Orange Chicken Thighs

I love a good chicken recipe, especially a good thigh or drumstick recipe because they are cheaper. When you are on a budget thighs and drumsticks are the way to go. Personally I am a dark meat lover because it is almost always the most moist piece when you compare all the parts of a chicken. Usually I am more of a lemon chicken fan, but I came across this recipe and thought, hmm, I haven't had a good orange chicken in a while. WAM BAM SLAM....dinner. I absolutely LOVED the glaze that you make to put on the chicken. At first when I was combining the ingredients I was a little skeptical, because to me it smelled awful, but it actually came out tasting FANTASTIC! Leaving the skin on makes the top all crispy and flavorful while keeping the inside super moist and flavorful.


I found this recipe on a new site I came across on Pinterest. Its called The Stay at Home Chef. She seems to have a nice mixture of healthy and comfort foods on there. I will definitely have to go back and check out some of her other recipes.

8 chicken thighs
1 cup orange juice
1 orange, zested
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce (For GF, just double check you bouth a GF kind)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with non stick cooking spray. If you want to be fancy, line the bottom of the pan with orange slices (optional).

2. In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice, orange zest, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. Place your chicken thighs skin-side up in the prepared baking dish. Pour half of the glaze over the chicken thighs.

4. Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes. Take the remaining glaze and pour it over the chicken.

5. Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes. The skin will get nice and crisp and browned.

**Randi's Side Notes**
~ I personally was a little scared to add so much crushed red pepper flakes so I just did a couple of dashes of them, which was maybe about a 1/4 tsp. I am a wimp when it comes to spice. Honestly, I think next time I will add more in it though, because I couldn't taste it at all.
~ She suggested serving it with some coconut rice, which I did and it was a great combination. I also served mine up with some roasted broccoli, which is one of my personal favorite side dishes for any meal!
~ For gluten free, please make sure you check the labels on your soy sauce. Some slip it in there, but there are some great gluten free soy sauces out there.