Chicken thighs in a slow cooker: recipes and cooking secrets

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

One of the most popular parts of a chicken carcass is the thighs. They are not dry, unlike breast, and less fatty than whole legs. This makes the meat difficult to spoil or cook tasteless. Only a little s alt and pepper is enough for a good result, but various spices, sauces, marinades and additional ingredients work well with them. Thighs can be baked, boiled, fried in a pan, grilled and open fire. It also turns out very tasty and tender chicken thigh in a slow cooker.

The subtleties of cooking chicken thighs

Cooking chicken thighs in a slow cooker is incredibly simple - even a child can handle it. To get started, prepare the chicken - you need to remove the skin from the thighs and trim off excess fat. For cutting chicken, use a separate board, which, together with a knife, must be thoroughly wiped with paper and then washed, as raw chicken can be infected with campylobacter bacteria,causing inflammation of the stomach and small intestine in humans.

Also wash your hands thoroughly, but don't rinse your chicken pieces under the faucet - splashing water will spread bacteria throughout the kitchen. If you want to somehow treat the meat before cooking, then just wipe it with a paper towel.

Thighs in soy honey sauce

Chicken goes great with Asian sauces and seasonings, so it's worth cooking it in this spicy sweet-and-s alty sauce. For such a chicken, take:

• 4 hips;
• 125 milliliters of soy sauce;
• 125 milliliters of ketchup;
• 80 milliliters of honey;
• 3 garlic cloves;
• dry basil.

In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients of the sauce with a fork or whisk. We recommend using soy sauce with reduced s alt content, as an excess of it is bad for the he alth of the body.

Turn on the multicooker to the frying mode and lay out the thighs. Fry them for a couple of minutes on each side without using oil. Then pour the sauce over the thighs and set to the “Stewing” mode for 1.5 hours. Chicken thighs in sauce in a slow cooker are ready. Serve them with steamed vegetables or rice.

Thighs stewed in tomatoes with vegetables

Chicken meat goes very well with tomatoes, so you can just stew chicken thighs with them in a slow cooker. Recipes with the addition of tomato paste, ketchup or ready-made passata sauce can be supplemented with juicyvegetables and beans to make a complete lunch or dinner without the need to prepare a separate side dish. Take:

• kilogram chicken thighs;
• 400 grams canned white beans;
• 400 grams of canned tomatoes;
• 400 grams of bell pepper;
• 400 grams of tomato sauce;
• onion head;
• 2 garlic cloves;
• olive oil for frying;
• cumin, s alt, black pepper.

In the multicooker bowl on the “Frying” mode, heat the oil, put the thighs into the bowl and fry on both sides. Season the meat with s alt and spices. Previously, the thighs can be chopped into smaller pieces. Cut the pepper into strips, chop the onion, squeeze the garlic. If canned tomatoes with skins, then they need to be removed and cut the tomatoes into pieces. When the chicken is fried, put beans without liquid, tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic to it, pour in the sauce. Switch to stewing mode and cook the dish for 1.5 hours.

Chicken thighs with potatoes

Chicken thighs with potatoes in a slow cooker is a very simple and satisfying dish that cooks quickly, the longest part of it is peeling potatoes. You will need 600 grams of chicken thighs, the same amount of potatoes, 3 cloves of garlic, vegetable oil and some spices to taste.

Dry the chicken with a towel. Then season the chicken thighs in the slow cooker with s alt, black pepper and spices. Chicken recipes often include dried garlic and paprika, but you can also use a ready-made chicken mix. Rub it on the meat and set aside. At this time, peel the potatoes and cut into slices. Put the chicken skin side down in the heated oil in a slow cooker, put slices of fresh garlic on top, which will not burn, but flavor the potatoes. Put the potatoes on top of the chicken, s alt, pepper, close the lid and cook on the “Baking” mode for about an hour. At the end of this time, juicy and fragrant chicken thighs with potatoes in a slow cooker are ready.

Stuffed thighs

This dish is a little more complicated than the previous ones, but it is suitable for a festive dinner. For him take:

• chicken thighs 1-2 per serving depending on their size and guests' appetite;
• 2 champignons per 1 thigh;
• onions - 1 each for 4 thighs and 1 more for marinade;
• glass of yogurt;
• spice to taste.

To cook stuffed chicken thigh in a slow cooker, the first step is to prepare the chicken. To make it stuffed, you need a boneless fillet. If you manage to buy a ready-made thigh fillet, take it, if not, then you will have to remove the bone yourself. Make cuts in the meat with a thin sharp knife in the place where the bone is narrowest, and run the knife along the bone, separating it from the meat. Cut 1 onion into thin strips, put it in kefir, s alt the mixture and dip the chicken into it. Marinate for about an hour. Finely chop the mushrooms, by the way, instead of champignons, you can take any others - chanterelles, porcini, mushrooms. Also finely chop the onion. Fry onions with mushrooms in a pan or in a multicooker bowl in oil. S alt at the end. Cool the stuffing.

