In an air fryer, ButcherBox’s chicken thighs hit all the marks: They cook quickly, the skin crisps to a beautiful golden brown, and the meat stays juicy and tender.
You might not think it could get better than that—but we’ve leveled it up by adding a flavorful stuffing that goes right under the skin.
With chopped pickled chiles, broccolini, almonds and garlic, the stuffing is loaded with flavor on its own. Then, as it cooks, it soaks up the deliciously rich chicken schmaltz, and the result is a meal as tasty and satisfying as it is quick and easy to make.
If you have a large-format air fryer that can fit a square 8-by-8-inch baking dish, place the stuffed thighs in the baking dish and cook that way to help retain moisture. No worries if you don’t; it works perfectly well in a smaller air fryer where the thighs are in a drawer.
Serve this with tangy yogurt or labneh, roasted (or air fried) potatoes and a simply dressed green salad for a balanced meal.
Ingredients
- 6 ButcherBox Bone-In Skin-On Chicken Thighs defrosted, pat very dry
- Salt
- 1 cup chopped broccolini or broccoli rabe
- 1/2 cup chopped pickled chiles such as red hot cherry peppers or pepperoncini
- 1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds
- 5 large cloves garlic minced
- 1 lime zested, juiced
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 4 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Trim off just enough excess skin from the chicken thighs to leave a sizable pouch to stuff. Season the chicken all over with salt.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the broccolini, pickled chiles, almonds, garlic, lime zest, lime juice, cumin, black pepper, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix well with a fork.
- Preheat the air fryer to 350ºF with low convection. Working on a baking sheet, gently loosen and lift the skin from the thighs to make a pocket that’s still attached around most of the edges. Divide the filling into six equal portions and, using your fingers, fill each thigh pocket with the filling. Wrap the skin back over the filling and meat. Drizzle the chicken with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil.
- If you have a large format air fryer, place the chicken thighs so they fit snugly in an 8-by-8-inch square baking dish. Place the dish in the air fryer and cook until the skin is crisp and golden and the meat is cooked through (an instant-read thermometer stuck into the thickest part away from the bone should read 165ºF), 25 to 30 minutes. If you have a regular-sized air fryer with a drawer, place the thighs in the drawer and cook the same way. Serve hot.
The ButcherBox Kitchen Team works hard to give you confidence you need to pull off any kitchen endeavor.
