Chicken thighs 101, please

I prefer thighs too because they are almost never dry. I just trim trim trim.

I prefer thighs. I've always been a dark meat over white meat when it comes to chicken & turkey.

I've never found them to be gristly - and I like a little fat & skin with my chicken.

Another thigh lover here. I have never found them to be gristly. I trim the best I can, I don’t take off all the fat. I either bake them or sauté them in a pan. And i leave the skin on too. White meat is usually too dry for my taste.

I prefer chicken breast if it is cooked well but chicken thighs are more juicy. My DH likes to put them in the smoker or grill them. He actually won 50LBS! of chicken thighs from Costco a few weeks ago so we need some ideas on using them as well.

I'm another chicken thigh lover. For chicken and pork I tend to brine. For chicken thighs, I'll bread and then bake.

Now I want chicken thighs....

Count me in Team Thighs too. There is minimal-to-no gristle in chicken thighs, and the amount of fat will depend on how it was cut before purchase. I might cut off any large bits of fat, but it will all render out during cooking anyway. Just as with all meat, you want some fat for taste and texture - meat (whether beef, lamb, pork, chicken, venison or whatever) that has no fat will be much less flavorsome than meat that has some fat. It really does make a difference.

You can do so much with chicken thighs, and it be very difficult to have them turn out dry as can happen with breast meat if it’s accidentally cooked a bit too long.

I use boneless skinless chicken thighs for almost all the chicken dishes I make. I cut off pieces of fat with kitchen shears if I'm cooking them in a sauce. We like to sear them in a cast iron skillet with a dry rub on them and then finish them in the oven. When I cut them into strips, I can cut off any fat easily. I'd rather trim off the fat after they're cooked.

What’s your favorite way to cook them? I do prefer chicken breasts, and find that if I marinate them overnight, I can cook them without them getting really dry, especially if you pound them paper thin. But I’m willing to give chicken thigh a try if someone’s got a really good recipe

I use them in place of chicken breasts in most recipes. I like them sautéed in a cream sauce or they are good baked too. I find that they don't dry out like breasts can. 

I HATE chicken breasts or any white meat for that matter, so I always sub thighs. I tend to use boneless/skinless more than bone-in chicken. I'm not that picky about trimming them. Touching raw meat grosses me out, so I try to get through the process as quickly as possible (or make DH do it). The fat cooks off anyway.

But if you can make breasts delicious and moist, you can probably use them in most recipes that call for thighs.

I’m a thigh convert, skin on and bone in! After a lifetime of treating bare raw chicken breasts like they were nuclear waste my son taught me to brine and air fry thighs. They’re so good ans is with a salad, and make tacos and other second day meals.

craftymom101 I’ll definitely try the chicken tzatziki recipe, thank you.

I’m another that hates touching raw meat (thank god for disposable gloves!) and DH cooks most of that stuff anyway. He likes to season them (not sure what he all puts on stuff because he has a whole cabinet full of assorted spices and rubs) and he cooks them on the grill so most of the fat cooks off. They’re always good that way but DD dislikes meat with bones in it so we don’t have them as often as he would probably like.

I hate touching raw meat too. I solved my problem by buying food handling gloves at the supermarket. Makes handling meat is so much with them.