Remove the thighs from the marinade, if the indentation in the place of the bone is small, make it deeper with a knife. Inside, put a spoonful of minced meat, wrap the meat and secure with a thread or toothpicks. Pour a little oil into the multicooker bowl, place the rolls and sprinkle them on top with chicken spices. Turn on the appliance to the baking mode and cook the chicken for 40 minutes. When half the time has passed, the rolls will need to be turned over so that they are fried on all sides.

Chicken thighs with rice in a slow cooker

Cooking rice for many housewives and especially novice cooks is sometimes a very difficult task. However, a slow cooker will help cook rice perfectly. And if you add chicken, vegetables and some spices to it, you get a fragrant, satisfying and he althy dish. Rice for him can be taken long-grain, then it will turn out crumbly, rice to rice. And round rice will be more viscous, but this is ideal, for example, for pilaf. This rice will absorb more liquid and be more flavorful.

So take this:

• 5 chicken thighs;
• 1, 5 cups of rice;
• 2 cups chicken broth;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 onion;
• 2 sweet peppers;
• 50 grams of corn;
• 50 grams of peas;
• spices and s alt to taste.

If you want to speed up the preparation of this dish, you can take a package of frozen vegetables instead of fresh and canned vegetables. Also, instead of the broth, you can take regular hot water.

Take your spices and s alt and brush the thighs well on all sides, leave aside to marinate and soak up the flavors. After 20 minutes, pour oil into the multicooker bowl and heat it, put the chicken and fry for about 20 minutes on both sides. Then take out the chicken and fry the vegetables in the same oil. If you took frozen ones, just pour them out of the bag without defrosting. If you took fresh, then first clean and cut into cubes. Add rice and fry rice and vegetables for 10 minutes. S alt and season with spices. Then put chicken pieces on top, pour everything with broth, turn on the "Rice" or "Pilaf" mode and leave for 40 minutes.

Chicken thighs in sour cream in a slow cooker

This recipe is dietary as the chicken thighs will be steamed. But by adding sour cream, the meat will turn out to be very tender and tasty. You can also use any other parts of the chicken for this dish - breast or legs.

Take:

• 4 hips;
• 1 tablespoon sour cream;
• chicken spices like turmeric;
• s alt.

Remove the skin from the chicken, s alt, add spices, sour cream and mix everything well. Put the chicken in a special plate for steaming, pour water into the multicooker bowl and set the program suitable for steam. After 30 minutes, tender fragrant chicken in sour cream is ready. Serve it with potatoes or vegetables, also steamed.

Chakhokhbili

This delicious and fragrant Georgian dish is perfect in home cooking from any parts of the chicken. Of course betterjust take a whole chicken and chop it into pieces, but thighs alone will do just fine. For stewed chicken thighs in a slow cooker in the style of chakhokhbili, take:

• kilogram hips;
• 1 large onion;
• 1 garlic clove;
• 200 ml chopped tomatoes;
• 1 green bell pepper;
• spices, such as suneli hops, s alt, bay leaf;
• vinegar.

For chakhokhbili, remove the skin from the thighs and chop them into small pieces or in half. Cut the onion into thin half rings. Peppers also need to be peeled and cut into thin strips. Cut the garlic into thin slices. Turn the multicooker on the frying mode and put the chicken in it. Fry in a dry bowl without oil. Then take out the chicken and put the onion, garlic and pepper, fry them lightly. Put the chicken back, add the tomatoes, a teaspoon of vinegar, spices and s alt to it. Close the multicooker lid and set the baking mode. Let the chicken simmer along with the vegetables and spices for about 40 minutes. Serve chakhokhbili in a bright sour-spicy sauce with rice.

Foil baked chicken

If you think that a slow cooker is suitable only for stewing, then you are mistaken, it is quite easy to bake meat or poultry in it. For the best result, the meat should be wrapped in foil, so all the juices and flavors will remain in the dish, and it will turn out to be very tender and tasty. For baked chicken thigh in a slow cooker, take:

• 6 chicken thighs;
• 3 garlic cloves;
• half a lemon;
• 100grams of mayonnaise;
• turmeric, s alt, pepper.

First, prepare the chicken marinade - mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, squeezed garlic and spices. Coat the chicken well with the mixture. Cover the bowl with the bird with a lid or cling film and leave to marinate. If you only have a couple of hours, then leave the bowl on the table. And it is better to put it in the refrigerator for the night.

On a double sheet of foil, lay the chicken along with the marinade, wrap well so that the juice does not leak out. Put the meat in foil on the bottom of the multicooker bowl. Pour a glass of water into the same place so that the foil does not burn to the bowl. Turn on the baking mode and cook the meat for 25 minutes. When the time is up, the multicooker will turn on the heating mode. Leave the chicken on it for another hour. Due to the effect of a little heat, the meat will turn out very tender and juicy.