Pan fried chicken thighs make for an easy weeknight dinner… and as we’ve found, they’re all the more delicious when you combine them with chimichurri!
I love to cook and will immerse myself in the kitchen for hours. But some weeknights call for things that take very little time so you can relax. Those meals still have to be super delicious as well as nourishing for me.
Pan fried chicken thighs are about as quick as it gets and I certainly think adding chimichurri to them ticks the delicious and nourishing boxes too. However, this recipe does contain the most polarising of all ingredients… coriander (cilantro). Did you just gag reading that?
Love it or hate it coriander has several culinary and medicinal uses. Whilst it’s used to flavour many meals, its medicinal benefits should also be noted. Coriander is known to have considerable health promoting actions. It’s antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, acts as an antioxidant and can have anxiety reducing effects amongst many other things. Perhaps of most interest is its potential to detoxify lead from the body (1). Additionally, coriander is wonderful for digestion, which is why I love it.
Of course, all of this is dose dependent as with all things. So, including it in your diet regularly in a variety of ways is the best way to ensure you reap coriander’s rewards.
A bit of history on chimichurri
Chimichurri originates in Argentina and Uruguay and is a sauce that is used to accompany grilled meats. I don’t limit my use of it to meats though, and happily pour it over vegetables, salads, or just about anything savoury. There are both red and green versions of chimichurri but the green is my preferred and you can find my recipe for it here. I also love that it’s raw and contains not only coriander but also garlic, parsley and olive oil making it quite the nutritious powerhouse.
How to make pan-fried chicken thighs
Depending on the size of your pan, this recipe can be ready in as little as 12 minutes. I have to cook in batches though so it’s roughly 20 minutes for me. That’s simply cooking time, not ‘busy prepping’ time.
The recipe does require that you have some chimichurri on hand. If you don’t though, you can whip it up in 5 minutes flat using my chimichurri sauce recipe.
Once you have the sauce made – all you need to do is heat the pan, cover the chicken thighs in chimichurri and pan fry ’til done. Nice and easy.
So, are you a coriander lover? Let me know the many and varied ways you love to use it in the comments.
Pan fried chicken thighs with chimichurri
Equipment
- Griddle pan
Ingredients
- 1 jar chimichurri
- 8 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- You can find all the ingredients and the recipe for my chimichurri here
- Pre-heat a seasoned griddle pan over medium high heat
- Place the chicken thighs in a large bowl and coat them in roughly 1/2 a cup (or less) of chimichurri
- Pour half the olive oil into the pan then add chicken thighs in batches. My pan can fit 4 at a time. Add the other half of the olive oil if needed for the second batch
- Cook the chicken thighs for 6 minutes each side or until cooked through
- Serve with an extra ¼ cup of chimichurri poured over the chicken along with roast vegetables, salad or a side dish of your choice
Nutrition
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Resources
Sahib NG, Anwar F, Gilani AH, Hamid AA, Saari N, Alkharfy KM. Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.): a potential source of high-value components for functional foods and nutraceuticals–a review. Phytother Res. 2013;27(10):1439‐1456. doi:10.1002/ptr.4897
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