Grilled Bone-In Chicken Thighs

How can such a simple recipe for grilled chicken thighs taste so flavorful and satisfying? Once you sink your teeth into the super-crispy skin and find rich, tasty dark meat waiting underneath, you’ll understand. This low and slow cooking method yields tender, succulent meat with carefully developed flavors. Make grilled chicken thighs the simple way, because juicy, decadent chicken doesn’t have to be so complicated.

How To Serve Grilled Chicken Thighs

Serve grilled chicken thighs with your favorite barbecue sauce or a green sauce like chimichurri. Grilled chicken thighs are extremely versatile and make a great main dish for a summer dinner on the patio, or fire up the grill to get meal prep done for the week. Serve the thighs with salad, in sandwiches, or in burritos.

Tips for Grilling Chicken Thighs

• Chicken thighs are the ideal chicken cut for grilling because they contain more fat and collagen. Both these things prevent thighs from drying out in the intense heat of the grill. Chicken thighs also cook more evenly because they are not as thick as chicken breasts.
• Seasoning the chicken thighs and chilling them overnight helps dry out the skin, which results in better browning. It also gives the salt time to seep into the meat via osmosis, resulting in chicken that is perfectly seasoned inside and out.
• Creating a two-zone grill fire is important for cooking chicken thighs. The thighs will cook mostly over indirect heat to avoid burning and creating a grill fire. On a gas grill, preheat the grill, then turn off the burner on one side of the grill. For charcoal grills, pile your lit charcoal on one side rather than evenly below the cooking grate.