A super easy, budget friendly dish of bone in chicken thighs with a honey and balsamic vinegar glaze.
Being a food blogger totally changes how you eat. It changes how you meal plan. A few weeks ago, I was talking to a couple of other food bloggers. One blogger was talking about all of the goodness she freezes from her garden, but that it’s hard to use some of it in the dead of winter because she then can’t blog about it. Let’s say she had some basil frozen away. Well, come January, most of us don’t have access to basil. So she doesn’t really want to feature a recipe with basil, even though she has it in her freezer, because it’s not accessible to readers.
One thing I always find myself thinking about before choosing what recipes to make is if they will be photogenic. We all know that we first eat with our eyes, so if you can’t identify something by looking at it, why would you want to eat it? (Plus, I have to admit that I get a bit giddy when I see that someone has pinned something of mine on Pinterest!) So it’s kind of sad, because many times, recipes get passed over because I’m afraid of how ugly they would be here on my blog.
On my first go-through of this month’s Cookbook of the Month, I came across this recipe. I knew when I first read it that it would be a recipe that I would love. But I passed it by. Because a big chicken thigh is not usually all that photogenic. But I kept coming back. Eventually, my need to make this recipe won out, and I was going to make this chicken, photogenic or not. I thought to myself, trying to figure out what would go with it. And my first thought was to serve the chicken over polenta. It would be tasty, and the polenta would be great to soak up all the extra glaze. And then I realized I didn’t have any polenta left. So after a quick search through my kitchen, I came up with one regular potato and one sweet potato. So I decided to serve the chicken over some mashed potatoes instead!
I’m so glad I didn’t pass this over, simply because it’s not really a looker. My husband loved this chicken. I cook so many new recipes, it’s not really common that he raves about a meal, but he raved about this one. And bonus – this is totally easy and super, super cheap. My grocery store had chicken thighs on sale for $0.99/lb., so this was super, super economical! And the fact that there are only 5 ingredients (not counting salt and pepper) is a total bonus. It may not be all that much to look at, but usually, the uglier dishes are the tastiest ones!
Recipe Rating: 9 out of 10
Honey-Balsamic Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in skin on chicken thighs, about 1 1/2 pounds
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Honey-Balsamic Glaze
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 large clove garlic minced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Place the chicken in a small roasting pan, skin side up. Season with salt and pepper and bake in the preheated oven until cooked through and the skin is crispy, 40-45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the olive oil, honey, balsamic vinegar and garlic. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until slightly reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally. This will take about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes to thicken a little bit more.
- Once the chicken is done, baste it with the glaze, and serve with a little more spooned over the top.
Recipe Notes:
Poor Girl Gourmet
Elaine says
Oh, and I totally pin you all over Pinterest 🙂 You’re on my “Food I Want to Make” board AND the “Food I Have Made” board 🙂
Deborah says
@Elaine, Thank you!! I’m so flattered!
Elaine says
I made this last week and it was SO GOOD! I used too much garlic (more than your recipe called for) and I had to add more balsamic and honey to the sauce to balance it. I should have follow the recipe because it was perfect 🙂
Christina @ This Woman Cooks! says
I’m glad you didn’t pass this up! I do that too though, photographing a dish and realizing it’s not as good as it tasted sucks. But it’s okay!
Kristy says
I think it looks darn good! Not to mention sounds good. This would be one my whole family would love! (Especially my balsamic obsessed daughter!)
kankana says
This is so true! And at times I even scan through the vegetables before buying so that they look good in case I decide to take an ingredient shot. This chicken thigh dish is looking delicious and gorgeously photographed.
Lauren B. says
Chicken thighs are dirt cheap, but no one uses them nearly as often as they should. Tasty, moist dark meat! Delicious!
Heather of Kitchen Concoctions says
Oh the thought process of a food blogger! I know I can admit I have been there too! But I am so happy you decided to make this (photogenic or not) and share it. You can never have too many simple yet flavorful recipes like this.
Joanne says
I definitely agree that the ugliest dishes can taste the best. That honey balsamic sauce sounds AMAZING.
Bev Weidner says
I think it looks darned GOOD. It will look even better in my mouth.
well, maybe not.
Rachel @ Not Rachael Ray says
This was the first recipe I made out of her cookbook. So good! Loved the glaze. And I think yours looks beautiful!
Maria says
Not every dish is pretty:) As long as it tastes good!
Smoky Wok (Jen) says
Your balsamic chicken looks very photogenic! Thanks for the shout-out too 🙂 I know, many time while planning a dish, I am already thinking of how I will be styling and shooting the dish hehe
the little kimchi pierogi says
mmm, looks great! (and very pretty 🙂
Rosa says
A very interesting recipe! Balsamic vinegar is such a great ingredient. Your dish looks extremely savory. Love that combo!
Cheers,
Rosa