7 Ways to Use Your New Favorite Dinner Ingredient: Chicken Thighs

By: Foodlets
Ree Drummond Rigatoni with Chicken Thighs as seen on Food Network

Ree Drummond Rigatoni with Chicken Thighs as seen on Food Network

Photo by: Stephen Johnson ©2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Stephen Johnson, 2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Ree Drummond Rigatoni with Chicken Thighs as seen on Food Network

Move over, chicken breasts; when it comes to saving money and adding flavor, it’s all about the thighs. I love cooking with chicken thighs for their dark-meat qualities — they’re juicy and bursting with flavor, just like these reader-favorite recipes.

Photo by: Picasa

Picasa

Rigatoni with Chicken Thighs (pictured above)

Chicken thighs sizzling in a pan, along with onions and garlic, create a classic base for The Pioneer Woman’s simple homemade pasta sauce, ready in 35 minutes.

You’ve heard of one-pot meals. This is a one-pan meal. Chicken thighs dripping in tangy honey-mustard sauce perch above a layer of red skinned potatoes with broccoli roasting nearby. The whole thing cooks at once — and the whole thing is amazing.

This treasure from Food Network Magazine is the full-meal deal with basmati rice, chopped spinach and hearty chickpeas baked with chunks of chicken in a savory curry sauce until golden.

Using only a handful of ingredients, this marinade comes together in minutes. It’s slathered over hearty chicken thighs before broiling to a crispy perfection — in under 10 minutes.

You’ll never guess the secret ingredient for Food Network Magazine’s impossibly crispy chicken cooked over the grill. (Hint: It rhymes with schmayonnaise.)

Make this recipe ahead of time, store it in a gallon-size zip-top bag and freeze the whole thing until the day you want to drop it into your slow cooker. That’s where coconut milk meets up with tomato sauce, chicken thighs and curry to bubble together all day long.

Fresh chunks of ginger and garlic combine with soy sauce and fresh tangerines in this Food Network Magazine recipe to make a mouthwatering marinade you may never forget.

Charity Curley Mathews is a mom to four small kids and the founder of Foodlets.com: 30 percent kid-tested recipes featuring fresh, simple ingredients/70 percent parenting techniques to go with. Follow Foodlets on Facebook and you’ll never miss a thing about either one.

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