bone-in chicken thighs, I recommend cooking in the oven for more even heating and air circulation since this cut of meat takes longer to cook.
- No chicken thighs on hand? You can use another cut of chicken for this marinade such as boneless skinless breasts, chicken tenders, or even chicken drumsticks.
- This marinade contains sugar which adds great flavor, but can easily burn if youre grilling your chicken. Be sure to grill your chicken over medium heat or use an indirect heat grilling method.
An Affordable Grilled Chicken Recipe
I absolutely love grilling season! These Grilled BBQ Chicken Thighs are one of my family’s favorite recipes. I like them because chicken thighs are extremely flavorful but also very affordable so it’s a great option when you need to feed a lot of people. This recipe is super simple and with just a few spices and a couple grilling techniques, you will be a BBQ Chicken Thigh grilling master!
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How To Store Leftover Chicken Thighs:
Store any leftover chicken in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. These chicken thighs store great. Perfect for lunch the next day.
We like to store in individual containers for an easy lunch or dinner the next day. We add the side to the dish and shredded chicken thighs. It heats perfectly in the microwave for an amazing lunch.
Best Juicy Grilled Chicken Thigh Recipe
I dont know about you guys but chicken thighs are my favorite cut of chicken . And today we are talking ALL about how to make the perfect grilled chicken thigh! Whether you are using a gas grill or charcoal grill this tutorial is perfect for you. If you are looking to take your grilled chicken thighs to the next level you gotta try our Best Chicken Marinade or our Pickle Brine Chicken Thighs! Serve with some Mexican Street Corn , Deviled Egg Potato Salad and some Grilled Broccolini!
Got leftovers: try this Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad!
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Should I Sauce My Chicken Before Grilling
Grill chicken for the best results with a little help from some delicious sauce! Whether youre cooking for yourself or serving up as a side dish, adding a little sauce to your bird will give it that extra flavor and crunch. Here are five tips on how to get the most out of your grilling chicken:
What To Do With Leftover Bbq Grilled Chicken Thighs
Got leftovers? We are the queens of repurposing our recipes! Here are a few ideas so you dont waste any food.
- Make Chicken Salad: shred your chicken thighs and discard the bones. Then make our BBQ Chicken Salad recipe.
- BBQ Chicken Pizza: everyone loves pizza! Buyg a store-bought crust and make a semi-homeamde BBQ Chicken Pizza.
- BBQ Pulled Chicken: shred your chicken and toss the shredded chicken with a little more bbq sauce and serve on a bun like our BBQ Pulled Chicken.
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How Do I Grill Chicken Thighs Without Burning Them
Heres a few tricks that may help you grill the chicken thighs without burning them:
- Youll want to keep an eye on the chicken thighs too since the marinade has honey in it. The sugars from the honey can burn, so moving it around away from the hottest point of the grill may help with that.
- Dont force the chicken to flip until its ready. If you try pulling the chicken off the grill, the outside can stick and burn.
- Use indirect heat rather than placing the thighs right over the flame source to ensure it cooks at a more even speed.
Uneven Grillingthe Secret To Grilled Thighs
Uneven grilling is my method to avoid both flare-ups from draining fat and burnt skin.
There are two parts to this method:1) The skin side of the thighs can burn easily so should have less time facing the flames. So with skin-on thighs, start with skin up for the first period and grill for about 5-6 minutes. Flip to skin side down for 4 minutes. Continue to go back and forth using the same timing.2) Alternate sides of the grill surface with each flip. You will get fat drainage flare-ups. Moving the chicken to the other side of the grill at the flips will allow hot spots from fat drainage to burn out.
For skinless thighs, you can skip the uneven grilling timesyou have no chicken skin you are trying to protect. But you will still need a large surface area to move around and avoid flare-ups from the fat drainage.
