Greek Chicken Thighs: Having my chicken and eating it too (the way I want)

I try very hard to cook one meal that my entire family can eat.  Son's dairy allergies make this at times tricky, but I've gotten pretty clever at modifying as I go along, or even separating out a portion before adding dairy or egg, or even just enjoying a dairy free version of the meal.  But I love Greek food, and to me, it's all about the yogurt, the cheese, and the richness from dairy.  Only Son can't eat it and Daughter #2 is not a huge lover of dairy either. 

But I decided I wanted to do sort of a gyro type sandwich thing for dinner one night, and decided the easiest way would be to make some chicken, create some sauce, and make some rice and broccoli so that we could have a meal.  It was a good meal.  Actually, it was an excellent meal and the chicken, which I threw together on a whim was very yummy.  The chicken in the photograph above wasn't even barbecued; I simply broiled it in the oven to spectacular results. 

Those of you who cook the Greek Roasted Chicken will find this recipe comfortingly familiar.  Technique is the same, just on a different cut of the meat.  The end result is delicious and you can try and eat it in a number of different ways.

Greek Chicken Thighs
Serves 5-6

2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of black pepper


Honey Lemon Drizzle
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice

In a large bowl, mix together olive oil, garlic powder, salt,oregano and pepper.  Add chicken thighs and coat chicken well with olive oil mixture.  Set aside until ready to cook.  (You can do this ahead of time and just leave it covered in the refrigerator until needed.)

Move oven rack as close to top as possible.  Preheat oven to 500.  Place chicken on cookie sheet or roasting rack in a single even layer.  Cook for about 8 minutes.  While chicken is cooking, mix together lemon juice and honey.  After chicken is fully cooked, drizzle honey lemon juice mixture over.  Return chicken to oven for another 1-2 minutes, or until it is slightly charred and golden.

For additional flavor, you can drizzle more honey and lemon mixture if you so desire.

Printable recipe

I tore my chicken into small pieces, put it on top of a toasted pita bread, topped it with fresh tomatoes and a yogurt sauce, made out of Greek yogurt, cucumbers, and garlic.  It was so yummy.