Chicken thigh recipes

Chicken thighs were on special at the grocery store yesterday. I have 5 lbs worth which I'd like to more or less split into 2 recipes. They are bone-in, skin-on, though I can remove the skin.

Any favorite recipes for chicken thighs? Bonus points for crockpot recipes!  

I do have some crock pot recipes with chicken thighs, Anna. You'll have to hang on til I get home.

Mrsgreenjeens has a recipe that uses chicken thighs in the crock pot section of The Recipe Exchange. It also calls for one chicken breast, but I think you could just use another thigh if you wanted. Spicy Chicken Stew ---- http://www.thecatsite.com/t/238187/crock-pot-slow-cooker#post_3182832

She also has a recipe for Honey Mustard Chicken with New Potatoes ---- http://www.thecatsite.com/t/238201/main-dishes-and-entrees-poultry

I've also used chicken thighs (and legs) in Jack's BBQ Chicken for the Oven, which is delicious, but I don't think the recipe is in the Exchange....will have to look for it. 

I have a couple good ones I think; and yes Crock Pot ones!  I LOVE my crock pot! 

Slow Cooker Tuscan-Style Chicken Sandwiches  - From the Betty Crocker site.  This is a family favorite!  I don't see why you couldn't cook them with the bone in and then remove the bones when you shred the meat.  I add a little wine to the recipe.  It's AMAZING!  

Another way to do them is just put them in the Crock pot with any can of condensed cream of mushroom/broccoli/cheese type soup.  I typically use 2 cans and season with a little black pepper.  Serve over rice or with egg noodles.  So yummy!

I can't find the other recipe right now.  If I come across it I'll post it for you.  

MoochNNoodles said:

Slow Cooker Tuscan-Style Chicken Sandwiches - From the Betty Crocker site.  This is a family favorite!  I don't see why you couldn't cook them with the bone in and then remove the bones when you shred the meat.  I add a little wine to the recipe.  It's AMAZING!  

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Don't forget to adjust the cooking time - bone in meat takes longer to cook

I make this often with chicken pieces (legs and thighs, for example) then bag up the finished chicken for the freezer. It's a bit of work, but once you have it, you can freeze it in serving portions for use for quite a few meals. Perfect for nights when you're busy, too. So while it does take a bit of work, it's not complicated at all and you have chicken for future meals.  It's really quite good. Easy to halve the recipes.

You don't have to make the Vinegar Sauce if you don't want to. I don't because my family doesn't really care for vinegar sauce. I have an Espresso BBQ Sauce that they love, so I will often make and use that instead. Heck, use store-bought sauce, if you want, although the taste won't be the same. 

My understanding is that Jack is a restaurant owner who appeared on the Sara Moulton show one time with this recipe.

Jack's BBQ Chicken (for the Oven)

4 (3 to 4-pound) chickens, halved or pieces with skin on and bone in

Jack's Old South Meat Marinade, recipe follows 
1 cup apple juice to pour in the pan
Jack's Old South BBQ Rub, recipe follows 
Jack's Old South Competition Vinegar Sauce, recipe follows

Combine the chicken and marinade in a large non-reactive pan or glass bowl. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 6. 
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 

Remove the chicken from the marinade and coat generously with some of the rub. Arrange the chicken, skin side-up, in a baking pan on a rack and pour the one cup of apple juice in the bottom. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. It will basically steam-cook the chicken.
 

Uncover the chicken and continue roasting, basting with the sauce occasionally, until the skin is golden. 
 

