One-Pan Chicken Thighs With Coconut Creamed Corn

One-Pan Chicken Thighs With Coconut Creamed Corn
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
4(2,105)
Notes
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If it’s possible to upstage crispy-skinned chicken thighs, the coconut creamed corn in this dish comes close. The sweetness of caramelized corn and coconut milk is balanced by the brightness of the ginger, chile, scallions and lime. As the corn simmers, the browned chicken thighs finish cooking right on top, so the flavors meld and deepen. It’s a complete summery meal in one skillet, although you can make it anytime. Just use frozen corn. Garnish it with cilantro, chives, fried shallots or coconut flakes, and serve it with a green side. If you feel like it, you could use shrimp instead of chicken. (Use this recipe as a guide.)

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (4 to 6 pieces)
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 5cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (from about 7 ears)
  • 3scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
  • 1(2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated or chopped
  • 3garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated or chopped
  • 1serrano chile or chipotle in adobo, finely chopped, or ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
  • 1(15-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
  • 1lime, cut into wedges
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

691 calories; 46 grams fat; 26 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 54 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 27 grams protein; 995 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Pat the chicken dry, and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil in a large (12-inch) skillet. Add the thighs, skin-side down, and set over medium heat. (It’s OK if they’re slightly squeezed in the skillet; as the fat renders, they’ll shrink.) Cook, undisturbed, until the skin is deep golden brown, and the thighs release easily from the pan, about 15 minutes. (If your stove is getting splattered with oil, cover the skillet.) Transfer the chicken, skin-side up, to a plate. Reserve the skillet and fat.

  2. Step 2

    Increase the heat to high, add the corn, scallion whites, ginger, garlic and serrano. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the corn starts to brown in spots, 2 to 3 minutes, adding an extra minute or two if using frozen corn.

  3. Step 3

    Reduce heat to medium, add the coconut milk, scrape up any browned bits from the pan and season with salt and pepper. Put the chicken on top of the corn mixture, skin-side up. Simmer until the coconut milk is slightly thickened and the chicken is cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. (If your corn has reduced too much before your chicken is done cooking, just add a few tablespoons of water or chicken stock.)

  4. Step 4

    Serve with a squeeze of lime and reserved scallion greens on top.

Ratings

4 out of 5
2,105 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I happen to have a piece of ginger that is the size and dimension of my hand. Two inches of this piece would easily yield four times the amount of ginger one would want in this recipe. I am an experienced enough cook to figure out a suitable amount, but maybe others are not. Could food editors please indicate a measurable quantity? Thanks.

Something seemed to be missing on the first try. Added a bit of fish sauce, and also lemon grass to the coconut/corn mixture. That was the game changer for us.

This. Was. Delicious. Definitely use fish sauce, lime zest, lemongrass. Recommend stirring in a teaspoon or two of Better Than Bouillon chicken base to the coconut milk. Definitely salt your chicken thighs well at least 30 minutes ahead. Definitely roast the chicken thighs first at 450 (both sides) and finish the dish in the oven at 375.

Wow, this was great and easy to cook! We didn’t have enough corn on hand, so I did it with half green peas and half corn. The sweetness of the peas added well to the dish. I also used lime zest to bring up the citrus flavor a notch. Mine actually turned out to look pretty much as the picture does. The key to making crispy chicken is to set it and forget it for 15 minutes. The skin was perfect!

I'm going to make this next week (after my bi-weekly grocery store trip). I love the idea of using shrimp but am thinking I'd cut out the initial step of frying them and just add them to the top of the corn/coconut milk mixture. 10 minutes cooking on top seems like more than enough for raw shrimp but would love to hear your thoughts?

Cooked it again, with greater success. Put in more ginger and garlic, and used 3/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper. Also cooked the chicken with lots of salt and pepper in coconut oil. The latter worked really well. It was delish and easy. Served with Greek style lemon potatoes.

This was delicious (half a pepper was enough heat for me) and a hit all around, but it was also a mess to cook. I am thinking of oven roasting the chicken next time and then finishing it stovetop with the corn mixture.

I agree this is a good template to adapt to S. Asian, Latin American or SE Asian flavors, but a bit mild as written. I added turmeric, cumin, and coriander and a finely diced roasted poblano pepper, and finished it with chopped cilantro along with the scallion greens and lime. I put it in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 after adding the chicken back to the pan and the texture was great. I will definitely make this again, maybe next time with lemongrass and Thai lime leaves.