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Slice The Chicken And Serve
Remove the chicken from the grill or grill pan and slice it into smaller pieces. Now, the only thing thats left to do is dig in! Serve with green salad or as part of salad. In wraps or even alongside potatoes or french fries, Dalton suggests. To stay on the Mediterranean theme, consider serving this chicken with pita bread, alongside some tzatziki sauce.
Another great thing about this dish is that leftovers are definitely good. Leftovers can be eaten cold for up to three days keep refrigerated. You can freeze for up to 3 months, Dalton notes.
Serve With Lemon And Parsley
Let the chicken rest, loosely covered with foil for about 5 minutes. Serve the grilled chicken sprinkled with freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley and lemon wedges on the side. You can also drizzle on a little bit of high-quality extra-virgin olive oil for a burst of fresh olive oil flavor.
Serve the chicken with sides, or slice and make into Greek Gyros with our Tzatziki dip, cucumbers, red onions and warm pita bread.
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What Marinade Should I Use For Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
The marinade ingredients are super versatile and can be used to pair with tons of flavors. Its made up of olive oil, lemon juice, honey, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
To make the marinade, youll want to add everything to a sealable gallon bag or marinade Tupperware that has a lid, then mix together until its combined.
Once thats combined, add in the chicken thighs and seal then put in your refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to 12 hours. Leaving it overnight can work as well, but the lemon juice may start to break down the chicken.
Be sure to flip the bag or Tupperware at least once to make sure both sides get a chance to be covered in the marinade.
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How To Cook Chicken Thighs On The Grill
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What Is Two Zone Grilling
The key to this chicken thighs recipe is two zone grilling . To achieve this, youll need a gas grill that has multiple cooking areas / zones. Once you preheat your grill, youll turn off one set of burners to create an indirect cooking zone. This is where youll place your chicken thighs or any food that you want to grill indirectly. The other side of the grill will remain on, creating a direct heat zone.
You can create a similar effect on a charcoal grill by positioning the hot coals on one side and leaving the other side empty.
Season The Chicken Thighs
Select a large dish or bowl and add the chicken thighs. Now, its time to add the marinade and infuse that wonderful flavor into the meat. Start with olive oil and lemon juice, both of which are pretty standard in Mediterranean cooking. Then, add the spices. This includes oregano, parsley, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix well to ensure each piece of chicken is coated well in the marinade.
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What If I Dont Have A Meat Thermometer
I would highly, HIGHLY recommend a meat thermometer if you are doing any sort of grilling with bone-in chicken thighs are chicken breasts. If you dont have a meat thermometer, you will know that the chicken is cooked all the way through if its juices run clear once you remove it from the grill and let it rest for a minute. If you find that you havent cooked your chicken all the way back through, return it to the grill quickly and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes at the same temp.
How To Make Grilled Chicken Thighs
Grilled chicken thighs are easy, versatile, nutritious, and delicious.
We eat them at least once a week!
- Grilled chicken thighs are scrumptious on their own, and you can also use the leftovers in a variety of new ways, from salads, to wraps, to quesadillas and more.
- Feel free to scale this recipe for a crowd or make extra for meal prep.
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Grilled Chicken Thigh Recipes
Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil to pan swirl to coat. Add chicken cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well. Return chicken to pan over medium heat.
Smoky Eggplant with Scallion Oil Recipe. Choose eggplants that feel heavy for their size. If you prefer not to grill or char on the burner of your stovetop, you can halve the eggplant lengthwise place, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 450°F for 30 to 45 minutes or until very tender.
Because oil conducts heat much more efficiently than air, foods that are confited in it, like these chicken thighs, come out incredibly moist and infused with the oils flavor. View Recipe Alex Lau
Grilled Chicken Thigh And Drumstick Recipes
The United States produces the most chicken of any country in the world. It’s easy to cook, tender, delicious, and its mild flavor is perfect as the starting point for many recipes. Dark meat or the thighs, drumsticks, and wings have more flavor and fat, so they’re easier to cook on the high heat of the grill.
