Mango Habanero Crispy Chicken Thighs – Whole30 and Paleo friendly. Perfect for those who love sweet and (extra) spicy! You can also use any cut of chicken to toss in the sauce.
Oh, another flavor combo recipe, Dolly? Why yes, yes it is! You all know I love flavor combos, especially if spicy is involved like my Paleo Honey Sriracha Roasted Drumsticks. Then you add one of my favorite fruits, mango, and it’s a party! Now, you might be thinking habanero peppers, Dolly?! Are you effin crazy?!
The answer to that is yes, but hear me out. You can remove the seeds (that’s where peppers hold their heat) and make it less spicy. You can use one habanero pepper instead of two. Whatever your spice tolerance is, just make these mango habanero crispy chicken thighs, okay? Okay.
So the method I used to get my chicken thighs crispy was adopted from my girl Alex over at The Defined Dish. Her Nashville Un-Fried Hot Chicken is the bomb dot com. I’m only crisping my chicken this way since I don’t deep fry anything, ever. You should too. When you do this method, you have to trust the process.
I was skeptical at first, but I trust Alex and knew I was in good hands. You definitely need a cast iron skillet, and if you don’t have one, now is the time to get one! Everyone should have one in their kitchen. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. The more you use it, the better it gets! Plus, it’s really convenient that you can go from stove top to oven without having to use another kitchen tool. So gift yourself a cast iron skillet ASAP!
Oh, and PSA: when handling habanero peppers, please for the love of everything good in this world, wear gloves or thoroughly wash your hands after handling the peppers. Trust me when I say you don’t want to touch your eyes or any open wounds with habanero juice still on your fingers. Ouch! Other than that, enjoy the recipe!
Mango Habanero Crispy Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 4-6 chicken thighs bone-in and skin-on
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
For the mango habanero sauce:
- 2 cups frozen diced mangos
- 2 habanero peppers split in half and seeds removed from one
- ½ cup apple juice
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp water
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- ½ tsp ginger powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp arrowroot flour
- 1 lime wedge
Instructions
For the chicken:
-
Preheat oven to 475F.
-
Preheat cast iron skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tbsp avocado oil.
-
Pat dry chicken thighs and generously season with kosher salt and black pepper.
-
Place chicken in skillet skin side down and sear until skin is golden brown. Once skin has browned, transfer skillet to oven (skin side still down) and roast for 10 minutes.
-
Flip chicken after 10 minutes and then roast for an additional 10 minutes.
-
Place chicken thighs in a large bowl and toss with about 1 cup of the mango habanero sauce.
For the mango habanero sauce:
-
As the chicken is cooking, place mangoes, habanero peppers, apple juice, ½ cup water, coconut aminos, fish sauce, ginger powder and garlic powder into a sauce pan.
-
Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer for about 10 minutes or until mangoes start to break down.
-
Remove sauce from heat then use an immersion blender or regular blender to blend sauce.
-
Place sauce back on the stove and bring to a light boil. Mix arrowroot flour with 2 tbsp of water and stir into sauce. Heat through for about 5 minutes or until sauce has thicken. Squeeze lime wedge into sauce and mix.
Pin this recipe for later!
