Sticky Baked Chicken Thighs

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This is what you make if you’ve got boneless skinless chicken thighs and haven’t planned anything for dinner. You’ve probably got everything required for the glaze – and if you don’t, there’s plenty of sub options. Savoury and sweet, the sauce is great drizzled over everything!

Ingredients

  • 700g / 1.4lb chicken thighs , skinless boneless (5-7 pieces), Note 1

Glaze (Note 2 for subs):

  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar , lightly packed
  • 1.5 tbsp soy sauce , all purpose or light (NOT dark)
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 2 clove garlics , minced

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 220C/420F (standard) or 200C/390F (fan).
  • Use a pan large enough to fit the thighs lying flat (not bunched up/folded)
  • Line pan with foil (you’ll thank me later), place thighs in pan.
  • Mix together Glaze. Spoon over about 2/3 of the Glaze on the surface of each (not underside), reserve rest.
  • Bake 15 minutes, remove pan.
  • Flick to grill/broiler on high, adjust shelf to be 20cm/8″ from heat source.
  • Spoon pan juices over chicken. Then spoon/dab remaining Glaze onto chicken.
  • Broil chicken for 8 to 10 minutes until surface is nicely caramelised.
  • Remove and stand for a few minutes (uncovered) before serving with pan juices.

Notes

1. Chicken – If your thighs are teeny tiny (as sometimes they can be), reduce the oven cook time a bit.

Skin on bone in thighs and drumsticks: haven’t tried with this exact sauce but many similar, here’s how to cook them: Toss in the sauce (or drizzle/smear) all over, reserve 1/4 of Sauce. Place in foil lined pan skin side DOWN, bake 20 minutes at 180C/350F. Flip, spoon over remaining Glaze, bake further 30 minutes until caramelised, basting with pan juices towards the end.

Breast: And yes this can be made with breast instead but you won’t get the same caramelisation in the oven. Alternative is to broil/grill only – better caramelising. Directions:

  • Cut each breast horizontally to form 2 steaks;
  • Oven: Spoon ALL the sauce over one side. Bake for 18 minutes at 425F/220C, do not remove for basting, do not broil.
  • Broil: Spoon bit of sauce on one side. Broil on high 3 minutes. Flip, spoon over remaining sauce. Broil 6-8 min, watch carefully to ensure it doesn’t burn too much.

2. Glaze – plenty of sub options here, this is a really flexible recipe:

  • Ketchup – Aussie tomato sauce, BBQ sauce or other similar sauces
  • Brown Sugar – white sugar, or 2 tbsp honey, maple syrup, or any other sweet thing in similar liquid form
  • Soy Sauce – light or all purpose soy sauce, don’t use dark it will be too intense. Fish sauce would also work but reduce to 1 tbsp.
  • Apple Cider Vinegar – sub with any clear(ish) plain vinegars eg plain white vinegar, white wine vinegar, rice vinegar, champagne vinegar etc.
  • Worcestershire sauce – add 1/4 tsp black pepper then add an extra dash of all the other ingredients. A sprinkle of onion and/or garlic powder on the chicken before coating in sauce would also help.
  • Add ins – dash if your favourite hot sauce wouldn’t go astray! Pinch of herbs (mixed, oregano, thyme), cayenne pepper for heat, sprinkle of paprika for warmth, cumin or coriander for South-West edge.

2. General:

  • Foil – Sauce will caramelise on edges and adhere firmly to pan. Takes intense scrubbing to remove, so use foil. DO NOT use parchment paper (will catch fire under grill).
  • No point putting glaze on underside, it doesn’t stay on. Underside gets flavoured because it ends up cooked in the sauce. Also want upper side exposed to heat the whole time for best caramelisation.
  • Pictured in post with speedy Garlic White Bean Mash

3. Nutrition per serving, assuming every drop of sauce is consumed.

Nutrition

Calories: 297cal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 166mg | Sodium: 701mg | Potassium: 526mg | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1.9mg

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