Who said weightloss diet is boring? These grilled chicken thighs infused with delicious chilli garlic sauce is a perfect protein-rich meal that will not only help you maintain a balanced diet, but also will satisfy your soul immensely!
Chicken is any weight watchers’ favorite food without an iota of doubt! Best part is that we can create uncountable recipes using chicken and you will still have another new one to try out the next day!
I was always a chicken lover. Now that I am on my weightloss/fitness journey, chicken has become a daily staple of mine!
Due to the high demand of a protein-rich diet to maintain my muscle growth, I keep looking for chicken recipes which are not calorie-dense but provide the right amount of protein that my body needs.
This chilli garlic chicken thighs are one of those tempting recipes which I keep looking forward to at least once a week!
Those lovely dark grill marks are insanely tempting and the juicy & tender chicken meat infused with the incredible chilli garlic sauce is simply a celebration for our taste buds!
Plus being homemade, you can easily control the amount of oil (which means extra calorie) in your food thus keeping it a diet friendly meal!
Just follow my secret tip mentioned below to ensure you cut down any extra & unnecessary fat.
What are these Chilli Garlic grilled chicken thighs?
Grilled chicken thighs are any chicken lover’s delight! They are so tasty in itself that you would not need to convince anyone to try this!
To take things up a notch, I decided to grill the chicken thighs with one of my favorite condiments – chilli garlic sauce! I use this sauce very frequently for making stir fried veggies and chicken; I even love to put it on my fried rice!
This sauce has all the beautiful flavor elements that will sensationalize your taste buds – it is spicy, tangy, savory, pungent and has a mild note of sweetness! This staple sauce can make a quick, easy and tasty dinner without any hassle or effort.
You can make this chilli garlic sauce easily at home or can keep a store-bought bottle of this condiment handy; just don’t go overboard with the sauce as a little amount of this powerful stuff goes a long way!
You can use this recipe and easily make this tasty chilli garlic sauce at home!
Ingredients for Chilli Garlic grilled chicken thighs
Chicken thighs: Chicken thighs are my most favorite portion of chicken and that’s why I used them in this and many other recipes. I get it that chicken breast is much leaner than thighs, but I just can’t get over the juiciness & tenderness of chicken thigh meat.
To my defense, I can say that I also have quite a few chicken breast recipes in my blog which are definitely great to include in your meals if you are looking to have a low-fat diet supporting your weightloss journey!
My secret tip to make chicken thighs low-fat & low-cal: If you are fond of chicken thighs too & prefer it over chicken breasts any given day, just make sure to use skinless chicken thighs and voila!
You instantly cut down the fat & calorie by a significant amount as skin has very high fat content which may impact your weightloss target!
Chilli garlic sauce: I am sure you have had this condiment as a dip or as a stirfry sauce on multiple occasions; I had my fair share too! Now try this delicious sauce as a marinade for your grilled chicken thighs and I can guarantee you will thank me for this!
Olive oil: You will need a tad bit of olive oil to coat the chicken thighs and to prevent them from drying out as we are using the skinless thighs.
Salt & pepper: Use seasoning sparingly as the chilli garlic sauce is also a well seasoned condiment.
How to make Chilli Garlic grilled chicken thighs?
Let’s check out the step by step process of making chilli garlic grilled chicken thighs!
Step 1: Wash and pat dry the chicken thighs. Ensure the chicken thighs are dry; then they will crisp up evenly.
Step 2: Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken thighs and season each one nicely.
Step 3: Drizzle the olive oil over the seasoned chicken thighs and massage each one evenly so that each chicken thigh is coated with oil, salt & pepper thoroughly.
Step 4: Now add the chilli garlic sauce to the chicken thighs. Mix the sauce with the chicken thighs preferably using your hands making sure the sauce penetrates the nooks & crannies of each chicken thigh.
Step 5: Once all the chicken thighs are beautifully coated, leave them at room temperature for 30 minutes so that chicken can absorb the flavors as much as possible.
Step 6: When you are ready to grill, heat a cast iron grill pan until smoking hot. Brush some oil on the grill grates. Then carefully place the chicken thighs one by one on the grill pan and leave them as is keeping the flame on medium.
Step 7: Let the chicken thighs grill for at least 10 to 15 minutes on medium flame. This will develop those beautiful grill marks on the chicken thighs.
Step 8: After about 15 minutes, flip the chicken thighs over and grill the other side for another 15 minutes.
Step 9: While the chicken thighs are grilling, preheat your oven to 180 C/ 375 F and place the wire rack at the middle of the oven.
Step 10: Once the beautiful grill marks are formed on both sides of the chicken thighs, switch off the flame and transfer the grill pan (only if you are using a cast iron grill pan) inside the preheated oven.
Tip: If you are not using a cast iron grill pan, just transfer your chicken thighs to a baking sheet and then bake them in the oven.
Step 11: Bake the chicken thighs for about 20 to 22 minutes until the meat is completely cooked through.
Pro tip: If the chicken thighs are getting too brown, you can cover them with an aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes.
Step 12: After about 20 minutes, check the doneness of the chicken by cutting the meat with the edge of a knife; if there is no pink left and meat is completely opaque, your chicken is done.
Pro tip: If you have an instant read thermometer, you can check the internal temperature of the chicken. If the temperature reaches 75 C/165 F then your chicken is completely cooked and safe to eat.
Step 13: Take out the chilli garlic grilled chicken thighs and serve it immediately with a generous serving of salad on the side!
Other delicious weightloss recipes from Flavor Quotient
- Chicken thighs - 4, skinless & bone-in
- Chilli garlic sauce - ¼ cup
- Olive oil - 2 tbsp
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Wash and pat dry the chicken thighs. Ensure the chicken thighs are dry; then they will crisp up evenly.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken thighs and season each one nicely.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the seasoned chicken thighs and massage each one evenly so that each chicken thigh is coated with oil, salt & pepper thoroughly.
- Now add the chilli garlic sauce to the chicken thighs. Mix the sauce with the chicken thighs preferably using your hands making sure the sauce penetrates the nooks & crannies of each thigh.
- Once all the chicken thighs are beautifully coated, leave them at room temperature for 30 minutes so that chicken can absorb the flavors as much as possible.
- When you are ready to grill, heat a cast iron grill pan until smoking hot. Brush some oil on the grill grates. Then carefully place the chicken thighs one by one on the grill pan and leave them as is keeping the flame on medium.
- Let the chicken thighs grill for at least 10 to 15 minutes on medium flame. This will develop those beautiful grill marks on the chicken thighs.
- After about 15 minutes, flip the chicken thighs over and grill the other side for another 15 minutes.
- While the chicken thighs are grilling, preheat your oven to 180 C/ 375 F and place the wire rack at the middle of the oven.
- Once the beautiful grill marks are formed on both sides of the chicken thighs, switch off the flame and transfer the grill pan (only if you are using a cast iron grill pan) inside the preheated oven. (See my tip above if you are not using a cast iron grill pan.)
- Bake the chicken thighs for about 20 to 22 minutes until the meat is completely cooked through. You can check the doneness of the chicken by cutting the meat with the edge of a knife; if there is no pink left and meat is completely opaque, your chicken is done.
- Take out the chilli garlic grilled chicken thighs and serve it immediately with a generous serving of salad on the side! Enjoy!
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