Stephen Colbert's Spicy Honey Lemon Chicken Thighs Recipe (9 Ingredients, 30 Minutes) by Donna John

Tearing recipes out of magazines is a mindfulness activity for me. There's just something about seeing a delicious new recipe, carefully tearing it out of the magazine and placing it in my recipe drawer in the kitchen. My overloaded recipe drawer in the kitchen. All the talk about Stephen Colbert and the cancellation of The Late Show made me remember a recipe I tore out not too long ago from People magazine. Colbert's chicken thighs recipe was immediately added to my dinner menu, and it was quick, easy and loaded with flavor.

This spicy honey lemon chicken recipe is from Colbert's cookbook, Does This Taste Funny? Recipes Our Family Loves, that he wrote with his wife. The chicken thighs are crispy and juicy, and the simple pan sauce is tangy, sweet, a bit spicy and speckled with caramelized onions. This skillet chicken recipe will be a regular guest at my dinner table.

To make this high-protein chicken recipe you will need just a few simple ingredients. Here is your short gluten-free shopping list: bone-in chicken thighs, olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, lemons for juicing and zesting, hot honey (or regular honey and crushed red pepper flakes), fresh garlic, dried oregano and a yellow onion. The savory chicken is on the table in about 30 minutes. (Check out the health benefits or protein.)

"Our daughter Madeleine and I have turned this recipe into a game of telephone," Colbert tells People magazine. "Every time we make it, it changes slightly – and now she makes it in a very different way than I do." Colbert's daughter prefers finishing the chicken recipe in the oven, while he prefers the method below, on the stovetop.

Serve the sweet and spicy chicken thighs and caramelized onion pan sauce for dinner with your favorite side dishes. I served mine over quinoa to soak up the delicious sauce with a fresh garden salad.

Thanks, Stephen, for sharing your family recipe and doing such a fantastic job on The Late Show over the years. 

Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil (divided)
• 4 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning chicken
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 lemons (1/4 cup lemon juice and 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest)
• 2 tablespoons hot honey (or 2 tablespoons regular honey and 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 large yellow onion, coarsely diced

Here's how to make it: 

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. (I used a cast iron skillet.) Generously season the chicken with salt and black pepper on both sides. Place the chicken, skin side down, into the hot oil. Cook, undisturbed, until skin is crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate. (The chicken will not be cooked through at this point.)
   
2. While the chicken cooks, put the lemon zest, lemon juice, hot honey, garlic, oregano, remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt in a bowl.
   
3. Whisk to combine and set aside.
   
4. Add the onion to the skillet and stir into the chicken drippings.
   
5. Put the chicken back into the pan, bone side down, on top of the onions. Cook until the chicken is cooked through (165 degrees F internal temperature on a food thermometer), about 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate. (I occasionally stirred the onions between the chicken pieces.)
   
6. Reduce the heat to low and pour the honey-lemon mixture into the pan.
   
7. Stir to deglaze the skillet. Simmer until the sauce thickens, about 6 minutes. (I did not cook mine for this long. Mine thickened up pretty quickly.)
   
8. Put the chicken back into the skillet and turn to coat in the sauce.
   
9. Serve the chicken with the pan sauce spooned over the top. Store any leftover chicken in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in the microwave.
   

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