Old habits die hard… like my past habit of only eating boneless skinless chicken breasts. I never even considered using any other kind of chicken…EVER. Then, as I explained in a previous post, I made an accidental purchase that changed my chicken loving ways for good. Through one fateful mishap in my shopping cart, I became…a chicken thigh fan!
I know that some of you are repulsed and grossed out. I know this because I was once you…all chicken snobby and selective. Let me tell you something, my friends. Don’t knock the chicken thigh lovers until you give the chicken thigh a try.
The boneless, skinless chicken thigh has rapidly become my favorite choice of chicken meat. In fact, I have a whole bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts in my freezer that I now dread using! The flavor of the chicken thigh is far superior.
From my first experience making Spicy Honey Chicken Thighs to my most recent endeavor with Oven Baked Teriyaki Chicken Thighs, boneless chicken thighs have made a place in our home and on our dinner table. Join the dark side, why don’t you? Give the boneless skinless chicken thigh a little recipe love.. I promise… you’ll have a hard time going back once you do!
Remember to give our sponsor this week, Quaker Oats, a little love. Find out how they are giving back to the American Heart Association in my previous post and enter to win a $250ARV prize pack! Details here.
Recipe: Oven Baked Teriyaki Chicken Thighs
(adapted from AllRecipes.com)
Oven Baked Teriyaki Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 12 skinless chicken thighs
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- Using scissors, remove any pieces of fat from each chicken thigh. Place chicken pieces in a 9x13 inch baking dish sprayed with Pam cooking spray. Pour 1/2 half of the sauce over the chicken, brushing each piece so it is coated.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn pieces over, pour on remaining sauce, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear.
My husband would love these. Will have to bookmark to try.
I went to the dark side, too! I was making paella for a dinner party and decided cut-up chicken parts (or boneless, skinless breasts) would be too difficult to eat with a fork and knife (and too dry by the time the rice was finished), so… chicken thighs to the rescue. I’ve made paella many times, but this was by far the.best.paella! The chicken was so tender and flavorful. Yum!
I’m printing your recipe out to try this weekend. It looks super easy and tasty. Thanks!
I’ll admit it… I only get the boneless breasts! But there actually isn’t a real reason for that, it’s just a habit. You’ve convinced me to stop being lazy and to get out of the rut! With all the stir-frying we do in our house, I bet thighs would lend a lot more flavor to our dishes, and not dry out as much in the pan, also.
Since using chicken thighs I never make my stir fry, or chicken fried rice with anything but.
have ALWAYS been more of a dark meat lover so you don’t need to convince me – and i’m eyeing that lovely glistening chicken thigh in the photo above; would sure like to see that on my plate!
Sounds yummy! Honestly, I am not a huge thigh meat fan, simply because I am not a huge dark meat fan. I have tried it though … and yay for finding a cut you love!
LOVE chicken thigh meat, and dark meat in general. They don’t eat much white meat in China – dark meat is preferred (and we are skinny!) – it’s hard for us to understand America’s obsession with white meat! The teriyaki sauce looks delish!
Shhhhh….chicken thighs are still inexpensive compared to breasts. You shouldn’t tell others about how great they taste! I learned to de-bone them and use them for teriyaki and to grill them in my Foreman grill, and other dishes about 7 years ago. They cook very quickly and have more flavor (and more iron) than breasts.
marketing … nearly always the answer to why Americans do anything!
the most popular parts of a chicken in America are breasts (bland and dry) and wings (nothing but fat). go figure!
I have one dark meat lover and three white meat lovers in my house. The dark meat girl is my 6 year old daughter…she bites into a chicken breast and starts whining about how it’s not juicy. I love that little foodie. I’ll keep on makin’ my white meat though. LOL
yummm. Definitely make this Friday or Saturday night. I have been buying whole chickens and using all the pieces (seems to be more cost effective), so I have some extra chicken thighs just waiting for me in the freezer!
I am all about the chicken thighs!! omg so tender and delicious when cooked properly – way tastier than chicken breasts!!
you forgot ginger proportions
We adore chicken thighs and use them all the time. I find them to be much moister and far more flavorful than chicken breasts. This recipe looks fantastic!
My husband and I are definitely white meat lovers – chicken and turkey. I think buying boneless chicken breasts is also a sign of how much I hate to debone meat! These look delicious though, I might get the thighs to try them!
