Honey Garlic Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs

These Honey Garlic Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs are flavorful and easy to make.

This recipe uses the best aromatics you can infuse in chicken; garlic and lemon.

These 2 ingredients yield and incredibly delicious chicken thigh and the addition of honey and pepper compliments the dish perfectly.

For this recipe we need skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs. But feel free to use chicken breast if you’d like or to remove the skin and bone from the thighs.

Ingredients to marinate chicken thighs

In this recipe we use a lot of aromatics to infuse the chicken thighs with flavor.

• Garlic: Aromatic and honestly, chicken’s best friend. It diminishes the strong poultry flavor/smell.
• Lemon: In this recipe we use lemon juice, lemon pepper seasoning and lemon zest for an extra lemony zing.
• Honey: Honey allows for a balanced flavor and helps caramelized the chicken for lovely texture and flavor.
• Lemon pepper: This seasoning enhances the lemony flavor in this recipe but you can substitute it for additional lemon zest and ground pepper (fresh if possible).
• Paprika: Adds color and smokey flavor to the chicken thighs.
• Onion powder: to round up the seasoning and add another aromatic layer to the recipe.

How long to cook a chicken thigh

The best answer to this question is to get a meat thermometer and check the internal temperature of your chicken to know that is fully cooked.

How long to cook a chicken thigh is going to depend on a lot of factors, the most important ones are how big your chicken thighs are and what cooking method you are using.

Times and cooking temperatures vary significantly, so a food thermometer is your best bet to get a precise cooking time.

Using a meat thermometer ensures that your chicken is cooked to perfection. The ideal meat temperature for chicken is 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chicken thighs make a great inexpensive dinner. They are cheaper than chicken breast and way more flavorful.

It is also more difficult to overcook chicken thighs than chicken breast so the end result is a more flavorful dish with less hassle.

This Honey Garlic Lemon Pepper Chicken Thigh yields a crispy chicken skin and juicy and tender meat.

You can pretty much customize this recipe to your liking. I first saw it on royaleats tiktok. You can easily swap or omit ingredients according to your liking.

Difference between chicken thighs and chicken breast

There are some significant differences between chicken thighs and breast. Chicken thighs are considered “dark meat” while chicken breast is “white meat”.

The texture of chicken thighs is more dense than the texture of chicken breast, that is why chicken breast is ideal to shred while thighs are better whole or chopped.

Chicken thighs are more moist than chicken breast and they are more flavorful.

Chicken thighs can withstand higher cooking temperatures and are more difficult to over cook or dry out while chicken breast are easily overcooked.

Chicken breast are a leaner cut of meat, therefore considered a healthier choice when fat is a concern.

Chicken thighs are higher in fat and cholesterol so if you are on a low fat diet, use chicken breast instead.

If you like this Honey Garlic Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs, you may also like this garlic shrimp recipe.