Amazing Balsamic Chicken Thighs

I won’t lie, this was some of the best chicken I’ve made in quite some time.  Taking some inspiration from the Mediterranean Dish, I made some (very) minor adjustments and hit a home run. You can do this too with basic pantry items you may already have on hand.

 You start with a very simple marinade – for 2 to 4 hours or so - and then bake them off at 425F degrees on the middle rack.  Pair with a whole grain or mashed potatoes (to catch some of the delicious gravy) and/or a green or Greek salad, and you’ve got a meal that is good enough for a dinner party and simple enough for a weeknight meal.

Have you ever in your life??

Here’s what you need:

Get your marinade going:

 ¼ cup EVOO

3 TBS balsamic glaze

1 tbs tomato paste

1 teaspoon honey

Juice of one lemon

5-6 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

½ teaspoon paprika

1 tsp Aleppo pepper

And the cluck cluck (chicken):

8 bone in chicken thighs (you may use boneless skinless as well)

Salt and Pepper

Here’s what you do:

In a large bowl, whisk marinade ingredients to incorporate thoroughly.  Pat your chicken dry and salt and pepper.  Add to the marinade mixture.  Coat to combine.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours (for best results).

Preheat oven to 425F.  Transfer chicken to a baking dish pouring over remaining marinade.  Bake until fully cooked (internal temperature of 165F).

NOTES:

I get a lot of inspiration from the Mediterranean Dish and HIGHLY recommend Suzy Karadsheh’s cookbooks.  I promise, this will not be a cookbook that simply sits on the shelf and “looks pretty.”  It will become a workhorse reference for you and take you on simple, achievable culinary journeys across the Mediterranean region.

The Mediterranean Dish:  120 Bold and Healthy Recipes You’ll Make on Repeat:  A Mediterranean Cookbook. 

The Mediterranean Dish:  Simply Dinner

This is great for meal prep as well.  I find that there is very little “ick” involved when going to reheat this in the microwave. 

 I wouldn’t let this go overnight in the marinade.  Sometimes citrus seems to change the texture of chicken to me if it goes too long.  This varies not only protein to protein but also depends on the other contents of the marinade as well.  In any case, 2-4 hours is more than sufficient here.

If you want to go for a bit of extra color, then you can certainly sit it under the broiler for a couple minutes.  Don’t walk away from it!  I’d hate for you to ruin the dish after all that marinade time.  Besides, I found it caramelized beautifully at the higher oven temp. 

I ran a convection fan in my oven, so this may be something that would work in an air fryer, but I have not tested it.

Thanks for watching.  Seriously give this one a try.  Even those picky eaters will come back for more.

Cheers!

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