You do need to be careful with chicken. Read All About Chicken to get safety and cooking tips. Remember to cook dark meat chicken to 165 F, with a 5 minute standing time so the temp rises to 170 F. The dark meat will still be tender and juicy.
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Best Traeger Smoked Chicken Thighs
- temeculablogs.com
- Summary: 1 thg 8, 2022 Put thighs directly on the grate with the skin side down (or bone side up if theyre skinless. Slow smoke it for 25 minutes, then flip it over
- Matching search results: These need defrosted or fresh meat. If you wake up and realize you forgot to do that, follow our air fryer frozen chicken thighs recipe instead. Smoking frozen meat isnt so great. I mean you can do it because it will thaw out along the way but it
Can I Oven Bake These Chicken Thighs
Yes absolutely! Preheat your oven to 400°F . Place thighs on a parchment lined baking tray. Rub with olive oil and spice rub. Divide the sauce in half and reserve half to serve on the side. Brush both sides of the thighs with BBQ sauce, finishing with skin side up. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove tray from oven and brush again on both sides with sauce. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 175 – 185°F . Serve with extra sauce.
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Grilled Chicken Thighs Marinade
If you prefer to use a marinade instead of a spice rub, you can use my Chicken Marinade recipe to marinate the chicken thighs before grilling or try my marinated Cilantro Lime Chicken. Youll combine the marinade ingredients and chicken thighs in a bowl or zip-top plastic bag and then let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours before grilling.
Tips For The Best Grilled Chicken Thighs
- Want to marinate your chicken thighs? You can coat them in the dry rub and refrigerate them for up to 24 hours. This is a dry marinade method and it will just give them so much flavor. Or, skip the dry rub and use my chicken marinade recipe!
- Make certain that the grill is preheated before adding on the chicken thighs. This will ensure they develop a nice crispy crust as you grill them.
- Use an instant read thermometerto check the inside temperature of the chicken to make sure its 165 degrees F. This isnt something that you want to guess or estimate.
- When grilling, make sure to maintain medium heat, if you turn up the grill to high the skin will burn and the chicken wont be fully cooked on the inside. This will also cause them to dry out.
- Dont forget to let them rest, which lets the juices redistribute in the meat and makes the chicken thighs juicy!
- Mix up a batch of our Chicken Seasoning so you can throw it on chicken thighs anytime you want them!
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What To Serve With Grilled Chicken Thighs
- Salad. Swap the chicken in this Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad for diced grilled chicken thighs. For a delicious grilled combo, pair these thighs with Grilled Corn Salad.
- Potatoes. Keep it classic cookout with Potato Salad or use the grill to make Grilled Potatoes.
- Rice. Serve your chicken with a side of Lemon Rice for a tasty meal.
Grilled chicken thighs have the power to make any night more special and scrumptious.
I know youre going to love them, and I hope they are a steadfast answer to your own Whats for dinner???? question too.
How Long Does It Take To Cook Chicken Thighs
Boneless skinless chicken thighs will cook in about 6-7 minutes per side on the grill or in a pan on the stove. You can bake boneless skinless thighs at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs will bake at 400 degrees F for about 45 minutes. You can also use a meat thermometer to gauge when your chicken is done. The chicken should register at least 165 degrees F to be safe to eat.
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Favorite Grilled Chicken Thigh Marinade
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There is nothing easier in the summertime than grilling! Marinate some meat and veggies, light up the grill, and in 20 minutes or so, you have dinner! Today Im sharing this super easy grilled chicken thigh marinade.
Since summer is busy for us all and we dont want to be wasting time inside in the kitchen, this recipe is short and sweet. Minimal ingredients and prep. You can either use your grill or a grill pan. If you dont have either, you can pan fry or bake in the oven.
It is so good and makes a great protein for BBQs, picnics, or get-togethers. Serve it with some veggies and carbs for a nice balanced meal, top it on a salad, use it in a power bowl, or just eat it plain if you like. It works great for meal prep too!