I think both work best for different recipes. Thighs are definitely juicier. Often, when frying chicken, by the time the exterior hits the right crunchiness, the chicken breast meat is dried out. But because thighs are smaller and fattier, they retain their juiciness just right.
Your teriyaki chicken thighs look fantastic!
Ok you’ve convinced me. I’m going to give it a try. I like dark meat from a whole chicken as leftovers to put in a soup or something. But I’ve never bought thighs for the purpose of eating an actual thigh. These sound yummy!
These look delicious. I was like you, not a chicken thigh fan. But while I still love chicken breasts, I’m now a huge fan of the thigh. Especially now that I can buy them boneless.
I’m a big fan of chicken thighs too- especially for crockpot chicken recipes. Turns out more tender than breast every time. I do find that when I purchase thighs though– I like to go somewhere good like Whole Foods and purchase an organic version- there’s a whole lot less fat on them.
I am SO with you on chicken thighs. I hardly ever buy chicken breasts anymore! And thighs are so much cheaper!
This is my ALL TIME favorite recipe…it does require a little work but worth every minute. So so delicious!!!
Laura
This looks beyond YUMMY!
LOve it paired with the rice and side salad!
Looks EASY too!
Bet it’s not as yummy as those PINK cookies you made the other day!
Can’t wait to join in on the SOUP party!
xo
Chicken Thighs are my go-to meat purchase. But I skin them myself to save a few pennies (and trim the excess fat globules for good measure). It adds no more than a few minutes to prep time, but for me its worth it.
I love your simple marinade, which looks like it would taste just fabulous!
Awesome! Love this take on a classic. Chicken thighs rock, especially for summer barbecues.
Thighs are wonderful, aren’t they. Some would argue breasts are better.
I cannot wait until you next shopping mishap when you buy the meat with bone in. You have NO idea how much extra flavour the bone brings to the meat unless you compare them side by side, but think about it. Simmering bones creates lush soup broth and stock. Certainly, cooking bone in is much tastier. Try it. This recipe looks TO DIE FOR!
I will try IT!
valerie
I agree…….any part of the chicken is better than a boneless breast! I love thighs, too.
I just recently re-discovered chicken thighs too when a friend sent a recipe. I think this is going on our list!
Mmmmm…. thighs are so much better that breasts! I reason with myself that they are still better than red meat so I still choose them for recipes.
I will have to go to the dark side, too. These look so good!
I like the flavor of chicken thighs, too! And, I like the price.
This looks like a fabulous recipe! Bookmarking it for next week’s menu.
I’m sitting here waiting to go on my weekly date with my husband. And I’m starving. I should not come to this site in such a state. These look divine.
Why have I not always been making this? Saw it, made it, loved it, blogged about it. Thank you for sharing. By the way, great blog. Keep up the good work.
I made this for dinner last night. The teriyaki sauce was super good! Other store-bought versions I’ve had are so one dimensional, and this was really great. I threw in some sriracha for good measure! I recently started getting bone in chicken breasts, and now I’ll be getting thighs, too!
I make this tonight using boneless skinless chicken thighs and cooked it for less at 400. It turned out delicious! Thanks for sharing it. I will now be in my tried and true file.
This chicken recipe is so easy to make, and the sauce tastes better than any sauce that you could ever buy in a bottle. Tastes so fresh and makes the chicken tastes so amazing, You will enjoy every bite. I have a batch of chicken thighs baking in the oven as we are typing this comment right now, Enjoy, and thanks for the recipe.
Making this recipe as we speak and the sauce smells divine! Can’t wait to eat the finished product. Thank you for such an easy recipe!
I made this tonight with some clearance chicken thighs I bought today. It was WONDERFUL!! I served it with brown rice and green beans. Great dinner, thanks!
Sounds delicious! I’ve recently stopped buying chicken breasts and been buying chicken thigh meat instead! So much more tender and juicy!
I love love LOVE this recipe! Have made it multiple times to the rave reviews of my guests, thanks for posting it!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was soooo good!! A big hit with my family…thank you!
My vegetarian tendencies fail me when I see chicken that looks as good as this.
great and very nice
Prepared this by laying the chicken on a bed of summer squash, Brussels sprouts and scallions (mushrooms would have been a nice addition) drizzled with olive oil and baked as directed. Served all of this with brown rice and my hubs and 7-year-old loved it!
