A while back, I brought up the importance of having go-to meals and shared my recipe for Honey Dijon Wild-Caught Salmon. As a refresher, a go-to meal has these three basic elements:
- It’s super quick and easy. For me, that means I can put it together in 10 minutes or less and it takes absolutely no brainpower.
- I always have it on hand. For example, it’s already in the freezer or it’s something I always pick up during a weekly grocery shopping trip.
- It’s healthy.
Now that we’re into October, grilling season is slowly winding down where I live here in Illinois and I’ll soon be lying to rest what might be my all-time favorite go-to meal until next spring. However, there’s still some good grilling weather left and I’ll be sure to get these babies going a couple of more times before the winter chill arrives.
Today I’d like to share with you my Grilled Chile Lime Chicken Thighs. Here’s why I like them so much:
- They are incredibly easy to prepare – taking less than five minutes.
- They are almost impossible to screw up. I use an old-school Weber charcoal grill and you literally place them on the grill and walk away for 30 minutes and they’re done perfectly. If you’ve never used chicken thighs before, one of the best things about them is that they are super forgiving. Meaning that if you accidentally overcook them, they’re not ruined (dry and chewy) as would be a piece of chicken breast.
- Unlike some other cuts of protein, they lend themselves to excellent leftovers. This means you can make extra, thus lightening your load later in the week. I always do this.
- Most importantly, they’re so good! At least Stacy and I think so.
To go along with my chicken thighs, I always grill up a big basket of vegetables too. Lately, it’s been a bunch of zucchini and bell peppers since that is what I have in the garden, but you can use anything. Just toss with olive oil, and season to your liking.
Most of the time your chicken and veggies will be done at the same time (roughly 25-30 minutes). It basically depends on the type of vegetables (some cook quicker than others), and placement. I generally keep the veggies farthest from the heat as this usually leads to even cook times.
One last thing before I give you the easiest recipe you’ll ever see, I use the Chile Lime Seasoning from Trader Joe’s. I’m sure there are others but we like this one so much that I’ve never tried anything else.
Ingredients:
- 2-5 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (depends on how much extra you’d like)
- Trader Joe’s Chile Lime Seasoning
Directions:
- Sprinkle and rub the chile lime seasoning into the entire chicken thigh.
- Using indirect heat, place on the grill just off to the side of the heat source and grill for 25-30 minutes.
- When finished cooking, let the chicken thighs rest for 5-10 minutes. These suckers seem to stay extra hot longer than normal, and you don’t want to wind up with that dreaded on top of the mouth burn.