Best Campfire Chicken Thighs

Last Spring, I went on a last minute camping trip with my kids, one of my girlfriends and her kids. (Both our husbands could rather glamp than camp and so did not join us). While there were many highlights during our camping trip, one of the favorite items on the menu were these chicken thighs that we cooked in a skillet, camping style.

I had pre-marinated the chicken the night before our trip and frozen it so it would still stay fresh as it de-frosted through the first part of the trip. It was one of the easiest and fastest meal preps I had ever done, quickly throwing in whatever sauces and spices I could find. But ever since the first time we consumed it, the recipe for that has been saved and re-used over and over again.

And now, I am going to share that recipe with you. Ready? Here we go.

You want to start with a good decent amount of boneless chicken thighs. I used about 2 pouches of those chicken thighs that you get at Costco….so I am guessing about 3-4lbs total. If you want to use more or less, just adjust the seasoning. Place the chicken in a gallon sized bag. I guess, you could also place them in a large bowl and mix them in the bowl, but I just like the idea of not getting my fingers messy and using the bag as a layer of protection between the chicken and my hands 🙂

So here’s what I put in the bag:

• Ginger-garlic paste. This is almost a must-have in most of my recipes. It always brings in the Asian and Indian touch into my recipes. And, you can read this post about how to make your own batch of ginger-garlic paste and store for multiple use. I am pretty generous with how much I use making sure there is enough to coat all of the chicken. In my opinion, I think this is the star of the marinade and so I would highly recommend using fresh ginger and garlic for the paste as opposed to any dry powders or bottled stuff.
• Soy Sauce. I really like the the flavor that soy sauce brings and my kids totally love anything with soy sauce in them. So feel free to add about 2-3 tablespoonfuls.
• Red Chilli Powder. This is just the first spice ingredient I reach for to spice up any of my recipes. I did not add whole lot…just about a teaspoon. The goal is not to overpower the chicken with spice but just have a subtle flavor of the spice.
• Tumeric Powder. This is another very common ingredient in the Indian cuisine. And I still recall my grandma telling all of us how the tumeric neutralizes the raw smell of the chicken. So it is ingrained in my brain forever to use tumeric whenever I make chicken (even for non-Indian recipes….yikes!). But if you don’t have this handy in your pantry, feel free to skip it.
• Coriander Powder. I just love the flavor that coriander adds. If you do not have this ingredient in you pantry, feel free to skip it or replace it with another spice of your choice. This is just one of my go-to spices.
• Salt. Yes, you do want to add salt to help blend and bring all the flavors together. For a marinade, I tend to generally add a little more than what I normally would because some of the salt will be lost in the marinade liquid when you get ready to cook.

Let the chicken sit in the fridge at least 2 hours. You may also choose to freeze and cook it another day (after defrosting of course).

To cook it over the skillet, start with a thin layer of oil and add some sliced onions. You may optionally add some bell pepper slices too if you wish to give it some color. Then just add the chicken to the skillet until it is fully cooked

Here is a short video of me showing you how to do it:

And now here is the full recipe.

Marinated Chicken Thighs

• Servings: 6-8
• Prep Time: 5 Minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Print

Feel free to make a few batches of these and store them in the freezer to pull out and use in the future. Adjust the quantity of the marinade ingredients to suit your individual taste. Feel free to add your other favorite seasonings.

Ingredients

• 3-4 pound of boneless skinless chicken thighs
• Salt
• Soy Sauce
• Ginger-Garlic paste
• Red Chilli Powder
• Tumeric Powder
• Coriander Powder
• Cooking oil (your preference)
• 1 large onion sliced

Directions

1. Place the chicken thighs in a gallon sized bag and add all the marinade ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
2. Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet. Add sliced onions and as it heats up, place the marinated chicken over the onions and let cook.
3. Turn over the chicken as needed. Continue cooking until is it fully done and has browned.
4. Optional: You may choose to pull out the large thigh pieces and cut them to smaller pieces and return to skillet again so the flavor is more distributed