Sweet & Spicy Chicken Thighs

 

This is a chicken recipe which I have had to adapt since I moved over here to the UK.  My kids always loved this chicken.  It has wow flavours and is moist and tender, with a lovely crisp and flavourful skin. 

 
The original recipe used dried Italian salad dressing mix (in its unmixed, dry form) along with brown sugar and some butter for dotting.  We don't have dried Italian salad dressing mixes over here.  It is possible to get it at a premium price from some sites which carry North American goods, but generally speaking it doesn't exist.

 

 This chicken is really, really good however, and so I had to come up with a way to adapt it to what I could get over here because it is a chicken I just crave every now and then!

I combined a mix of herbs and powders to approximate the same flavours I might get from the dressing mix . . .  garlic and onion powders, basil, oregano, thyme, salt and cracked black pepper  . . . a bit of dried pepper flakes for some heat.  All the flavour, but none of the preservatives.

 
It actually might even be better than using the dry mix because of that.   This mixture gets mixed with some brown sugar and then sprinkled over bone in, skin on chicken thighs, dotted with butter and baked until all those flavours penetrate the chicken and that skin gets all sticky crisp and finger licking good!

Sure, it's not a low fat kind of a dish, but once in a blue moon this makes a really tasty treat. You could use chicken breasts if you really wanted to, but be sure to cut the bake time way down, and of course you won't get that lovely crispy skin.  You can also use one package of dry Italian Salad Dressing Mix if you want to instead of my combination of flavours.  Just mix it in with the brown sugar as per the recipe and leave my additions out.

*Sweet and Spicy Chicken Thighs*

Serves 4 - 6

Printable Recipe 

 

I used to make a quick and easy chicken dish back home using dry Italian Salad Dressing mix, which we can't get over here, and so I made up my own combination with delicious results. 

3-4 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken thighs

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarse black pepper

healthy pinch crushed red pepper flakes

100g soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)

2 TBS softened butter

 Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Have ready a baking dish large enough to hold all your chicken pieces.

Mix together the garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, salt and black pepper.  Rub this mixture into the brown sugar.  Place the chicken pieces, skin side up into the baking dish. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture evenly over top. Dot with butter.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until the skin is nicely crisped and the juices run clear.  Serve hot with your favourite side dishes.  We like rice and a green vegetable with this.

I think this is sure to become one of your favourites as well.  If it doesn't well . . .  there is just no accounting for taste eh?  We are all different.  Bon Appetit!