A hearty and incredibly delicious recipe! The sweet and spicy chicken thighs are first marinated then seared and cooked with cherry tomatoes in a sweet and tangy sauce until tender and juicy! Ready in just over 30 minutes!
When you use skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs in a recipe you can pretty much expect tender and juicy chicken thighs. I am partial to paprika and for this recipe, I added the smoked and sweet Hungarian paprika to the marinade, along with other spices, honey with lime and I must say it added so much flavour and tenderness to the chicken thighs. Then once cooked in a sauce you end up with the most flavourful and juicy chichen thigh recipe your whole family will love!!
WHAT IS BRAISING
This method of cooking is one of my favourites! Braising is a combination of cooking methods that first starts with pan searing and in this case I seared the chicken thighs until golden and crispy. Then the chicken thighs and other ingredients were slowly cooked with the liquid until they were fully cooked and reached a 165 degrees F. When properly cooked, this method will offer lots of delicious flavour and tender and juicy results.
INGREDIENTS
- Chicken thighs: I used skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs for a more juicy and tender result
- Extra virgin olive oil: I like to use a good quality olive oil in my cooking
- Spices: smoked paprika, sweet paprika, coriander, garlic powder
- Sea salt: I like to use Himalayan sea salt, it’s pink and a finer salt packed with healthy minerals, other options are sea salt or regular salt
- Honey: balances the sweetness from the tanginess of the lime and smoked paprika
- Lime: I use the juice of the lime
- Onion
- Garlic cloves
- Tomato paste
- Cherry or grape tomatoes: offers a sweet flavour to the sauce
- Chicken stock: either store bought or homemade and vegetable stock can be substituted
- Herbs: fresh thyme and parsley
COOKING TIPS
I choose chicken thighs with skin-on and bone-in for this recipe as I wanted crispy and tender results. You can easily substitute chicken pieces or boneless and skinless thighs. When using boneless and skinless chicken thighs, I would recommend searing them a minute or 2 less to avoid them from getting tough.
When adding honey or any sweetness to a marinade, whisk it well with the other ingredients. Sometimes honey can burn on high heat when searing. I have also adding honey to the sauce rather then the marinade for this recipe. You still have similar flavours and sweetness.
HOW TO MAKE THIS DELICIOUS RECIPE
MARINADE
In a medium bowl, combine chicken thighs, olive oil, sea salt, smoke and sweet paprika, coriander, garlic powder, honey and lime juice. Stir and coat the thighs completely. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour to 3-4 hours.
Heat olive oil a Dutch oven or large skillet over medium heat. Once the olive oil is hot, add the chicken thighs, skin side down and cook until the skin is golden and crispy, about 4 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
BRAISING
Next, saute onion until softened about 5 minutes, add garlic and continue cooking for another minute, then stir in tomato paste. Add the cherry tomatoes, chicken stock, lime juice and sprigs of thyme. Bring to boil for about a minute.
Add chicken thighs back into the skillet, season with salt. Partially cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes. To thicken the sauce, stir together 1 heaping teaspoon of starch and 1/2 tablespoon of water and increase heat and stir in the starch mixture, boil for about 1-2 minutes until sauce has thickened.
When thickening the sauce, make sure you are stirring the liquid and the starch mixture to avoid clumps. I didn’t want an overly thick sauce, but just enough to bind the liquid so when adding it to a side dish, it will still have a creamy texture.
I served this recipe will brown rice and it was absolutely delicious!! Savory, sweet and a perfect balance of flavours of spiciness, sweetness and tanginess!
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Sweet and Spicy Braised Chicken Thighs
Equipment
- Dutch oven or large skillet
Ingredients
- 4 (1½) lb) chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in
Marinade
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp juice of a lime
Braising sauce
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 8 oz cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp juice of a lime
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 sprigs of thyme, extra for garnishing
- 1 heaping teaspoon arrowroot or cornstarch
- 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
Instructions
Marinade
- In a medium bowl, combine chicken thighs, olive oil, sea salt, smoke and sweet paprika, coriander, garlic powder, honey and lime juice. Stir and coat the thighs completely. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour to 3-4 hours.
- Heat olive oil a Dutch oven or large skillet over medium heat. Once the olive oil is hot, add the chicken thighs, skin side down and cook until the skin is golden and crispy, about 4 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Next, saute onion until softened about 5 minutes, add garlic and continue cooking for another minute, then stir in tomato paste. Add the cherry tomatoes, chicken stock, lime juice and sprigs of thyme. Bring to boil for about a minute.
- Add chicken thighs back into the skillet, season with salt. Partially cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes. To thicken the sauce, stir together 1 heaping teaspoon of starch and 1/2 tablespoon of water and increase heat and stir in the starch mixture, boil for about 1-2 minutes until sauce has thickened.
- Serve with brown rice and garnished with fresh thyme and parsley. Enjoy!
