Receta Marinated Boneless Chicken Thighs – Good and Easy Marinade for Grilled Chicken
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are one of my FAVORITE things to marinate and grill! They cook quickly and the tiny bit of fat in them adds extra flavor! They also don't dry out as easily as grilled chicken breasts.
Chicken thighs are often considered dark meat but I find that boneless ones sold in the grocery store have most of the dark meat trimmed off.
I once served grilled boneless, skinless chicken thighs to my sister in-law (who only eats white meat) and she thought they were chicken breasts cut into smaller pieces. That's how little dark meat can be found in them.
My favorite way to marinate chicken thighs is to use a Jerk Chicken marinade from my cookbook. It’s more sweet than spicy which makes it more approachable for us folks who didn't grow up eating true spicy Jerk Chicken. Next to the cookbook's brownie recipe, I would say it's among the top recipes I get asked for when I serve it at events or gatherings.
Now I’m not trying to pimp the cookbook (o.k. maybe a little) but I wanted to reference that chicken recipe because there is one ingredient in the marinade that makes it so good!
That ingredient is molasses.
I think it's one of the BEST ingredients to add to any grilled chicken marinade. It's thick so it sticks to the chicken, its sweetness pairs well with sour, savory and spicy ingredients and it adds AMAZING color!
To make the marinade for these chicken thighs, I combined molasses with lime juice, garlic, chopped onions, ground cinnamon and soy sauce. I also added a few dashes of spicy hot sauce to round out the flavors. It took under 10 minutes to pull together. Unlike the marinade for my Jerk Chicken, you don't need to combine the ingredients in a blender and there isn't much chopping involved.
I let the chicken marinate for 4 hours and it was super moist (and tasty) when it came off the grill! You could just as easily combine the marinade and chicken in a resealable plastic bag on a weekend and store it in the fridge (or freezer) so you have a mid-week main dish ready-to-go!
Marinated Boneless Grilled Chicken Thighs
Time it takes: 10 minutes to prepare marinade, 10 minutes to cook
- Makes: 12 grilled chicken thighs
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
- Dash or two of hot sauce
- 12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (approx. 2.5 lbs / 1 kg)
To make marinade, in a small bowl combine lime juice, oil, molasses, soy sauce, cinnamon, garlic, onions, salt, pepper and hot sauce.
Place chicken thigh in a large resealable plastic bag. Add marinade, seal bag and turn several times to coat chicken. Marinate for at least 2 hours.
Preheat grill to medium setting. Place chicken on grill and discard marinade. Grill until chicken is no longer pink in the center but still moist inside, about 5 minutes per side.
Another Favorite Marinade for Boneless Chicken Thighs
1. Maple-Soy Chicken
Thanks for checking out this recipe!