Jack's Old South Meat Marinade:

2 quarts apple juice 
1 cup Worcestershire sauce 
1 cup orange juice 
1 cup light brown sugar 
1/2 cup olive oil 
1/2 cup lemon juice 
2 tablespoons hot sauce 
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 
1/2 cup salt ( I used less than 1/2 of this....a little less than 1/4 cup)

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk until the sugar and salt dissolve. Let cool. 
Yield: 12-1/2 cups 

Jack's Old South BBQ Rub:

1/4 cup brown sugar 
1/4 cup sweet paprika 
1/4 cup kosher salt (I used less than 1/2 of this)
3 tablespoons black pepper 
2 teaspoons garlic powder 
2 teaspoons onion powder 
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
1 teaspoon dried basil 
Combine all ingredients and mix well. 
Yield: 3/4 cup

Jack's Old South Competition Vinegar Sauce:

2 cups cider vinegar 
3 tablespoons ketchup 
2 tablespoons paprika 
2 tablespoons brown sugar 
4 teaspoons kosher salt 
1 tablespoon hot sauce 
1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne 
1 to 2 teaspoons ground black pepper 

Combine all the ingredients in a nonreactive mixing bowl, mixing until the sugar and salt dissolve. Taste for seasoning, adding pepper as needed. Transfer to a clean, sterile jar and refrigerate. Will keep for several months. 
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WHAT I DO:  I use about 10 pounds of chicken and use only legs and thighs as I figure they'll all get done around the same time without over-cooking the legs. 

I prepare the marinade the night before I plan to use it, cool it down (I put ice in quart-size freezer bags and put the bags into the marinade. Once it's cooled, I put the marinade in the fridge. The morning of, I take the marinade out of the fridge and then put the chicken pieces in gallon freezer bags. I pour amounts of marinade into the bags, and seal the bags. Using my hands, I squish the bags to give the marinade the chance to get around all the chicken pieces. I have four gallon-size bags of chicken pieces. Put them in the fridge for 5-1/2 hours or so. (You might want to put the bags of chicken in bowls or pans, just in case a bag springs a leak.)

Heat up the oven. Put cooling racks on jelly-roll pans. Pour a cup of apple juice into each pan. Spray the racks just a little with Pam. Using tongs, take the chicken pieces from the bags and place on the racks. Then I liberally (very liberally) sprinkle the chicken with the BBQ rub, turning the pieces over and liberally sprinkling the other sides. Cover very tightly with foil and roast the chicken for about 90 minutes. 

Remove the foil and continue roasting for about 30 more minutes to crisp the skin a little. Let the chicken cool down to room temp, then put the pieces in a large pan, and put it in the fridge. Or at this point, you can serve the chicken with the vinegar sauce. If you want to freeze, simply put the chicken pieces in bag and toss in the freezer (LABEL THE BAGS!) When you want the chicken for a meal, just get it out the night before and toss a bag in the fridge to thaw. The next day, wrap in foil and reheat in the oven, while preparing the rest of your meal.

This probably sounds more complicated than it really is. And it makes excellent chicken, so it's worth trying. 

BTW, this is really for the oven. BUT, if you want, you can always toss the pieces on the grill to crisp them up a bit or to give the chicken a grilled taste. When we're having a picnic outside, I'll serve this chicken. I just roast it in the oven, let it cool, throw it in the fridge, then the next day, I throw it on the grill, just long enough to heat it up a bit.

Also posted here:   http://www.thecatsite.com/t/238201/main-dishes-and-entrees-poultry#post_3524974

Wow, thank you so much all! I appreciate the links to the recipe thread. I started to go through it but there was no easy way to search it. I appreciate that!

@MoochNNoodles  Thank you, that looks really tasty! I'm still too scared to try much without a recipe at this point but I will keep the Campbell's soup tip in mind! 

@Winchester  Pat, thanks for that BBQ recipe. We are addicted to vinegar-based BBQ so it's right up our alley. I was going to split up the thighs so I could make crockpot chicken taco filling with half of them but I remembered that I have 3 frozen breasts I can use for that instead. So I could do all 5 lbs of thighs BBQ style.

Columbine said:

Don't forget to adjust the cooking time - bone in meat takes longer to cook

Click to expand...

If your using a slow cooker; the time doesn't really make much of a difference.  I just aim for 7 hours on low or 3-4 on high and check it.  When i need to change a cooking time for the oven because of a meat; I just look for a recipe that uses that sort of meat and take the time and temp based off that.  I always have to look up how long to cook various cuts of meat in the oven.  And I'm big on using a meat thermometer to be sure it's thoroughly cooked.  

