I’ve been on a boneless skinless chicken thighs kick lately. I bought a whole bunch to make our Spicy Honey Chicken and had forgotten how quickly they cook and how moist and delicious they are. So I’ve been on the hunt for new grilled chicken thighs recipes because goodness knows no oven of mine is going to be turned on until mid-October if I can help it (just kidding, cookies, I’ll never forget you. But let’s meet up in the middle of the night.)
I love sweet mustard recipes and if there’s ever a pair made for each other, it’s spicy brown mustard and maple. These maple mustard chicken thighs only need to marinate for a few hours (really, you can get away with 30 minutes if you’re super short on time) and the marinade keeps the chicken juicy and flavorful on the inside with a tangy, spicy, slightly-crunchy crust on the outside. Pretty much the perfect summer dinner.
You’ll need about 1 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs (trim ’em of their excess fat), spicy brown mustard, yellow mustard, maple syrup, some grated onion (I actually tossed a handful of leftover chopped onions into my blender and gave it a whirl because ain’t nobody got time for grating onions), a clove of garlic, some freshly ground black pepper, and a little soy sauce.
Combine the mustards, brown sugar, syrup, onion, vinegar, soy sauce, black pepper, and the minced garlic clove in a small mixing bowl.
Place the chicken thighs in a large Ziploc bag
and then pour half of the sauce mixture over the chicken and let it chill out in the fridge for 2-4 hours (but really, as little as 30 minutes).
When ready to cook, preheat the grill to medium heat. Remove the chicken from the bag and season lightly with kosher salt. Grill for about 3-5 minutes per side or until done.
Drizzle the chicken with the reserved sauce before serving.
Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup spicy brown mustard
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup real maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon grated onion
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Place the chicken thighs in a large Ziploc bag.
- Combine brown mustard, brown sugar, maple syrup, yellow mustard, grated onion, cider vinegar, soy sauce, and black pepper in a small mixing bowl. Pour half of the mixture over the chicken thighs and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
- When ready to cook, preheat grill to medium heat. Remove the thighs from the bag and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Cook the thighs 3-5 minutes per side. Using a digital thermometer, cook chicken until it is a minimum temperature of 165°. However, you’ll want to aim for between 170-175° for improved flavor and texture. Drizzle with reserved sauce before serving.
Notes
- If you don't have time to marinate for the full 2 - 4 hours, 30 minutes will work in a pinch!
Nutrition
Questions & Reviews
What would happen if you used ‘pancake syrup’ instead of real maple syrup? Asking for a friend. ?
Haha, it tends to be a little sweeter and not as much of a pronounced maple undertone, but all good 🙂
Made these tonight for my family! Soooo good! My kids loved them too, which is a bonus when it comes to dinner time!!
I made these the other night and they were wonderful!
Love this recipe! I’ve made it three times now and I’ll probably try baking it when it’s too cold to grill. I serve it with your recipe for German potato salad. Yummy.
Since I don’t have spicy brown mustard, can I replace it with either Creole Mustard or course grain mustard?
Either would be fantastic–creole mustard is my all-time favorite!
I made these 2 nights ago & they were the BOMB!
Making these again for sure!
This was so good! I bought almost 3 lbs of chicken thighs because I feel like there is so much fat to be trimmed. My kids loved it! I’ll use more chicken next time so we have leftovers. I served with a green salad.
What side dishes would you pair with these?
I made them with a “roasted potato salad with a simple dijon dressing with bacon” from another blog. It came out amazing. I think I will partner it next time with a green too, so I can get in some healthier veggies with the potato side.
I’d like to know this too!
Thanks! Looks delish, I always appreciate a grilling recipe! I’ve been debating on whether I should turn on my oven to make cookies today too… it’s only 107 today!
This is just prefect for the 4Th! 🙂
Kate, these are so yummy! I made them last night and my 8-year old, orange chicken loving son proclaimed, “These are better than orange chicken!”. That is a miracle. Yum, thank you.
Oh, yay!!!! Tell him I’m so glad he’s a fan!! 🙂
This looks delicious! I would love to make it tomorrow, but I only have chicken tenderloins–would it work with those? Would the grill time change?
I haven’t cooked with tenderloins in a long time, so I can’t say for sure. I’d keep the marinating time about the same (and probably the cooking time, too, but really, however long you usually cook tenderloins.)
I wonder how they would hold up in the freezer. I would love to take these to the beach next week, but the marinade might not like being frozen.
I think it would actually do pretty well. It’s not oily at all, which is usually where you run into trouble.
This looks delicious! Since the thighs come in a sort of “roll” did you “unroll” them to grill them? I’ve never grilled them, just roasted them. I can’t wait to try this out!
Yep, if they’re rolled, just unroll them (mine are usually just tossed into the package) and toss them into the marinade, then when you grill them, make sure they’re not rolled or folded anywhere.