Guys, this chicken is ridiculously delicious.
If you know me or you have been following me here on Tina’s Chic Corner for a while, then you know that I’m not the biggest fan of chicken. Over the past few months I’ve challenged myself to find tasty chicken recipes that are “Tina friendly.” Basically, that means that the recipe must meet my high standards (and that isn’t easy, my friends). As part of this pattern I’ve also been enjoying a lot of “Buffalo” flavored things. Here enters this spicy chicken. I enjoyed it for lunch AND dinner… in the same day! You know that means that this recipe is the next best thing.
This chicken has so much flavor going on (in other words, it hides any weird chicken flavors that Tina might not enjoy much). It’s spicy from the hot sauce and red pepper flakes. For dinner, I paired the chicken with quinoa and creamy cucumber salad. The cucumber salad adds a nice cooling contrast to the spice factor. You can also enjoy this chicken for lunch, over a bed of lettuce with some veggies and blue cheese dressing. It’s very versatile and you can give it a seasonal touch so when summer comes, I’ll be making a batch of this chicken with corn salad.
Spicy Butter Chicken Recipe
(Makes about 4 servings)
Note: The chicken requires at least 2 hours of chilling time to marinate.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons olive oil (divided per the directions)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (I prefer to use fresh lemon juice.)
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 and 1/2 pounds chicken thighs (I used boneless, skinless. Chicken breasts would work too.)
- 1/4 cup butter (equivalent to 1/2 a stick)
- 3 tablespoons hot sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot Original.)
Directions:
- In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, add 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, chopped garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Mix it together and set this marinade aside.
- In a large zip top bag, combine the chicken and marinade. Give the bag a shake, massaging the mixture to coat all of the chicken. Then place it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours. (I marinated it overnight.)
- Once the chicken is done chilling out, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet on Medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until they are done cooking, remembering to flip to cook both sides (when they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F). Then set the pan aside when they are done cooking.
- Throw away the bag that had the marinating chicken in it!
- While the chicken is cooking, melt the butter. I did this in the microwave.
- In a glass measuring cup, add the melted butter and hot sauce and whisk it together. Set this hot sauce mixture aside.
- Once the chicken is done cooking, pour the hot sauce mixture over the chicken.
- Serve immediately and pour any remaining sauce from the pan on top of the servings.
Slightly adapted from: no crumbs left
I haven’t made it yet but just reading the recipe I expect this is going to taste like restaurant hot wings only with much more substantial chicken (yay!) and I won’t have to wash my hands afterwards! Looking forward to trying it.
Susan, that’s actually how my husband described it! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did. 🙂