This was delicious! I did think it needed a little umami so sprinkled some fish sauce on my plate. Next time I will add some to the entire dish. Served it with rice.

Made this tonight and it was another winner! Used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cooked with a bit of olive oil. Then followed as directions, except we were out of scallions, so used yellow onions. Had a leftover baked Yukon Gold potato, so threw it in. Then, thinking we need more vegies, threw in the last of the cherry tomatoes I had on-hand. Did use a Serrano chile. Just the right amount of heat, for me, could've used 2 for my husband. Will do again! Oh...Aroyo-D is THE coconut milk to use

Do yourself a favor and preheat the oven to 450 and throw the pan in for a final 15 minutes. The skin will crisp up again (the steaming in the corn makes it soggy) and the meat gets more crucial time to soften up the cartilage. I also added a little brown sugar along with the coconut milk for a little sweetness, which plays nicely with the squeeze of lime at the end. Delicious!!

This is a repeater! Next time, I will try just one bag of frozen corn instead of a whole 5 cups. I marinated the chicken in soy sauce before cooking. i did not add oil to pan, like in Cooks Illustrated Chicken Adobo recipe. I removed most of the oil before the next step with the corn. I also added fish sauce and garam masala. Finished in oven 25 minutes at 400 degrees instead of on stove (because 10 minutes for sure was not going to be enough!)

I just made a shrimp recipe from NYT in the skillet and it said just two minutes per side with the shrimp on top of other ingredients. Shrimp will get rubbery if cooked too long. It will turn pinkish white when done.

It was 25 mins of cook time rather than the 7 - 10 mins it says in step 3. 10 would have surely been completely raw.

If the shrimp are large enough to not make the endeavor a real pain or take too long to get in and get out (shrimp #1 through shrimp #whatever), and assuming you use peeled raw shrimp (or tail on), I think I'd do a quick 1-sided sear, then get the shrimp out of the pan asap, proceed w/ the recipe, and then finish the shrimp on top at the end (sear up), just enough to warm and finish them. I love the slight sear taste of shrimp. That said, ANY decent cooked shrimp is delish, seared or not! (-:

This was inedible. Maybe I did something wrong? It was the worst recipe I’ve attempted so far

When fresh corn starts coming into the stores, this has been a real winner at my house. So easy, perfect for 2 with leftovers for lunch the next day!

This is a really fantastic, simple recipe but it does need a heavy splash of fish sauce and juice of half a lime before serving. I noticed simmering for 7-10 minutes rarely gets the thighs cooked all the way through for me, so I flip and brown the bottoms, remove, then do the aromatics, corn and coconut milk and finish in a 325 oven for 30 minutes.

Delicious i have made this a few times and I keep coming back to it. Making it again tonight. Only thing I would say is to be a bit gentle with the coconut milk temperature and time wise. Not a food scientist but one time it separated on me so now I make the temperature changes more slowly and a gentle simmer only such as when adding it and when adding the broth. And don’t over cook it.

Kate really liked this

Reading the comments - I had 7 large thighs. I doubled the ginger and garlic. I used two 10 oz bags of corn and one of frozen spinach. Finished in a 400° oven for 15 minutes.

I used 3 cans of corn, I definitely could’ve used 4 or 5. I didn’t have any peppers, but a teaspoon of red pepper flakes was perfect. I like the suggestion of finishing in the oven to crisp the chicken.

This might be good with the right kind of farm stand corn, but using the latest in engineered frozen corn from the supermarket, it tasted like dessert with chicken on top. Way way way too sweet.

Cook again - try with coconut milk instead of creme de coconut. Maybe take some corn out before coconut milk to see how it tastes.

This is just a very weird dish. Not bad but kind of a hodgepodge of flavors that don’t go well together… and after all that work for crispy chicken skin it gets soggy when cooking the skinless side in the corn. Glad I tried it, but won’t be making again…

Made this with shrimp. Fantastic! I briefly marinated them in a little soy sauce while I heated the oil. Brief sauté then removed them. Proceeded with the recipe and stirred them in at the end. Added some cilantro to the green onion topping.

I halved the recipe. Used skinless boneless breast because that was what I had. Threw in the remains of a bag of frozen peas to add more color. It was great. The husband said I should make it again.

Love this recipe. Easy to make! Only used four chicken thighs.

Added curry leaves yum yum…

Just delish. Thanks for the recommendations of fish sauce - really made a difference.

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