25 High-Protein Dinners with Chicken Thighs By Alex Loh Alex Loh Alex Loh is EatingWell's food editor. As part of the food team, she creates healthy, delicious recipes for the EatingWell audience. Alex also writes informative food and cooking articles that range from how to store ground beef to the best picks from Trader Joe's. Alex conducts product and taste tests to find the best options, from salad spinners to salsas. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines Published on March 11, 2021 Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD Jessica Ball, M.S., RD, is the senior nutrition editor for EatingWell. She is a registered dietitian with a master's in food, nutrition and sustainability. In addition to EatingWell, her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Real Simple, Parents, Better Homes and Gardens and MyRecipes. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines Close Credit: Brie Passano Grab a pack of chicken thighs and make one of these hearty dinner recipes. You can pair these chicken thigh recipes with whole grains, a salad or roasted vegetables for a complete meal. Recipes like Honey-Garlic Chicken Thighs with Carrots & Broccoli are healthy, filling and have at least 15 grams of protein per serving. Love any of these recipes? Tap "Save" to add them to MyRecipes, your new, free recipe box for EatingWell. 01 of 25 Honey-Garlic Chicken Thighs with Carrots & Broccoli View Recipe Save In this easy and healthy dinner recipe, sweet and savory baked honey-garlic chicken thighs come with a side of veggies that cook on the same sheet pan as the chicken. The honey-soy-garlic marinade for the chicken does double duty as an irresistible sauce to drizzle over everything. Lining your baking sheet with foil will protect your pan from the sticky honey-soy-garlic sauce, so cleanup will be a breeze too. If you can't find small carrots, cut medium carrots in half lengthwise. 02 of 25 Roasted Chicken Thighs, Potatoes & Scallions with Herb Vinaigrette View Recipe Save Roasting chicken thighs directly on top of the vegetables bastes the scallions and potatoes with delicious drippings in this healthy dinner recipe. Serve with steamed broccoli, sautéed spinach or a mixed green salad. 03 of 25 Creamy Chipotle Skillet Chicken Thighs View Recipe Save Smoky chipotle is the star of this one-skillet chicken thigh recipe. Great for weeknight dinners, this can be on the table in under 30 minutes. Serve with tortillas or over rice or low-carb cauliflower rice with a simple cabbage slaw. 04 of 25 Skillet Lemon Chicken with Spinach View Recipe Save This simple, ultra-quick chicken dinner--packed with spinach and peppers--is delicious on its own or served over brown rice or your favorite pasta. 05 of 25 Chicken & Broccoli with Herb Butter Sauce View Recipe Save Jacob Fox This one-pan chicken and broccoli dinner is simple, healthy and packed with flavor. After the chicken roasts, we turn the drippings into a smooth and velvety pan sauce by adding a little stock and butter. 06 of 25 Poulet au Vinaigre (Chicken in Vinegar) View Recipe Save Ryan Liebe This classic French dish is typically made with a cut-up whole chicken. But using just one part of the bird, in this case thighs, ensures that the pieces are done at the same time. Serve this saucy braise with mashed potatoes. 07 of 25 Trinidadian Pelau with Chicken View Recipe Save Leslie Grow | Trinidadian Pelau with Chicken Maya Feller, M.S., RD, CDN, of Brooklyn-based Maya Feller Nutrition, recommends this cost-conscious recipe to clients looking to prepare satisfying, nutritious meals at home. "Pelau is a hearty dish that can be prepared in big batches and enjoyed over time," she says. (This recipe was part of a feature story, "The Real Cost of Healthy Food," in EatingWell magazine and has not been tested by our Test Kitchen.) 08 of 25 Cauliflower Chicken Curry View Recipe Save Brie Passano Yogurt combined with spices coats cauliflower and chicken thighs in this Indian-inspired curry. The longer you marinate the chicken and cauliflower, the richer the taste, but even 20 minutes of marinating time will give you great results. Smoked paprika adds a more complex flavor, but regular paprika works well too. Serve this saucy dish with brown rice to complete the meal. 09 of 25 Honey-Harissa Chicken Thighs View Recipe Save Jacob Fox Harissa, a hot chile pepper paste that hails from northern Africa, adds tons of flavor and shines when it's combined with honey to make a sweet coating slathered on chicken thighs. Serve with brown rice and roasted carrots. 10 of 25 Mediterranean Chicken Skillet View Recipe Save Victor Protasio In this one-skillet Mediterranean chicken recipe, chicken thighs are infused with lemon, garlic and herbs and paired with orzo that's perfectly al dente. Charred tomatoes and onions add full flavor to complete this easy Mediterranean dinner. 11 of 25 Sheet-Pan Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts & Gnocchi View Recipe Save In this healthy dinner recipe, chicken thighs, Brussels sprouts, cherry tomatoes and packaged gnocchi are all roasted on the same sheet pan for a complete meal that couldn't be easier to make. And though it's simple, this dish gets tons of flavor from Mediterranean seasonings, including garlic, oregano and red-wine vinegar. It all adds up to a dish that's ready to go into heavy weeknight rotation in your house. 