Tangerine-Maple Glazed Chicken Thighs

I bookmarked this Bobby Flay recipe quite a while back – which is why I’m submitting it to Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments for her Bookmarked Recipes event. 🙂 Originally when I came across this recipe, I wanted to roast the thighs to get a nice, crispy skin. As I mentioned earlier, there is no point in eating skin (at least to me) unless it’s nice and crispy. But, after several days of eating poorly by going out and eating greasy food at Lollapalooza, I decided I should try to lighten this recipe up a little and – cue the tears – remove the skin from the thighs. Sadface.

So, that said, I am not really into baking any kind of chicken. Browning it on a pan and finishing it in the oven, sure. But I am not a fan of throwing a piece of chicken in the oven. It’s just really not appealing to me. I decided to broil these chicken thighs because that way they’d get a little color and it would help to caramelize the glaze on top. Plus, they cook up insanely quickly and a broiler is essentially an upside down grill anyway, right?

The broiler turned out to be a great idea for these thighs. They ended up nice and juicy (as thighs generally do; I mean, they ARE the best part of the chicken you know). I did add some garlic and red pepper flakes to the glaze. I’m sort of surprised that this recipe doesn’t have any sort of pepper in it, coming from Flay and all. Despite the amount of tangerine juice in this recipe, and the reduction to concentrate the flavor, it still wasn’t quite as citrusy as I wanted. Next time I might marinate the thighs in the tangerine/thyme mixture (before reducing the liquid) so it can permeate a little more. Other than that, this was a simple, tasty recipe and with the modifications, very healthy, too.

Tangerine-Maple Glazed Chicken Thighs
Serves 2
Adapted from Bobby Flay

1 tsp. canola oil
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic. sliced or minced
1 cup tangerine juice
1 sprig thyme
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1 tsp. tangerine or orange zest
4 skinless chicken thighs (bone in or boneless)

Heat up the oil in a small saucepan and then cook the onion until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook another minute or so. Add the tangerine juice and the thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue boiling it, stirring occasionally, until it has reduced down to about 1/4 cup or a little less.

Strain the tangerine mixture into a bowl and then whisk in the red pepper flakes, soy sauce, maple syrup and zest.

Meanwhile, preheat the broiler and spray your broiling pan with some cooking spray. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Broil them for about 5 minutes per side for boneless and about 7 minutes per side for bone-in. Brush one side of the thighs with the glaze and put back in the broiler for about a minute. Repeat with the other side.

Nutrition Information (2 thighs and half the glaze): Calories: 271 / Fat: 7.9g / Saturated Fat: 1.6g / Carbs: 20g / Sugars: 18g / Protein: 28g