recession buster - Chicken thighs *PICS*

[DesiPower]

now we you are talking! Yummm...

 

[Ns1]

Meh, I get thigh meat as well for the price and I'm constantly reminded why it's so cheap. When I have my choice I jump for the chicken breast.

Thigh > Breast


always.

 

[moshquerade]

Thigh > Breast


always.

o'rly?

think about it...

 

[FoBoT]

o'rly?

think about it...

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/FoBoT/Elastic_Girl_by_GraphicBrat.jpg possible slightly nsfw

 

[IceBergSLiM]

so what's the best way to reheat them?

I do them in a toaster over to re-crisp the skins. a microwave will do just fine though.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Wouldn't it be cheaper and healthier to use chicken breasts?? Since they're leaner and your not paying for bones/skin/fat with the thighs.

bonless skinless chicken breast is much more expensive. Plus there is alot to be said for the good nutrients you are missing out on by only eating bonless skinless breast.

 

[Train]

I wouldn't really eat any thing more than a week old from the fridge. Frozen....couple months? Vacuum seal.......half year?

Oh so you're not freezing them? I think it was someone else talking about freezing them

 

[SunnyD]

I do tenderloins from Costco. Cheaper than the full breast, same quality if not slightly more tender meat. Easy to make breaded tenders with for the kids, just as cheap as most places have crappy thighs for, and boneless to boot.

 

[sandorski]

Looks awesome. I prefer to make Cacciatore(sp) or Paprikas with my chicken, although most of the time I roast them in some fashion.

Also prefer Thighs over other parts, they have the perfect volume of meat for a meal and are an intermediate between Dark/White meat. Bone In/Skin On, may not be healthiest, but at least it's worth eating.

 

[D1gger]

I just buy the whole chickens, break them down myself into the different cuts and then cook to taste. Usually roasted with a different rub, as per icebergslim, but sometimes with some breading or goat cheese stuffing for the dryer cuts like breast.

 

[BurnItDwn]

5 pounds of chicken is only 2 meals.

 

[ahenkel]

I do prefer thigh meat but if you really like the breast you can usually get bone in skin on chicken breast for fairly cheap. Plus if you like it boneless skinless its a cinch to skin and de-bone them. Lastly you can save the skin and bones and make chicken stock.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Wouldn't it be cheaper and healthier to use chicken breasts?? Since they're leaner and your not paying for bones/skin/fat with the thighs.

Healthier yes. Cheaper not really. You can get thighs for about 1/4 the price of boneless breasts and even if the ratio of meat to bones is 1:1 you're still paying way less for the thigh meat. And for many people, myself included, the thigh is the tastiest piece of the chicken. The thighs are more fatty than the breast. That makes them less healthy, but far more delicious.

 

[F1N3ST]

My last attempt at boneless skinless chicken thighs.

Was good.

 

[hanoverphist]

5 pounds of chicken is only 2 meals.

wow, i can feed me and my 3 kids on 1.5lb of chicken

i usually go for the tenderloins myself, or boneless breasts if they are on sale. i do prefer the thighs/ legs tho. tasty. i have no need to cook a week at once tho, we have a myriad of items to cook throughout the week. chicken every night would drive us all mad.

 

[TallBill]

Healthier yes. Cheaper not really. You can get thighs for about 1/4 the price of boneless breasts and even if the ratio of meat to bones is 1:1 you're still paying way less for the thigh meat. And for many people, myself included, the thigh is the tastiest piece of the chicken. The thighs are more fatty than the breast. That makes them less healthy, but far more delicious.

I buy about 12-18 lbs of chicken breasts whenever they dip to $1.99/lb. Last time they fell to $1.69/lb.

 

[El Guaraguao]

grilled chicken leg quarter with adobo + french bread = ultra win

 

[IceBergSLiM]

5 pounds of chicken is only 2 meals.

stop being gluttonous american?

 

[child of wonder]

Since getting laid off we've been doing our best to save money on groceries. This looks like an excellent idea.

We've also discovered the awesomeness that is homemade pizza. $1.00 in flour, yeast, sugar, and cornmeal for crusts plus a $0.65 jar of pizza sauce, $1.75 bag of mozzerella, and $2.00 in pepperoni, and about $2.00 for some onion, peppers, garlic, and mushrooms makes two 14" or larger pizzas for less than $8. One pizza will more than feed our entire family of 4 for under $4.

