Chicken Thighs With Cumin, Cayenne and Citrus Recipe (2024)

Regarding blandness: First, I would recommend (with Bittman) using thighs (not breast); they take in and complement the marinade flavors much more effectively than do breasts. Second, definitely go with skinless (whether boned or bone-in): this is not a crispy-skin chicken recipe where the flavors mainly adhere to the skin and insulate the meat, keeping the meat moist and tender; this is a get-all-those-flavors-deep-inside-the-meat-and-let-the-marinade-keep-it-moist-and-tender kind of chicken.

I don't have a grill and my smoke detectors frown on long-term cooking under the broiler. In a large, deep, non-stick skillet I heated a tablespoon of canola oil to smoking over medium heat and sauteed the thighs 8 minutes on a side. Everybody loved them.

This marinade is also great with pork tenderloin. Noting the previous commenters thought the recipe was too bland, I added a chipotle pepper. The pork tenderloin was fantastic, served with a squeeze of lime!

Substituted salsa for orange juice and marinated chicken chunks in sauce for an hour. Browned chicken in hot skillet in a little avocado oil, then deglazed pan with coconut water and let chicken finish cooking in the sauce on low heat under a lid. Substituted red palm oil for peanut oil. Scrumptious!

Flavor was great. Not overpowering, not bland. I followed the recipe and marinated for 1 hour. It took some care on the grill to avoid excessive flareups and get even browning, which is key. The kids loved it.

One of my neighbors gave us some Sour oranges from their tree so I was able to make the recipe like the traditional version, no lime juice needed. I used bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, salted generously and kicked up the cayenne a ittle bit , marinated for an hour, and roasted them in the oven at 425 degrees for 55 minutes. Delicious! Will definitely do again.

I made a double batch of mixed skinless and boneless thighs and breasts. Worked well to bake first at 425 for 15 minutes, and then finished it off in the broiler. Delicious, good for a crowd, and even better for lunch the next day!

I was all in on using the chicken thighs with bone in. I brined the thighs for 4 hours and then cooked over medium heat on a gas grill. 350-375 turning to avoid a flare-up
My wife loves the skin crispy and it can be done with care.
With the skin on made sure the seasonings were tucked in between the skin and the meat yum!

I used skinless boneless thighs and marinated them for about 6 hours. It took about 30 minutes total under the broiler but came out fantastic. The only thing I changed was to add some cilantro to the marinade in addition to adding on top after cooking. Highly recommend!

A completely different recipe! #smh

I selected this as the main for my birthday dinner..however did a tryout prior & found the depth of flavours 'nice' but boring..esp being Mexican influenced..so we upped all the seasonings (holding the cayenne 'cause one guest cannot take 'heat') & marinated for a few HOURS..30 mins 'marination' is a joke!Bone-in important for deeper flavour..skin ON protects the chicken flesh, & we served this with a light tomato & lime juice/onion salsa..YUM!

Roasted uncovered for 45 min at 425 and 450 for 10 minutes more...to accomodate roasting some asparagus. Used half a grapefruit squeezed as the citrus and added a dash of cinnamon to the other spices.

So this is entirely different dish.

I'm disappointed that my gas grill produced chicken that looked nothing like what is above. That looks a lot more like it was produced on a griddle or cast iron. My chicken looked like gray fish with grill marks.

Instead of grilling, I baked the chicken thighs at 400 until almost done then broiled to make skin crispier. Delicious marinade and so easy

We marinated chicken for 2 hours and grilled for 25 min. Might add a little more cayenne pepper. Cooked on 11/11/23

Excellent! Grilled on 10/10/23

We salted and peppered the chicken before marinating and baked it in the dutch oven with small potatoes. Didn’t look pretty but so delicious! Used dried oregano and extra cayenne. Double cayenne!

Ok, from me, marinated chicken for 24 hours, got crispy skin on the grill. And was perfect with Melissa Clark avo and herb salad. A keeper in our house!

I found this to be almost inedible - the thighs were moist, but all I could taste was the onion, and none of the citrus or cumin.

So delicious! I do wonder if folks complaining about lack of flavor are using old spices or not enough salt. A teaspoon of kosher salt per pound does it for me. Did use three garlic scapes instead of cloves and bumped up spices to counteract that extra moisture. Paired with South India-style pudina rice and a green salad with radishes. A fantastic meal.

This was tasty and moist. Wish I'd turn the grill down right away after preheating though because it charred the skin right away. Still good.

Made this spur of the moment…didn’t read the planned dinner recipe completely…fine, was in the hospital yesterday….anyway, made do in the oven with 40 minutes of marinade….can see where this is adaptable to other spices…

I used boneless skinless thighs and served with pan roasted root veggies. Marinated 30 min and broiled 6-8 minutes per side with rack in the middle to prevent smoking. Still achieved a bit of char. Meat was tender with good flavor. Will definitely do it again but will marinate longer.

Made this with boneless/skinless chicken thighs. Salt and pepper your chicken before adding to marinade and cooking. Always. Roasted with a cut up sweet potato, zucchini and shallots in a large cast iron. 15 minutes then stirred the veggies in the juices in the pan. Another 25/30 minutes and you have a great meal. Served over rice and was solid.

Made this tonight. My local store was out of thighs so I bought a whole chicken and jointed it into 8 pieces, it was around 4 pounds of meat. Used the same quantities for the marinade/sauce. I cooked it in the oven on 400° fan for about 50 minutes. It was perfect, I will repeat for sure.

Easy and Delicious! I cooked half the bone-in thighs with skin on but tucked some of the marinade under the skin for 4 hours, marinating all the chicken thighs in a zip-lock bag together. Made tacos with the leftover chicken! It's a keeper.Will use the marinade for pork shoulder in the crockpot. Should be great.

I used thighs (skinless) and added cilantro to the onion,oil, spice mix, which needed an extra tbs or so of oil to create a proper consistency. It was really tasty; would be more generous with salt next time. I just used a large pinch.

Winner, winner, grilled chicken dinner! Another Bittmen hit. Riffed with some lemonade in the marinade so the thighs were nicely caramelized. Served with cilantro rice for very clean plates. Will we make it again? Absolutely!