Smoked Chicken Thighs
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These Smoked Chicken Thighs are juicy, flavorful, and perfectly tender with a smoky finish that’s impossible to resist! Seasoned with a simple spice rub and slow-smoked to perfection, they’re easy to make and packed with bold BBQ flavor. Perfect for backyard cookouts, weeknight dinners, or meal prep, this is a chicken recipe you’ll be making on repeat!
Why this recipe is the best
When it comes to firing up my smoker, I’m always testing recipes until they’re perfectly seasoned, juicy and tender. I grew up in Oklahoma smoking meats with my grandpa and Dad, so I want to make sure that every smoker recipe that hits the blog would be approved by my family.
While chicken thighs weren’t something I grew up smoking, I knew that I could make smoked chicken that could rival my best recipes on the smoker for smoked pulled pork, smoked tri tip, and smoked pork tenderloin. And so the testing began, and now I’m here with my tested and perfected smoked chicken thighs recipe that I know you’re going to love!
Here’s why it’s the best:
- The chicken is so tender! I’m a texture girl. The texture of the food I eat is extremely important to me and chewy chicken is something I detest! That’s why I made sure to cook these chicken thighs to be perfectly tender. I achieved this by smoking them low and slow for just over an hour, then firing up the temperature on the smoker to high for the last 10 minutes.
- The chicken is super juicy! When cooking chicken thighs, especially boneless, skinless thighs, they can dry out if cooked too long. Lucky for you, I’ve perfected the time and temperature you need to make juicy chicken thighs on a smoker every time.
- The chicken is so flavorful! Chicken thighs are one of the most flavorful cuts of chicken. Coat them in a perfect blend of brown sugar and spices and it instantly takes the flavor to the next level!
Ingredients
Here I explain the best ingredients for this smoked chicken thighs recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For the exact ingredient measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Chicken thighs – I’ve made this recipe with boneless, skinless chicken thighs and bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. For this post I’m going to focus on boneless skinless chicken thighs, but you can check out the recipe notes below if you want to make this recipe with bone-in chicken thighs with crispy skin, just like my smoked chicken wings.
- Olive oil
- BBQ seasoning – I love this homemade dry rub. It’s a delicious combination of spices including sea salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder, mixed with brown sugar. It’s easy to mix up in 5 minutes and is delicious on smoked or grilled meats. You can also use another bbq spice rub or seasoning, if you already have a favorite in your kitchen.
- BBQ sauce (optional) – I like to finish the chicken thighs with a bbq sauce glaze. This step is optional, but if you’d like to try it, you can use your favorite store-bought barbecue sauce or make homemade bbq sauce. These recipes for Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce or White BBQ Sauce are delicious brushed on top of the chicken before you remove it from the smoker.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Season the chicken thighs. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels, then drizzle them with olive oil. Sprinkle bbq seasoning evenly on all sides of the chicken thighs.
- Prepare the smoker. Preheat a smoker to 225°F with pecan, apple, or cherry pellets, or wood chips. For this recipe, I used the Traeger Pro Series Smoker, but this recipe will work on any brand, make or model of smoker or pellet grill.
- Smoke the chicken thighs. Place the seasoned chicken thighs on the smoker and smoke for 60-90 minutes, or until the chicken thighs reach an internal temperature of 150°F. Turn the heat on the smoker up to 450°F, or the highest temperature. Once the smoker hits this temperature, brush the sauce on the chicken immediately, or if you’re not brushing sauce on the chicken, wait until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160°F. If you do not have a smoker with a meat probe, I recommend using this meat thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the chicken as it cooks.
- Sauce the chicken thighs (optional). Once the smoker hits its highest temperature, brush the chicken thighs with bbq sauce and continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes until the internal temp reaches 160°F. Remove the chicken thighs from the smoker and let them rest for 5-10 minutes.
