Chicken thighs can be a winner for chicken dinner. As this thoughtfully crafted list of dinner ideas with chicken thighs shows, the right inspiration and style can make a huge difference.
While many recipes prefer chicken breasts for cooking, the thighs have an allure of their own.So, let’s get down to the details and take a look at some inspiration and ideas for your dinner!
Inspiration And Ideas For Chicken Thigh in Dinners
1. Baked Chicken Thighs
This easy recipe is a perfect way to get started. The roasted chicken thighs are a quick, easy, and budget-friendly way to get in a nice weeknight meal without spending a lot of time in the kitchen. And though it’s easy, it is very much a part of a thoughtful and nourishing meal – exactly what you want for dinner!
Keeping in tune with the weeknight sentiment, the recipe while remaining easy to prepare, also doesn’t push for the use of many ingredients. There is some room for versatility here if you choose to get more action and make the recipe more complex.
2. Chicken Thighs And Sweet Potatoes
Up for something flavorful? This recipe has the goodness of cooked chicken thighs and sweet potatoes. And for a lovely depth of flavor, it brings in some garlic, herbs, olives, and seasoning. Despite the number of ingredients, the recipe doesn’t push on being difficult. Rather, it’s easy to cook, though I wouldn’t recommend it for beginners.
The healthy recipe also checks several diet preferences. This could hit the spot for paleo, gluten-free, and a keto diet. Well, it doesn’t look that fancy, but it does make up for that with taste and texture.
3. Maple Mustard Glazed Chicken
The name of this recipe is enough to get me drooling. And I’m happy to report that it’s as delicious as it sounds! It involves chicken thighs glazed in a sweet and tangy sauce, giving it amazing flavor and texture. It takes some effort to get it right, but this meal is a treat unto itself!
The key ingredients for the recipe are boneless and skinless chicken thighs, maple syrup, dijon mustard, grapeseed oil, apple cider vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper. The maple syrup is the star for the glazing and wonderful styling of this recipe.
4. Asian-Inspired Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
As the title implies, this recipe takes some cues from Asian cooking and then adopts them into its own substantive style. It works well for those who want to cook the chicken in a pressure cooker, and indeed, that helps with making things faster and with an amazing texture.
There’s a little bit of rice vinegar, fish sauce, maple syrup, sriracha, and coconut aminos in this recipe, apart from other ingredients. That covers several bases, making this fragrant, delicious, and with an umami touch that you can look forward to.
5. Cilantro Lime Chicken Thighs
Would you look at those photogenic thighs covered in cilantro! The lime adds a nice tang and freshness to the recipe, which is accentuated by the presence of cilantro. On that note, cilantro here is more of a garnish, so if that doesn’t suit your taste buds, just skip or substitute it!
It’s great to serve this along with some taco rice and black beans for a full and fulfilling meal.
6. Skillet Chicken Thighs With Mushroom Gravy
This healthy and nourishing dish has the added benefit of being easy to prepare and requiring just a little clean up once you’re done. Any of those points individually would be good, but put together, this becomes one impressive package.
Bella mushrooms pair perfectly with the chicken thighs, with their textures and taste complementing each other. The addition of herbs and spices makes it better, with an unmistakable umami touch.
7. Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
The honey garlic chicken thighs are a simple joy, thankfully, they’re a delicious meal. The sweet touch and wonderful flavor come together harmoniously. The soft sweetness of honey with the flavors of garlic, chicken, and other ingredients make this quite a treat.
For this recipe, you’ll need to prepare, season, and sear the chicken thighs. But, the highlight of the recipe is the combination of this chicken with garlic-honey sauce, which ties the whole thing together. Cook the chicken and the sauce together to bring out the flavors and creating that perfect look for the chicken.
8. Apricot Chicken
Savory and sweet, this apricot chicken recipe is a treasure of flavors. The recipe is quite forgiving and lets you make adjustments and play along to suit your taste buds. In some ways, it is quite clever with its ingredients.
While chicken legs and apricot sauce are the stars, it chooses to go with dry onion soup mix to get a variety of herbs and flavor, without making the cook work with several ingredients. Once you’ve got the ingredients and are done with the prep, they can all go into a slow cooker and cook for about 4 hours.
Serve it with rice and fresh veggies for a full meal.
9. Baked Chicken Thighs
This recipe tastes every bit as delicious as it looks! These chicken thighs are coated in olive oil, herbs, and garlic and then roasted in the oven to reach this beautiful golden brown color. It’s a great look!
As the chicken bakes, you can add some fresh veggies in the last 15 minutes or so for better flavor and making this a one pan (or one pot) recipe. Some broccoli, cauliflower, or zucchini should go in splendidly with the recipe. Perhaps consider adding some cheese as well. Feta cheese or parmesan cheese are great additions once the chicken is baked.
10. Anchovy Chicken Thighs With Olives
This is one sumptuous recipe and inspiration to bring to your dinner table. The boneless and skinless chicken thighs are pan seared and then brought together with a sauce of anchovies, dijon mustard, garlic, and red peppers.
Pair that with baby potatoes and olives and let the ingredients into the oven to finish cooking this wonderful meal.
Despite the seeming number of steps, this is quite easy to make and goes rather well as a twist to the conventional chicken and potato combo.