Main dishes
Orange Chicken Thighs
Skillet orange chicken thighs, browned and cooked in a sauce of orange juice, honey and thyme. Serves 4, ready in 55 minutes.
- Total time
- 55 min
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Cuisine
- Mediterranean
Ingredients
For the chicken
For the sauce
To serve
Method
Prepare the ingredients
Pat 1 kg chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Wash the oranges well, grate 1 tablespoon zest, squeeze 3 oranges to get 250 ml juice, chop 3 garlic cloves and slice 1 orange.
Brown the thighs
Heat 30 ml oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the thighs skin side down for 6 minutes, turn them and brown for 4 more minutes. Work in batches if they do not fit.
Add the garlic
Lower the heat to medium, pour off the excess fat and leave 1 tablespoon in the pan. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute without letting it burn.
Pour in the juice, honey and thyme
Add 250 ml orange juice, 1 tablespoon zest, 1 tablespoon honey and 4 sprigs of thyme. Bring to a boil and scrape the bottom of the pan with a spoon.
Cover and cook
Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes.
Uncover and baste
Uncover, turn the thighs with tongs and spoon the sauce over them. Cook 5 more minutes uncovered.
Reduce the sauce
Raise the heat a little and reduce the sauce for 5 minutes, until it thickens and coats the thighs. The chicken should reach 75 °C (165 °F) in the center.
Serve
Transfer the thighs to a platter, spoon the sauce over and serve with the orange slices and a few thyme leaves.
The step photos are illustrative.
Notes
Nutrition facts
1 serving (1/4 of the recipe)
- Protein
- 41.9 g
- Carbohydrates
- 12 g
- Fat
- 48.5 g
- Sodium
- 591 mg
Estimate per serving. All the fat and all the salt are counted, although some of the fat stays in the pan, so the value is approximate and somewhat high. With bone-in thighs, the edible portion is smaller.
Reference source: USDA FoodData Central — SR Legacy (2018)
For general information only; it does not replace advice from a qualified health or nutrition professional.
About this recipe
These orange chicken thighs are skin-on thighs browned in a skillet and cooked in a sauce of orange juice, zest, honey, garlic and thyme. They are browned first so the skin turns crisp, then cooked covered over low heat.
They cook 15 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered, until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken. Serve with orange slices. It serves 4.
Frequently asked questions
Which cut of chicken is best for orange chicken?
Skin-on thighs: they brown well, stay juicy and the skin adds flavor to the sauce.
Can I use store-bought orange juice?
Yes, if it is 100% juice, but freshly squeezed juice and zest give a fresher flavor.
How do I know the chicken is cooked?
When the center reaches 75 °C (165 °F) and the juices run clear when pierced.