12 of 25 Creamy Chicken, Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms One-Pot Pasta View Recipe Save You'll only have to dirty one pot in this easy pasta recipe that cooks chicken and vegetables right along with the noodles. Plus, by using the exact amount of water you need to cook the pasta, the starch that usually gets drained off with your pasta water stays in the pot, giving you delectably creamy results. 13 of 25 Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole View Recipe Save Casseroles make perfect meal-prep dinners--this enchilada version is so easy to prep ahead. The whole casserole can be built and left to hang out in the refrigerator for up to three days. Then all you have to do is bake it off on a busy night and you have a healthy dinner on the table in a jiff. The quick homemade enchilada sauce in this recipe is great when you don't have any of the canned sauce on hand--just season crushed tomatoes with spices and salt for an instant enchilada sauce. 14 of 25 Slow-Cooker Butter Chicken View Recipe Save Browning the chicken and sautéing the aromatics before everything goes into the crock pot is key to building the flavors in our version of this popular curry. 15 of 25 Spicy Vegetable & Chicken Soup View Recipe Save Who wouldn't want to eat their vegetables when they're tucked into a fragrant broth with bits of tasty chicken and spiked with a shot of fresh lime and cilantro? This healthy chicken vegetable soup seems even richer with the smoky flavor from roasted poblano peppers and garlic. Serve this healthy chicken soup recipe with tortilla chips. 16 of 25 Chicken, Quinoa & Sweet Potato Casserole View Recipe Save This protein-loaded chicken and sweet potato casserole dish is made with multicolored quinoa, a blend of white, red and black varieties, but any color will work. 17 of 25 Chicken Shawarma with Potatoes View Recipe Save Cook once; eat thrice: this chicken shawarma recipe makes a satisfying single-serving dinner, plus extra chicken, potatoes, and onions that you can use later in the week. 18 of 25 Slow-Cooker Chicken with Rosemary & Mushrooms over Linguine View Recipe Save The classic pairing of shallots and mushrooms gives this easy slow-cooker chicken recipe a timeless quality that's sure to please everyone at your table. Swirling the stock and flour together at the beginning is a pro tip for creating a thick sauce that moistens the final dish and helps all the ingredients come together. 19 of 25 Jambalaya Stuffed Peppers View Recipe Save In this healthy stuffed peppers recipe, a delicious jambalaya filling of chicken and Cajun spices gets baked inside of bell peppers. Traditional jambalaya is made with green bell peppers, but you can use green, yellow, or orange peppers (or a mix) for this dish. Look for bell peppers with even bottoms, so that they stand upright on their own. 20 of 25 Thai Yellow Chicken Thigh Curry View Recipe Save Yellow curry paste is generally spicier than green but not as spicy as red, making it just right for this easy stir-fried chicken thigh recipe. Sizzling the curry paste in oil before making the curry gives it a boost in complexity. 21 of 25 Chicken & Asparagus Skillet Pasta with Pesto View Recipe Save Fresh lemon juice, tangy sun-dried tomatoes and zippy pesto tie together the flavors in this quick and easy skillet meal. The 30-minute dinner is so versatile--you can use any quick-cooking protein or vegetable you have on hand and still have a delicious meal on busy weeknights. 22 of 25 Paprika Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts View Recipe Save In this healthy chicken recipe, paprika-rubbed chicken thighs are nestled into Brussels sprouts and shallots and roasted on a sheet pan in the oven for an easy, healthy dinner. As the chicken thighs roast, the garlicky drippings flavor the Brussels sprouts and shallots. Delicious one-pan cooking! Smoked paprika adds a touch of smoky flavor--look for it at well-stocked supermarkets or in the bulk-spice section at natural-foods markets. Regular paprika can be used in its place, but doesn't add the hint of smoke. 23 of 25 Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowls View Recipe Save This pesto chicken quinoa bowl is packed with herbs from the basil pesto and the Italian spice mix and gets a slight kick of heat from the red pepper. If you enjoy the flavor profile, this dish can also be made with orzo in place of quinoa. 24 of 25 Jerk Chicken with Coconut Rice & Peas View Recipe Save Add some flavor of the Caribbean to your weeknight dinners with this healthy and easy jerk chicken recipe. The chicken is cooked on a grill pan rather than an outdoor grill--make sure the pan is well-heated before adding the chicken to achieve the crisp char you would get from an outdoor grill. A simple side of coconut rice and peas completes this satisfying and nutritious meal. 25 of 25 Chicken Shawarma with Yogurt Sauce View Recipe Save The key to cooking juicy chicken without a spit in this healthy recipe is high heat and dark meat. The yogurt in the marinade gives the chicken both its tender texture and its alluring char. More yogurt in the sauce, along with crunchy cucumbers and herbs, keeps the flavors bright. Explore more: Healthy Recipes Nutrient-Focused High-Protein High-Protein Dinner Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit