Sweet Chili Chicken Thighs

 

    I LOVE a good oven chicken recipe. There is nothing better than popping a bunch of chicken in the oven and pulling out a full meal of perfectly cooked chicken. If you haven't noticed based on my recent posts, there are so many different variations of how you can do this! My most recent recipes are crunchy honey garlic chicken and baked chicken parm but I've been working on getting all of my favorite oven chicken recipes on here. To be 100% honest with you this isn't actually one of my favorite recipes but my husband's. The sweet chilis can pack a little bit of a punch and I am WAY too midwestern for all of that spice. However, I can manage one bite to confirm that these chicken thighs are objectively amazing. And, they are super easy to make a ton of so they make a great meal prep option and often end up in my husband's lunchbox.

    To make these, I first rinse and dry my chicken thighs before coating them in salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oil. I like to use olive oil but most asian cooking recipes use a more neutral oil. The oil you choose is up to you but it will affect the flavor slightly. I then place my chicken thighs on a baking sheet, making sure they're not touching, and bake them at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes depending on how big they are. At about 20 minutes I like to check the internal temperature so I don't over bake them and pull them out at 160 instead of 165 because they will continue to cook a little. However, if that makes you nervous, chicken thighs stay moist a lot better than breasts do so feel free to keep them in until they are all the way up to 165. 

    While my chicken is baking, I mix all the ingredients for my sauce in a small saucepan and let it simmer until it is slightly thickened. If yours just seems too watery you can whisk in some cornstarch but I highly doubt you'll need it. For the sweet chilis, I like to use Lee Kum Lee sweet chili and garlic sauce that comes in little jars from Walmart but if you can find a similar sweet chili sauce from your local asian food store it is most likely better. 

    As soon as I pull my chicken out of the oven, it goes straight into the sauce I already prepared. I like to let it sit for at least 5 minutes to not only let the inside of my chicken finish cooking, but to also let the sauce soak into the chicken a little bit along with the chicken juices as it cools. This is truly the real trick to avoiding a dry baked chicken. The resting period is CRUCIAL. Don't worry, it will still be hot when you eat it. 

    I like to serve my finished sweet chili chicken thighs with plain rice so that the sauce also flavors the rice but you can also eat it by itself or with some kind of asian inspired stir fry. My Husband really likes them with my homemade pan pork bao (recipe coming soon) so that he can dip the buns in the extra sauce. Like I mentioned before, this recipe is great for meal prep and reheats really easily in the microwave, air fryer, or however else you like to reheat your food. My husband will also eat it cold but I think he's a little weird for that. 

    What did you think of this recipe? Use the comment section below!