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.
Also, sharp-eyed readers may notice I’ve changed the instructions. The results are better if you bake the chicken at a higher temperature, make the sauce, and then slather it over the chicken once it’s cooked. Not to mention, this way is faster.
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
- salt and pepper
- 1 chicken thigh
- 1 T butter
- 1T chili garlic sauce (Huy Fong)
- 1 1/8 tsp apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place it 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 25-30 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the chili garlic sauce and the cider vinegar.
- Remove chicken from the oven and slather with the sauce.
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
- 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.
- Try it with chili paste, add garlic, and cider vinegar.
- If you don’t have either of those, use hot sauce, the cider vinegar, and garlic.
Tools and Ingredients for Chili Garlic Chicken Thigh Recipe
Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce, 8 oz
I love this stuff. I put it on chicken, add it to hamburgers, or mix some with scrambled eggs. Basically, use it to add extra kick (and a hit of garlic) wherever you’d usually use Tabasco, sriracha, or ketchup.
If you prefer a bit of sweetness with your heat, use the sriracha instead of the chili garlic sauce. It’s also more spreadable than the garlic sauce (the consistency is closer to thin ketchup, while the garlic sauce is more like salsa).
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