Golden Coconut Turmeric Chicken Thighs – Made all in one pan with minimal ingredients. With such easy prep and clean up this recipe makes for a great dish to pull out during busy weeknights! | Gluten Free + Dairy Free + Paleo

Coconut Turmeric Chicken Thighs

Coming at ya today with another easy, one pot chicken dinner! It’s got crispy skin, veggies drenched in a luscious golden sauce with a citrus punch to tie it all together – what’s not to love?!

Altogether this dish comes together fairly easily with not too much prep needed. The chicken can be mixed and marinated for up to 24 hours in advance so if you’re into food prep this recipe is a great one to throw together, keep in the fridge and then throw on to a skillet after a long day at work.

Substitutions

Kale >> Collard Greens, Shredded Cabbage or Spinach

• Since they are hardy greens that keep their shape and structure well, Collard greens and cabbage can be swapped and incorporated just the same as the kale is. If you want to use spinach in place of kale then I recommend waiting to add the spinach until the last couple of minutes of cooking. If you add spinach too early it will get too soft and soggy too early.

Onion >> Shallots or Leeks

• White, brown yellow or red onions will all work here. Keep in mind that using red onions will make for a darker, sauce. If you don’t have onions on hand you can use a couple of shallots or a whole leek, thinly sliced. Shallots will make for a slightly sweeter, sharper tasting sauce. Leeks will provide a more mild, onion flavour.

Full Fat Coconut Milk >> Reduce Fat Coconut Milk

• In general, more fat leads to more flavour which is why I often like to use full fat coconut milk when given the choice. That being said, you can quite easily use a reduced fat milk in this recipe to lighten up on the calories a bit.

Bone-In & Skin-On Thighs >> Boneless, Skinless Thighs, Breast or Drumsticks

• This can be made with pretty much any chicken variation you have. Boneless thighs and breast will require less cook time so make sure you watch your pan to keep things from over cooking and drying out.
• Drumsticks will cook in a similar way as the bone-in/skin-on thighs.

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Recipe

One Pan Coconut Turmeric Chicken Thighs

Yield: 4 servings Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 35 minutes Additional Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

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Made all in one pan with minimal, wholesome ingredients.

Ingredients

Marinade

• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon | about 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 1 inch piece of ginger, minced or grated
• 3 tablespoons | 45 ml coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 lbs | about 6-7 pieces bone in/skin on chicken thighs

Remaining ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 bunch kale de-stemmed & roughly chopped
• 3/4 cup | 180 ml coconut milk from a can
• 1/2 cup | 120 ml water
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 tablespoons | 30 ml lime juice + more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper, each + more to taste
• Fresh cilantro for serving, optional

Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.

Instructions

1. Mix together the marinade ingredients together in a large mixing bowl: turmeric, cumin, garlic, ginger, coconut milk and lime juice. Mix until a thick paste-like consistency forms.
2. Add the chicken thighs to the bowl and toss in the marinade until fully coated. Cover and set aside for at least 15 minutes or up to 24 hours.
3. In a large pan or skillet, warm a teaspoon of coconut oil over a medium heat. Add the chicken thighs, skin-down, to the pan. Save whatever is left of the marinade to add to your dish later.
4. Let cook about 5-7 minutes without flipping to sear the skin. Flip over then cook another 2 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. The chicken does not need to be fully cooked at this point.
5. Wipe down the pan and add the remaining oil. Add the onions and cook 3-4. Add the kale and cook another 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the coconut milk, water, remaining marinade, honey and lime juice. mix everything together until evenly combined.
7. Add the chicken thighs (skin-side up) back to the pan. Cover and cook about 7-10 minutes over a medium-low heat.
8. Uncover the pan and cook another 5-10 minutes until the sauce reduces down in to a more saucy consistency. Taste and season adding more salt, pepper and lime juice as needed.
9. Serve over rice (or cauliflower rice) and enjoy.

Notes

• Make it Whole30 compliant: Omit the honey.
• Make it with boneless/skinless thighs: Boneless, skinless thighs will need less time to cook then bone-on/skin-on. Remove the chicken from the pan earlier on so that you don't dry out the chicken.

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© A Saucy Kitchen, Sarah Nevins

Course: Mains Cuisine: Asian

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