Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Air-Drying Time: 8 hrs
Total: 8 hrs 35 mins
Servings: 8 servings
Yield: 8 grilled chicken thighs
How can such a simple recipe for grilled chicken thighs taste so flavorful and satisfying? Once you sink your teeth into the super-crispy skin and find rich, tasty dark meat waiting underneath, you’ll understand. This low and slow cooking method yields tender, succulent meat with carefully developed flavors. Make grilled chicken thighs the simple way, because juicy, decadent chicken doesn’t have to be so complicated.
How To Serve Grilled Chicken Thighs
Serve grilled chicken thighs with your favorite barbecue sauce or a green sauce like chimichurri. Grilled chicken thighs are extremely versatile and make a great main dish for a summer dinner on the patio, or fire up the grill to get meal prep done for the week. Serve the thighs with salad, in sandwiches, or in burritos.
Tips for Grilling Chicken Thighs
- Chicken thighs are the ideal chicken cut for grilling because they contain more fat and collagen. Both these things prevent thighs from drying out in the intense heat of the grill. Chicken thighs also cook more evenly because they are not as thick as chicken breasts.
- Seasoning the chicken thighs and chilling them overnight helps dry out the skin, which results in better browning. It also gives the salt time to seep into the meat via osmosis, resulting in chicken that is perfectly seasoned inside and out.
- Creating a two-zone grill fire is important for cooking chicken thighs. The thighs will cook mostly over indirect heat to avoid burning and creating a grill fire. On a gas grill, preheat the grill, then turn off the burner on one side of the grill. For charcoal grills, pile your lit charcoal on one side rather than evenly below the cooking grate.
Ingredients
-
8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed
-
4 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 2 teaspoons fine salt)
-
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Steps to Make It
-
Gather the ingredients.
-
Pat chicken dry with paper towels, and place, skin side up, in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle all over with salt and pepper and refrigerate, uncovered, until skin has dried out, 8 to 12 hours.
-
Preheat a gas grill to medium (350 F to 400 F) on one side, or push hot coals to 1 side of a charcoal grill.
Place chicken thighs, skin side down, on oiled grates over lit side of the grill. Grill, covered, until skin is well marked and crispy, 5 to 6 minutes.
-
Turn thighs over, and transfer to unlit side of grill. Grill, covered, until a thermometer registers 175 F when inserted into thickest part of a chicken thigh, 20 to 25 minutes, turning halfway through grilling. Remove from grill, and let rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
How To Store Grilled Chicken Thighs
Refrigerate leftover grilled chicken thighs in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 8 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 243 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 16g | 20% |
| Saturated Fat 5g | 24% |
| Cholesterol 145mg | 48% |
| Sodium 726mg | 32% |
| Total Carbohydrate 0g | 0% |
| Dietary Fiber 0g | 0% |
| Total Sugars 0g | |
| Protein 27g | |
| Vitamin C 0mg | 0% |
| Calcium 13mg | 1% |
| Iron 1mg | 7% |
| Potassium 290mg | 6% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
