These Flavorful Chicken Thigh Recipes Are Juicy and Delicious
Including butter chicken that tastes *just* like your favorite takeout!
Brie Goldman
These globe-trotting chicken thigh recipes—inspired by Moroccan, Indian, Korean, Mediterranean, and American cuisine—will change the way you think about poultry. Our best chicken thigh recipes are budget-friendly, flavor-packed, and are easy enough for weeknights but showy enough for company.
Grilled Chicken with Blueberry-Tarragon Sauce
There’s no wrong season for a chicken thigh recipe, but this one is peak summer. While you stir together the vibrant and versatile blueberry-tarragon sauce (we also love it over steak, salmon, and pork), grill the paprika-spiced chicken thighs as you enjoy the weather. To round out the light and easy dinner idea, just add a side of seasonal zucchini noodles.
Grilled Chicken Thighs with Spring Onions and Baby Bok Choy
The smoky qualities of the grilled bok choy, grilled onions, and the simple grilled chicken thigh recipe are tempting as is. But once you pair those with an unexpected relish, you’ll find yourself going back for seconds. This is not your standard condiment; it features hard-boiled eggs (trust us!), capers, mustard, shallot, and fresh herbs.
Test Kitchen Tip: If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers of the relish, try it over toast, English muffins, or biscuits at breakfast the next day.
Butter Chicken
Brie Goldman
Make your own takeout with this chicken thigh recipe. Kundan Lal Gujral, the Indian chef who is said to have created the original tandoori chicken, also dreamed up this luxurious Indian cuisine staple as a way to refresh day-old tandoori chicken. In tandem with a warmly-spiced yogurt marinade, the chicken itself is juicy and flavorful. Once each punch is enveloped in the rich, buttery tomato curry sauce, it’s begging to be spooned over rice and devoured alongside buttery naan.
Bone-In Chicken Noodle Soup
BHG / Cara Cormack
This chicken soup is a world away from that ho-hum canned variety, according to BHG home cooks who describe this chicken thigh recipe as “fabulous” and “absolutely delicious.” When a round of steaming bowls land on the table and everyone dives in, no one will guess it took you just 45 minutes. To infuse each bite with more flavor, brown the meat before adding the vegetables, water, and herbs, and keep it on the bone. After 20 minutes, the chicken should be falling off the bone. This technique allows you to essentially make a supercharged stock, which just asks for you to add the noodles about 5 minutes before you’re ready to serve.
Spicy Sriracha Fried Chicken
If you always order the highest-star rating at a restaurant or make pilgrimages to specific fast-food spots when new spicy chicken sandwiches are added to the menu, this chicken thigh recipe has your name on it. Marinating overnight in straight sriracha is just the beginning. From there, bread, fry, and serve the fiery chicken thighs with a creamy sriracha dipping sauce.
Skillet Chicken and Green Beans with Lemon-Tahini Sauce
When you search for chicken skillet dinners done in 30 minutes, chances are extremely high that you’ll land on nearly all chicken breast options. But this speedy chicken thigh recipe checks both of those boxes; it demands just one skillet and half an hour of your day. As a result, you’ll be treated to a full dinner—complete with well-seasoned, tender chicken thighs and a side of green beans—in a delightfully nutty tahini-lemon sauce.
Pressure Cooker Honey-Orange Chicken with Zucchini
An Instant Pot makes it possible to get this restaurant-inspired Paleo chicken thigh recipe ready in a mere 25 minutes. The zucchini pieces and orange segments crank up the freshness factor, while a little paprika and garlic powder go a long way to seasoning the chicken, veggies, and sauce when all of the above are cooked under pressure.
Test Kitchen Tip: As the main dish goes under pressure, prepare a side of regular or cauliflower rice, farro, quinoa, or couscous to serve as the bed for the chicken thigh recipe (and soak up the extra sauce).
Pesto Chicken and Radicchio Skewers
You’re just two ingredients, plus a splash of oil and pinch of salt and pepper, away from a low-fuss yet high-impact marinade. Pesto and fresh lemon juice team up to pack so much flavor into this chicken thigh recipe. When you’re 15 minutes away from the dinner bell, simply transfer the chicken from the marinade to kabobs, and grill alongside wedges of radicchio for 10 minutes. This Mediterranean meal is really as easy as that.
Slow-Cooked Moroccan Chicken
Speaking of easy, this slow cooker chicken dinner is exactly that. Simply add the chicken thighs, onion, carrots, prunes, stock, and spices to the pot, then set and forget for 8 to 10 hours on low or 4 to 5 hours on high. It’s definitely worth the 5 minutes of prep time, according to BHG fans who deem this an “yummy, and an “awesomely moist, flavorful slow cooker recipe. Everyone who visits loves it when I cook this.”
All-American Chicken with Balsamic Barbecue Sauce
While you could make this grilled chicken dinner with bone-in chicken breasts, legs, or thighs, we adore this as a chicken thigh recipe because this dark meat cut tends to be juicy, flavorful, and it allows for ample surface area to soak up the homemade barbecue sauce. One BHG reader raves, “I can’t get enough of the sauce. Definitely something I want to share with my friends.” That’s very generous, because we swoon over the combo of beer, white balsamic, ketchup, Asian chile sauce, and seasonings so much, we often wish we could have it all to ourselves!
Korean Fried Chicken
During just one hour of marination time, fresh ginger, garlic, and sweet rice wine (aka mirin) lend a subtle yet impactful layer of flavor to this finger-licking fried chicken thigh recipe. A dusting of potato starch helps max out the crispiness, which stands up well even after being tossed with the zingy gochujang-based sauce.
Apricot-Glazed Chicken Thighs
BHG / Ana Cadena
The intoxicating aroma emanating from your oven as this easy baked chicken cooks is just a preview of coming events. When the soy, ginger, garlic, cayenne, and apricot-infused chicken thigh recipe hits your taste buds, you’ll want to add this dinner idea to your “must make weekly” file. If you’re not so fond of spice, don’t be intimidated by that mention of cayenne; a drizzle of honey balances out that tiny punch of heat.
Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Thai Coconut Sauce
No time to wait for a marinade to work its magic? You don’t need to invest a minute for that here. This chicken thigh recipe starts when you’re ready, and is a breeze to make. Brown the chicken in a skillet on the stovetop, then transfer it to the oven to roast. As the chicken rests for a few minutes, create the coconut milk-based sauce and cook the mushrooms, lemongrass, and green onions in that same skillet (to take advantage of those pan drippings), and .
Related: 10 Types of Mushrooms You Should Know in Cooking
Ale-Braised Chicken
“I just love this recipe. I've made it four times, and it's more delicious each time,” one five-star reviewer says. A dry rub gives the chicken thighs a sweet-and-spicy start, and aromatic vegetables and a bottle of beer offer even more appeal. If all that hasn’t inspired you to make this chicken thigh recipe yet, get this: it comes together entirely in one cast-iron skillet—and can be served in that pan, too.
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