As you probably know, chicken thighs are my favorite part of the bird to cook. And since fresh corn probably isn’t around for much longer I wanted to try this before it was too late. Serves 4:
Skillet Chicken Thighs with Brown Butter Corn
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1¼ pounds)
- Salt and black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1½ cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (from 1 to 2 ears)
- ½ cup torn basil leaves
- Lime wedges, for serving
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced, for serving
Season chicken all over with salt and pepper. Rub garlic and thyme on chicken and set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter, letting butter melt. Add chicken and sear, undisturbed, until browned on both sides, about 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Reduce the heat to medium, and add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the foam subsides and it smells nutty and toasty, 2 to 3 minutes. (Watch carefully to see that it doesn’t burn.) Add corn and a big pinch of salt and black pepper. Sauté until tender and golden brown, 2 minutes.
Add chicken back to the skillet. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through and corn is caramelized, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and taste corn, adding more salt and pepper if needed. Stir in basil and squeeze 2 lime wedges over the top. Serve garnished with sliced scallions, lime wedges and enjoy!
My verdict:
This was good, and pretty easy. I used bone-in chicken thighs, because I wanted the crispy skin (so cooked skin side down at the beginning for 6 minutes a side, and then skin side up for the rest of it). We also had a bunch of shishito peppers which I tossed in with the brown butter and corn. The corn and shishito peppers were a nice combination.
If you don’t have fresh corn, or hate cutting it off the cob, frozen is fine. However, if you don’t have fresh thyme, I’d skip it, but you’re looking at someone who just hates dried thyme.
