Easy Electric Skillet Chicken Thighs

Learn how to make an easy dinner in an electric skillet with chicken thighs. We up the flavor with plenty of garlic including antioxidant rich fermented black garlic.

This post is sponsored by Texas Black Gold Garlic

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I have been in this blog business now for almost 14 years.

I look back at some of my earlier posts and just completely shake my head.

Even more embarrassing when someone pins one of my awful pictures on Pinterest for the world to see (although never let poor photography stop you from pinning a photo!).

Look at my original picture for this Electric Skillet Garlic Chicken:

Wow. That's bad!

Now here is the new photo:

Much better! Looks more delicious too.

As part of my goals for this blog I'm heading back and updating some of my earlier posts that really need a good updating.

In the early days of my blog I wrote several posts on using an electric skillet (or electric frying pan) as it was among my popular searches in the first year. Somewhere I got away from that, but I am heading back to my roots today.

🛒 Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make this simple and delicious chicken:

• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1-2 tablespoons neutral tasting cooking oil canola, vegetable, grapeseed
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 4 cloves Black garlic smashed
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth or stock
• freshly ground black pepper
• kosher salt
• garlic powder

Black Garlic

The secret to this delicious chicken is black garlic.

The recipe still has the 3 cloves of garlic, but now I am putting garlic powder on the chicken at the start as well as de-glazing with vegetable stock with several cloves of black garlic.

Never heard of black garlic? Black garlic is fermented garlic. It is made through controlled heating of the garlic for 1-2 months. The garlic naturally turns black when enzymes and sugars break down. Nothing is added and it's perfectly safe.

What does it taste like? Black garlic has a sweet molasses like flavor. It's complex yet not overbearing. The cloves are soft with less of a bite and none of that garlic breath that makes face to face conversations awkward.

The brand I recommend for black garlic is Texas Black Gold. When you taste it is truly like discovering gold - black gold. Texas Black Gold was founded by Chef Stephen Paprocki. He sources all his garlic from local farms in Texas, so you can be assured your garlic is American grown.

Texas Black Gold also makes black garlic powder. I originally discovered them while searching for black garlic powder that was just garlic with nothing added to it.

🐔 Chicken Breast vs Thighs

I know some people are anti-dark meat. I myself prefer it.

Why? Dark meat has stronger flavor. It has more fat in it as well which means that it's less likely to dry out when cooking. When I switched to dark meat for this recipe the chicken was more moist than before.

Boneless skinless chicken thighs are cheaper than breasts as well. You can save even more money if you want to buy thighs that still have bone in and skin on it. It's actually pretty easy to remove them yourself. You can pull the skin and bones right off often with just your hands.

Feel free to use what you like.

One of the best places to get chicken thighs is to buy them in bulk at Costco. Save money and buy the skin and bone-in.

🏗️ Stainless Steel vs. Non-Stick Electric Skillets

I own a Rival Stainless Steel Electric Skillet. It is NOT non-stick. I like this because I want sticking. Brown bites get stuck to the bottom of the pan.

I will de-glaze with stock to get those brown bites off adding flavor to the final dish. If you have non-stick you can still do this recipe just fine, you just won't have as many brown bites to remove, you will also need to be careful not to scratch the non-stick surface.

Look at all that brown goodness on the bottom of my skillet.

Before I free it up, I like to do a quick wipe down with a paper towel or napkin to get rid of excess oil.

♻️ Recipe Substitutions

Black Garlic -> You can substitute with roasted garlic in this recipe. Roast the garlic by just wrapping it in foil, roasting it in a 350 degree oven until soft. It's all about bringing out the sweetness in the garlic which both roasted and black garlic will accomplish - but really do encourage you to give the black garlic a try, you won't be disappointed.

Not a substitution but an addition - if you want to squeeze some fresh lemon juice on the chicken it will add a nice fresh element, brightening up the flavor.

You can serve the chicken with your favorite barbecue sauce if you like. I like to just add this at the table.

🍲 One Pan Meal

Here are a couple ideas to make this a one pan meal

Chicken with Snow Peas - I really like snow peas with chicken. I would cook the chicken first. When it's done remove the chicken. There should be plenty of oil in the pan. Add in the snow peas and cook until they have softened and browned some. Then just add the chicken back in to warm everything up. Serve it right out of the electric skillet.

Chicken Couscous - Another option is remove the chicken when done, add in Israeli or lager couscous. Stir the couscous regularly until it has browned. Then add enough water to cover. Allow to simmer until the water has been absorbed. If the couscous is still hard, add more water and cook until it is soft enough. Stir back in the chicken and you got a meal ready to go.

Leftover Chicken Fajitas - My favorite thing to do with leftover chicken is to make fajitas. This is easy to do in an electric skillet. You just need to cook your veggies and then add in your already cooked chicken.

🏫 Learn - How to Make Couscous in an Electric Skillet

Easy Electric Skillet Chicken Thighs

This chicken has such a garlic flavor, I got to spell GARLIC in all caps. Easy to make in an electric skillet.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: black garlic, chicken,, electric skillet, garlic

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 3 people

Author: Eric Samuelson

Equipment

• Electric Skillet

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1-2 tablespoons neutral tasting cooking oil canola, vegetable, grapeseed
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 4 cloves Black garlic smashed
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth or stock
• freshly ground black pepper
• kosher salt
• garlic powder

Instructions

• Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. I like using kitchen shears. Season liberally with kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Set your electric skillet to a medium high heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add the chicken once the oil is hot. Cook for 10 to 15 mintues until the chicken is cooked through, flipping a few times to evenly brown the chicken. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon.
• Use a paper towel to remove any excess oil. Add the minced garlic. Cook for just 30 seconds until fragrant. Then add the vegetable or chicken broth. Scrap the bottom of the skillet to get anything stuck off the bottom. Add the black garlic or roasted garlic in. Stir to combine.
• Add the chicken back in and cook until the liquid has thicken into more of a sauce. Cover and set to low until ready to serve.

Notes

• If you can't find black garlic, then just use roasted garlic.
• I love serving this on top of Israeli couscous. That's the larger size couscous. You can cook it in the skillet once the chicken is done. I toast it first until the couscous is browned, then add water. Bring to a boil and simmer until done. Add more water if it is all absorbed before the couscous has cooked all the way through. Once done add the chicken back in. 

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