I made this tonight ,only in my convection oven I baked 15 on each side and it was almost to done but delicious ,this is a keeper!
I made this tonight ,only in my convection oven I baked 15 on each side and it was almost to done but delicious ,this is a keeper!
Made this tonight! It was delicious and super-easy! Thanks for the recipe!
I made this just now and it was so easy to do. I cannot believe how moist it was. Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks for letting me know, Garri!
I had the same epiphany! And I am constantly looking for thigh recipes now! I’ll be trying this recipe this week!
A nice and easy chicken recipe. Thank you and have a great weekend.
I am so glad to have come across this recipe. As usual, I had chicken thighs that had to be prepared, before the expiration date and with the bad snow conditions here on the Northeast, I didn’t want to venture out for additional ingredients. This recipe was not only tasty but so easy to prepare with just a handful of ingredients (that we had handy in our pantry). Tweaks included the addition of 2 dried chilis (for a spice kick) and baked for 30 minutes one side and 20 minutes on the other side. Note, after the first 30 minutes there was a lot of water (from the chicken), luckily I did NOT drain it, because with the remaining sauce and the additional 20 minutes the chicken yielded tender chicken thighs with a syrupy texture sauce that was delicious. Served with white rice and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Kristen, thank you for sharing this recipe.
Hi Kristen, I made this chicken dish last night and wanted to tell you how amazing and delicious it was. I have always used bottle sauces but came across your recipe and for the first time, decided to try to make it homemade. I used Truvia sugar instead of regular. My husband really enjoyed every bite. I used to only eat chicken breast, but my husband introduced me to chicken thighs and that’s my first choice every time. Thank You!
I am so glad! Thank you so much for letting me know. Chicken thighs for the win!
Hi there, can you use morin instead of sugar?
Sorry that was meant to say mirin
Just had this dish tonight & was very concerned with the high temp & the boneless skinless nature of my thighs but I still followed the directions exactly to a T. Thank goodness I did because it came out DELIGHTFULLY wonderful!! This is a keeper for my family, our trying to be a picky of an eater 6 y/o son who usually never goes back for seconds quickly inhaled his first piece of thigh first & then asked for another whole piece of chicken before he was even done with his first plate of food. Usually my food never comes out just as picture perfect as the pictures on the blog but o-m-geeee it did this time I was soo happy. I can’t stop raving about this–best ever!! Thank you so much for an awesome addition to my go to box
I just have to say thank you for this recipe, I made it exactly as directed and 3 high school boys loved it, me too. One hour was a little too long, the chicken was a little dry so next time I’ll pull it out sooner and leave everything else exactly the same. Man it was so awesome though, only addition was some toasted sesame seeds on top. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Oh anything that will make 3 high school boys happy is awesome – I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for coming back and letting me know. I really appreciate the feedback!
Im going to try this recipe tonight, my husband and I are at his parents house and they are very iffy about sweet things that arent dessert, but they say they love chinese food. So, i think instead of the black pepper im going to use white pepper and add a little fresh ginger for that classic asian cuisine taste. Ill let you know how it turns out.
Oh I bet that’d be so great! Let me know! Thanks!
Just got everyone a plate and they love it! I did add maybe 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper and about a teaspoon and 1/2 of fresh ginger paste. I also didnt have any rice vinegar so I used a little less than 1/4 cup of white vinegar. The last 20 mins of cooking, I drained about half of the liquid from the chicken and basted the chicken every 5 mins until it got all gooey and delicious haha! Garnished with some green onion and sesame seeds. Great recipe, thanks! Will definitely add this to our regular weeknight meal list!
Hi
I would like to substitute the Sugar
What could be the alternative ?
Hi there! I’m honestly not sure unless you did just a splenda or something similar. I’m sorry!
You can sub Honey. I will sometimes take Honey soy, garlic, ginger and cornstarch to make a homemade sauce.
This is so good! Here are my tweaks: A couple drops of sesame oil and some chili powder to the sauce, and once the chicken was cooked I broiled it for a few minutes to get that lovely color. Delicious!
Killer recipe! My guys loved this!
We had a friends daughter stay with us for about 8 months for her work. She requested this all the time. When she left she made sure to get this recipe. I make this a lot, hubby loves it, thanks!!