Smoked Chicken Thighs are the best recipe for transforming simple chicken pieces into smokey, juicy, fall-off-the-bone tender meat.
Easy and flavorful smoked chicken is sure to make your next BBQ a huge success. For more summer Chicken Recipes try my Whole Smoked Chicken or Grilled Drumsticks.
Sabrina’s Smoked Chicken Thighs Recipe
This is the ultimate recipe for juicy chicken thighs. Smoking chicken is more time-consuming than a typical grilled chicken recipe because the meat is cooked slowly at low heat. For maximum flavor, you’ll want to marinate the chicken overnight, and then allow them about 2 hours to smoke on the grill or in a smoker, and finally about 20 minutes to rest and reach the right internal temp. But all the extra time will feel worth it when you take your first bite of juicy chicken thighs with deliciously crispy skin and rich smoky taste.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 4 pounds chicken thighs
Seasoning Mixture:
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Marinate the Chicken
- In a bowl, add the butter, lemon juice, kosher salt, ground sage, dried thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and black pepper, mixing well to combine.
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.
- Season the chicken thighs with the butter mixture.
- Let marinate overnight.
Smoking Instructions
- Preheat smoker to 225°F.
- Most pellet grills don’t need it, but you can add a pan of water in the corner of the smoker to keep moisture inside.
- Slather 2/3 of the butter mixture under the skin and the remaining mixture over the skin of the chicken.
- Place the chicken directly on the grill grates, skin side up.
- If you want to make a sauce from the drippings you can place an aluminum pan under the chicken.
- Cook the chicken to an internal temperature of 145 degrees.
- Increase the grill temperature to 375 degrees for the remainder of cook. This will help get the skin crispy.
- Total cook time will likely be about 2 hours
- Once the chicken reaches 160°F into the thickest part of the thigh, transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes.
- The finished internal temperature will rise to 165 degrees.
Nutrition