Recipe notes
If you prefer to finish the chicken off the smoker, instead of raising the temperature on the smoker, you can finish the chicken thighs in the oven or in an air fryer. This is particularly useful if you’re making smoked bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, as this will help crisp up the skin on the outside.
To finish them in an air fryer, add the smoked chicken thighs in a single layer to an air fryer basket. If the chicken has skin on it, make sure the skin side is facing up. It’s important that each thigh has space around it, so that the air can circulate around the chicken. Cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes at 400°F.
To finish them in the oven, preheat the broiler to high. Arrange one rack in the oven about a third of the way from the top of the oven. Place the smoked chicken thighs in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. If the chicken has skin on it, make sure the skin is facing up. Place the thighs under the broiler for 3-4 minutes. Always watch food when it’s under the broiler in the oven to make sure that it does not burn.
Always make sure that bone-in, or boneless chicken thighs reach an internal temperature of 160°F after they’re fully cooked. At this point, you’ll want to rest the chicken for 5-10 minutes. At this time the internal temperature will rise approximately 5 degrees to reach 165°F.
Flavor variations
For this post, I’m sharing how to make smoked chicken thighs with a traditional bbq seasoning blend and sauce. But since perfecting this recipe, I’ve made it with so many different flavor combinations, I just had to share my other favorites.
I like to fire up the smoker over the weekend and make 2 or 3 different flavors, then use them in different recipes throughout the week. It’s like seriously leveling-up meal prep and I highly recommend it!
- Korean BBQ: use Korean bbq seasoning and glaze the chicken with Korean bbq sauce. Make it into rice bowls!
- Carolina-style BBQ: use chicken seasoning and glaze the chicken with Carolina gold bbq sauce. Serve it with smoked mac and cheese.
- Italian: season the chicken with Italian seasoning and serve it with garlic parmesan sauce. This is delicious paired with creamy orzo or pasta.
- Buffalo-style: season the chicken with chicken wing seasoning and glaze it with buffalo sauce. This is great for making buffalo chicken sandwiches, wraps, or salads.
- Mexican: season the chicken with fajita seasoning to make incredibly flavorful fajitas or quesadillas, or season them with taco seasoning to make delicious tacos, burritos, nachos, or bowls. Optionally glaze with your favorite hot sauce if you like spicy chicken!
Storage and reheating
Leftover smoked chicken thighs will stay good in the refrigerator, stored in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.
The chicken is delicious diced up and repurposed in several different ways, either served cold or reheated. If reheating the chicken, I recommend using an air fryer and reheating the chicken at 400°F for 4 minutes.
If the chicken has been diced or sliced, you can reheat it in a skillet on the stove over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.
More smoker recipes
Try these tested and perfected smoker recipes, with some new creations and recipes passed down from my families archives!
Smoked Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 tablespoons bbq seasoning, click link for recipe
- ½ cup bbq sauce, optional
Instructions
- Preheat a smoker to 225°F with pecan, apple, or cherry pellets, or wood chips.
- Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Drizzle the olive oil evenly over the chicken thighs and rub the oil into them.
- Sprinkle the bbq seasoning evenly over the chicken and rub it onto all sides.
- Place the chicken thighs in an even layer on the grill grates in the smoker and smoke for 60-90 minutes, or until the chicken thighs reach an internal temperature of 150°F.
- Turn the heat on the smoker up to 450°F, or the highest temperature. Once the smoker hits this temperature, brush the sauce on the chicken immediately, then continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the chicken thigh reaches 160°F.
- If you’re not brushing sauce on the chicken, wait until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160°F. If you do not have a smoker with a meat probe, I recommend using this meat thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the chicken as it cooks.
- Remove the chicken thighs from the smoker, loosely tent with foil and rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- For this recipe, I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You can also make this recipe with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. The skin will crisp up when the smoker is turned up to high at the end. If you prefer to finish them in the oven or air fryer for even crispier skin, refer to the blog post above for instructions.
- Store leftover smoked chicken in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition Facts
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