Marinate Chicken Thighs In Pickle Juice For A Major Flavor Transformation

Chicken is the most popular choice for meat in the U.S., and it makes perfect sense. It is affordable, almost endlessly versatile, and an excellent source of protein. The internet is packed with poultry recipes promising highly delicious returns with not too much effort during preparation. We would like to propose an easy way to both tenderize and inject flavor into chicken thighs: Marinate them in pickle juice.

Thanks to its high acidity, pickle juice is effective at tenderizing meat. On top of that, the liquid already comes loaded with flavor. Whether store-bought or homemade, pickle brine often includes plenty of salt, sugar, and aromatic ingredients like alliums (AKA onions and garlic), spices, herbs, and peppers. Using it as a marinade just makes sense both from taste and zero-waste perspective. You can avoid tossing pickle juice while flavoring the chicken thighs.

A basic ratio you can use is 1 ½ cups of pickle juice for two pieces of chicken thighs. As for how long to marinate the meat, opinions tend to differ. However, a couple of hours should generally suffice before patting it dry and continuing with the recipe.

Once you've marinated your chicken thighs in pickle juice, how should you cook them? There are many possibilities. For the least amount of fuss, you can simply pat them dry and grill, broil, or bake them. Then serve the protein on top of a bed of cooked grains with some fresh leafy salad greens and creamy dressing. If you want to fuss over them just a little bit, try this easy oven-baked chicken thighs recipe, and incorporate your pickle-juice marinade before preparing the meat.

You could also go in a more bread-heavy direction. Chicken thighs make the juiciest sandwiches. You can marinate the meat in pickle juice before going through the steps of breading it and deep-frying it in a cast iron skillet. Then stick those crispy beauties between burger buns along with pickle slices. Make sure to employ these tips for the crispiest chicken thighs, such as using a cast iron skillet for frying and avoiding overcrowding the pan. If you want a leaner option that's higher in protein, consider using pickle juice to marinate chicken breasts instead.