Simple to prepare, easy on the budget, and SO tasty!
Chicken thighs are a budget-friendly alternative to chicken breasts, and if cooked properly, the flavour is amazing. Since the thighs can be tough, and fatty, braising is a great way to cook them. That being said, the first step is to brown the chicken thighs in a heavy skillet. I use an ovenproof skillet, but if you don’t have one, use your regular frying pan and a baking dish to put the chicken in to braise.
Coat the skin side of the chicken with onion powder, sage, and marjoram.
Using a heavy ovenproof skillet, lay the chicken thighs skin side down in two tablespoons of olive oil. Make sure your pan is hot before putting the chicken in, and beware of splatters. You’ll notice much of the fat will render off the thighs, and once you have a deep golden brown, crispy skin on the thighs, flip them over and sear the back side for about two minutes.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and remove the thighs to a plate and set aside. Pour off the fat from the pan, and return it to the burner. Add two cups of sliced mushrooms (button or cremini work well), one medium diced onion, and a tablespoon of minced garlic. Saute the vegetables until the mushrooms are browned and tender.
Saute the mushrooms, onions and garlic until the mushrooms are browned and tender.
Place the chicken thighs over the onion and mushroom mixture skin side up. Add just enough chicken broth to cover the bottom of the thighs, but not the crispy skin you did the work to make. Since we’re going to make an alfredo sauce with the braising liquid later, I would recommend using a no-salt-added broth.
Add the thighs on top of the onions and mushrooms, and add enough broth to cover the bottom of the chicken thighs, but not cover the crispy skin.
Pop the pan into the oven. If you’re using a baking dish, you would pour the onions and mushrooms into the pan, and place the chicken over top, following the steps from there.
When the chicken has been in the oven for about fifteen minutes, put a pot of water on to boil for the fettuccine. Once it’s boiling rapidly, add enough fettuccine for your meal, and remove the chicken from the oven. Place the chicken thighs on a plate, and put the liquid on a burner to bring it to a boil.
Stir in one 8 oz package of light cream cheese. Make sure to whisk continually so the cream cheese melts into the liquid and doesn’t separate.
While stirring rapidly, melt the cream cheese, and then add 2 cups of grated parmesan cheese. If you find the sauce too watery, mix two tablespoons of cornstarch into a quarter cup of cold milk, and then stir into the sauce to thicken.
Drop the cooked fettuccine into the sauce, and mix well.
By taking the fettucine directly from the water it boiled in, and tossing it in the alfredo sauce, the starch from the cooking liquid will help the sauce stick to the fettuccine better. Don’t allow too much water to get into the sauce with the pasta, but some will actually help the sauce coat your pasta better.
That’s all there is to a braised chicken thigh and fettuccine dinner! Serve it up with your favourite vegetable for a fully balanced meal.
Serve up with your favourite vegetable to make a fully balanced meal.
This looks amazing!! Yum!
Thank you! I SO look forward to trying out your Korean Comfort Foods!
Tami, this looks very yuuummy! I think it will be a great Thanksgiving dish.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Thank you Ileana!! Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving too! xo
this loooks sooo delicious!! i wish i could cook good like this…
.. but unfortunately i cant.. 
With how the recipes are written on my blog abichica, you could certainly try it out! It’s not as hard as it looks, and I’d be happy to answer any questions you have along the way
Reblogged this on mypenandme and commented:
I’ll look forward to trying this recipe. I also wanted to introduce you to Food Forays. Tami always does a good job.
Thank you SO much for your support.. your blog has grown exponentially, and I’m very honoured you shared my post! xo
I’m delighted to do so. Not only do you provide wonderful recipes–you teach us how to cook. I’m happy to share your blog.
Mmm! This looks delicious. I’ve been looking into braising, but haven’t done much of it yet. In your experience, what sorts of liquids can work? It looks like chicken broth is a fabulous choice here, but have you ever used, say, wine? Or even beer? Thank you for any thoughts or advice!
I find a lower acid braising liquid to work best. If you use wine or beer, I would always add equal amounts of water or broth, once I’ve boiled the alcohol for a minute or two. I have a recipe for a beer stew I’ll be posting later this fall, and basically, I add the beer before the oven stage. I use it to deglaze the pan, and let most of the alcohol evaporate before adding broth, and putting it into the oven to braise. I just find the meat less fibrous this way. I hope this helped!
yummmyyyyy
Thank you, and thank you for visiting my blog!
most welcome and your family is so lucky which got an awesome cook like you
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Now that is my kind of meal!! I’m sprinting to the freezer now to pull my chicken thighs.
Did you try it Angie, and if so, what did you think? Thank you for stopping by!! xoxo
Hi,
You have done it again and wet my appetite. I love chicken thigs and did not know they were an alternative to eating chicken breasts. I will try this receipe, because it looks simple and delicious at the same time. I will also eat it with the noodles because I love noodles.
If mines doesn’t look as good as yours after I am finished, I visit you and eat at your house.
Seriously though, it is a great receipe and the second one that I will try.
Love you, Tami.
Ciao,
Patricia
Yet again I’m honoured Patricia! I think you’re long overdue for a trip to Canada! I would love to cook for you!
Love you too,
xoxoxo
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Hi,
You got the Reality Blog Award from me. Check out my page:
http://raaniyork.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/reality-blog-award/
Just copy the pic, answer the question and nominate as many as you want. I figure the “rules” had been lost somewhere on the road. LOL
Have fun! And Congratulations – you really deserve it!!
Hug
Raani