Easy Peasy Chicken Freezy
I've been posting a couple of my secret dinners a.k.a. The stash of pre-marinated chicken and meats that I keep in the freezer for a rainy day. It makes my life so much easier knowing that when all else fails and we don't really want to have frozen pizza for the third night in a row, I have a back up plan. Now don't get me wrong, I'm usually super organized about menu planning and shopping, but we all know those weeks, those times where it's already Wednesday and we are scraping whatever we can together with the last box of pasta and that can of whole tomatoes that's about to expire. It's the weeks where things just popped up and you couldn't go shopping or sit for 5 minutes to clear your head and think about what you could possibly want to eat for the rest of the week or a new season of (fill favorite show in here) was just released on Netflix and the world stops until you finish. The weeks where it's 6:30 and the kids are cranky, the husband walked through the door and all you've got is a pot of water that hasn't yet begun to boil. It's for this reason that I have an emergency stash of stuff.
So basically, this recipe is super duper simple but never fails to impress. It's also pretty hard to mess up because even when the skin is slightly burned it just adds depth and crispy skin- faves! It can be frozen for about 6 months or prepared just a half an hour in advance (or you can cut the marinade time to 2 minutes if you are in a real pinch.) The ingredients are probably already in your pantry and fridge but here's one caveat, get some good quality honey and try if you can to use fresh lemon juice, not the bottled stuff. Quality matters here because it's so simple and the ingredients need to shine. To make this into a meal just cube some potatoes and stick them under the chicken while it bakes.
Seasons carries some good quality lemons and honey. Check it out here:
- 8 chicken thighs
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- A couple of good turns of fresh black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, plus more to garnish
- 2.5 tbsp. light good quality honey
- 1/3 c lemon juice (2 large lemons)
- Lemon slices to garnish
Instructions
- In a large ziploc bag, add all the ingredients and shake to distribute. Marinate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450F
- Spread the chicken over a baking sheet skin side up.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and juices run clear
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste Serve with lemon slices and fresh thyme leaves.
Chicken may be stored uncooked and frozen for up to 6 mo in a large sealed Ziploc bag.
Thank you Seasons for sponsoring this post.