Did anyone else used to be a little afraid of chicken thighs? We sure did! Whenever we asked “is chicken thigh good for me?” we were always told chicken breast was best.
We thought chicken breast was lower in fat and therefore healthier than chicken thighs. But now we know that fat doesn’t make us fat. Marks’ Daily Apple has a great article on high fat diets here.
We’ve been experimenting with chicken thighs a lot lately (just check out our easy paleo chicken thigh bake recipe below) and holleeey molleeey chicken thighs are not only extremely (drool) delicious, chicken thighs are good for us! YAY YAY YAY!
About 80% of our skin is made from collagen and it the makes up the majority of our ligaments and tendons. Chicken thighs have high collagen content, so therefore super good for us. Chicken thighs have almost the same amount of protein as chicken breasts, which means they make a delish filling dinner. Chicken thighs also contain more minerals than the chicken breast, the darker the meat the more minerals. So is chicken thigh good for me you ask? We say YES!
Now for the taste factor! As chicken thighs have a higher fat content, they are more juicy and more tasty than chicken breast. They are also easier to cook than breast (anyone else had their fair share of dried out chicken breast?! We have!). Just remember that the chicken thigh meat is darker than the breast, sometimes a little red, so don’t freak out and think it’s under cooked (unless it looks light pink and raw… please don’t eat that).
Now for the recipe our easy paleo chicken thigh bake might just be the easiest and most tasty meal ever! It is fast becoming one of our weekly go to meals. You literally need one casserole dish, a chopping board and a knife. So this also means less washing up! #winning. Depending on the amount of house guests, you’ll generally have leftovers for lunch too! Leftovers ROCK!
Here are some other great paleo recipes featuring chicken thighs. We want to try them all! Do you have a favourite chicken thigh recipe? If so, let us know about it!
Perfect crispy chicken thighs from Wine and Butter
Asian chicken thighs from Nom Nom Paleo (we love this blog!)
Stuffed chicken thighs from Canadian Girl Eats Paleo
Crispy italian chicken thighs from Stupid Easy Paleo
Always merrymaking,
e + c
- 8 chicken thighs
- 3 carrots roughly chopped
- 1 head broccoli roughly chopped
- 2 zucchinis roughly chopped
- 250g mushrooms sliced
- 200g asparagus roughly chopped
- 250g cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbs. your favourite herb (oregano and rosemary are delish!)
- salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
- Place all of the chopped vegetables (except the mushrooms) into a large casserole dish.
- Place the chicken thighs evenly on top of the vegetables, sprinkle with herbs and season with salt and pepper.
- Place into the oven for 30 minutes.
- Turn the chicken pieces over, add the mushrooms and mix around the vegetables.
- Place back into the oven for a further 30 minutes.
- We told you it was easy! Be sure to let us know if you think it's delicious too!
- Use this recipe as a fridge clean out! Whatever veggies you have in the fridge, chop them up and throw them all together!