 

[yhelothar]

thanks for sharing.. i gotta do that
i spend waaay too much money on food.
spaghetti is another of my fav for cheap meals.

 

[Aztech]

Yeah, thanks for sharing, I'm spending way too much on boneless, skinless breasts. I shall give thighs a try. Are your seasonings the prepared kind that you buy in shakers, or are you mixing your own fresh spices and herbs or something?

 

[DrPizza]

Sounds good OP. Re: putting them in shrink-wrap freezer bags. Those things are rather pricey & cut into the savings. Also, I don't think that boneless skinless chicken breasts are more expensive - if anything, they're probably the same price if not cheaper per pound of actual meat (at least locally for me.) The smallest packages of boneless skinless chicken breast are usually around 7 pounds, and on sale 2 out of 3 weeks for well under $2.00 per pound. I've commented many times that somehow, it's become the cheapest part of the chicken, with fresh chicken wings often exceeding $3 per pound.

Eaten plain, I agree, chicken thighs contain more flavor. That's why I don't eat them plain & prefer to use the breasts as ingredients, rather than stand alone dishes.

My favorite recipe with boneless skinless chicken breasts: completely trim off all the fat, that grizzly little hunk where it was attached to the thigh, etc. - feed those scraps to the cats (free cat food & nothing to smell in the garbage.) Insert knife, making just a little hole in the side, while carving out the inside to within about 3/8" all the way through the breast. Completely stuff the breasts with something like stove-top stuffing - just use the cheap store brand, it's just as good. Make the stuffing a little on the moist side. I have a jerky maker that works like a caulk gun - I fill it with the stuffing & inject it into the chicken. I puff those breasts up until they can't possibly hold any more. Then I put them in a casserole dish & baste them with a can of cream of chicken soup, toss in the oven, covered with aluminum foil for about 30 minutes @ 350, then uncover & coat with bread crumbs & leave for about 25 more minutes until the internal temperature is 165-170.

The meat always turns out to be really moist, and awesome flavor throughout.

 

[Engineer]

Yummy.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Yeah, thanks for sharing, I'm spending way too much on boneless, skinless breasts. I shall give thighs a try. Are your seasonings the prepared kind that you buy in shakers, or are you mixing your own fresh spices and herbs or something?

prepared kind. This week I got fancy and mixed the adobo with crushed red pepper added a nice kick.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Sounds good OP. Re: putting them in shrink-wrap freezer bags. Those things are rather pricey & cut into the savings. Also, I don't think that boneless skinless chicken breasts are more expensive - if anything, they're probably the same price if not cheaper per pound of actual meat (at least locally for me.) The smallest packages of boneless skinless chicken breast are usually around 7 pounds, and on sale 2 out of 3 weeks for well under $2.00 per pound. I've commented many times that somehow, it's become the cheapest part of the chicken, with fresh chicken wings often exceeding $3 per pound.

Costco sells their bone-in chicken thighs for $0.99 lb. The thighs are packed in 8 separate bags, 4 thighs per bag. Bulk chicken, I guess. Hard to beat the price.

I do something similar to the OP except I use a glass casserole dish. Cube some yukon gold potatoes, slice an onion in half lenghtwise then slice into 1/4' strips, coin-slice (@ 3/8" thick pices) a few carrots, mince garlic, and mushrooms. Throw it all in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and mix to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Dump that mixture in the casserole dish and even it out. Rinse and dry off the chicken thighs. Cut a thin pat of butter for each thigh and place the pats on a paper towel or paper plate. Sprinkle the butter liberally with paprika (I tend to prefer smoked paprika) then slide a pat of butter underneath the skin of each thigh. Salt and pepper each thigh, then place them on top of the veggie mixture. Try to use a dish where you can cover the veggies with the chicken thighs as completely as possible. Throw it into the upper rack in a 375 F oven for @ 50 -55 minutes.

The skin turns out ultra crispy and the veggies cook in all the juices that render from the chicken. Easy to make one-dish meal that's delicious.