I love Buffalo chicken wings, but wings are getting increasingly expensive. The supermarket had a great sale on chicken thighs and legs so I decided to experiment and make a chili garlic chicken thigh recipe instead.
In addition to substituting thighs for wings, I gave the recipe a bit of a twist by replacing hot sauce with chili garlic sauce and making chili garlic chicken thighs.
The great thing about this recipe is that it’s pretty easy, and you don’t have to fuss with it. You get great flavor without a lot of ingredients, no chopping, and very little mixing.
Using the chili garlic sauce is best, but if you don’t have it I’ve listed substitutions below.
Since the weather has reverted back to March (brrrr), I baked the thighs rather than cooking them on the stove (I wanted an hour of heat!). However, you can, if you prefer, or you are in a hurry, cook this in a pan (see below).
Chili Garlic Chicken
Chili garlic chicken thighs baked in the oven.

Notes
I used Huy Fong chili garlic sauce (made by the same company that makes sriracha sauce. Your grocery story should have it (it comes in a smaller jar with a green cap)
Ingredients
- 1 T butter
- 1T chili garlic sauce (Huy Fong)
- 1 1/8 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 chicken thigh
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Melt the butter in a small bowl or ramekin (a microwave is best for this). Add the chili garlic sauce and apple cider vinegar and stir to combine.
- Place the chicken in a small roasting pan (I used the toaster oven tray; you can also do this in the toaster oven if you want).
- Cook the chicken for 45 minutes.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and serve.
I served it with microwaved broccoli (cooked for two minutes and seasoned with lemon pepper) and fried potato wedges (parboiled, then fried in a pan like home fries).
Chili Garlic Chicken Thigh Substitutions and Variations
- Frying instead of baking: Heat some neutral oil, like canola or vegetable oil and cook the chicken for 10 minutes, skin side down. Turn it skin side up, pour the sauce over the chicken, and then cook for another 10-15 minutes.
Use sriracha. If you do, I would reduce or eliminate the apple cider vinegar, since the sriracha already has vinegar and sugar, and add some minced garlic.
If you don’t have either of those, use hot sauce, the cider vinegar, and garlic.
P.S. My apologies for the awful ad that was appearing earlier. Those responsible have been sacked.