Ah...I've never used a slow cooker, though we do have one. Must get organised and dig it out sometime

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Chicken (from Deep South Dish)

3 pounds of chicken thighs, skin removed

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon of Creole or Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), or to taste

1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, or to taste

1/2 cup of light brown sugar, packed

1 (6 ounce) can of pineapple juice

1/3 cup of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

2 tablespoons of water

Remove skin from chicken and season lightly with the salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning and garlic powder. Pat seasoning into chicken and place into the slow cooker. Whisk together the brown sugar, pineapple juice and soy sauce; pour around chicken. Cover and cook on low for about 5 to 6 hours, depending on the size. Use a wide spatula to remove the chicken from the slow cooker to a platter and loosely tent with aluminum foil; set aside to prepare the glaze.

Turn cooker to high until mixture comes to a boil, or transfer to a saucepan for the stovetop. Whisk together the water and cornstarch until there are no lumps. Slowly stir into the boiling sauce until fully incorporated and continue boiling for about 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and let rest a moment. Brush the sauce over each chicken thigh and serve the remaining sauce at the table.

Also:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/15229/...ch result&referringContentType=search results

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/213748...ch result&referringContentType=search results

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/231695...ch result&referringContentType=search results

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/9023/b...ch result&referringContentType=search results

That's enough to get you started! 

Columbine said:

Ah...I've never used a slow cooker, though we do have one. Must get organised and dig it out sometime

Click to expand...

Oh there is SO much you can do with a slow cooker!  I use mine about once a week during the cooler months.  It saves me time in the evening; when things always feel rushed.

I'm going to buy me a slow cooker recipe book when I'm in the UK next week. Then ican be asked for recipes!!!

Winchester said:

 
Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Chicken (from Deep South Dish)

3 pounds of chicken thighs, skin removed

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon of Creole or Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), or to taste

1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, or to taste

1/2 cup of light brown sugar, packed

1 (6 ounce) can of pineapple juice

1/3 cup of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

2 tablespoons of water

Remove skin from chicken and season lightly with the salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning and garlic powder. Pat seasoning into chicken and place into the slow cooker. Whisk together the brown sugar, pineapple juice and soy sauce; pour around chicken. Cover and cook on low for about 5 to 6 hours, depending on the size. Use a wide spatula to remove the chicken from the slow cooker to a platter and loosely tent with aluminum foil; set aside to prepare the glaze.

Turn cooker to high until mixture comes to a boil, or transfer to a saucepan for the stovetop. Whisk together the water and cornstarch until there are no lumps. Slowly stir into the boiling sauce until fully incorporated and continue boiling for about 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and let rest a moment. Brush the sauce over each chicken thigh and serve the remaining sauce at the table.

Click to expand...

Winchester said:

 
Also:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/15229/...ch result&referringContentType=search results

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/213748...ch result&referringContentType=search results

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/231695...ch result&referringContentType=search results

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/9023/b...ch result&referringContentType=search results

That's enough to get you started! 

Click to expand...

Woohoo, you rock Pam!!!!! OMG I CALLED YOU PAT ABOVE!!!!!!!!!!   I know your name isn't Pat. I was posting at work and must have been trying and failing to multitask. I am soooo sorry!!!! 

Not a problem, Anna! It's OK! I figured you were thinking of Pat who posts on our weight-loss board from time to time.

Have fun! 

I always buy the huge amounts of chicken pieces when they're on sale. Sometimes I keep them all together in the freezer and use them for the Jack's BBQ chicken and then freeze them once they're cooked. Sometimes, I put them into serving sizes and freeze them that way.

I thought of you last night....we had chicken thighs for dinner! I had marinated them in the fridge, just using a dry rub. Then we grilled them for about 40 minutes or so, using a Trader Joe's BBQ sauce that we kept brushing on. They were really good! We had them with a salad.

Trader Joe's has three delicious BBQ sauces, so I thought I'd try their smokey one. Good stuff.

Buy the specials. Buy the stuff when it's on sale. You can't go wrong that way.

I've made this several times.  One of my favourite chicken recipes!

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/roasted-chicken-thighs-with-lemon-and-oregano