These beer-braised chicken thighs are a knockout. The chicken thighs are braised in beer and tomato-based sauce, all made in one skillet. Serve these delicious braised chicken thighs over creamy mashed potatoes, noodles/nokedli, or rice, and you'll have the perfect dinner to be enjoyed by everyone at your dinner table.

This beer-braised chicken thighs recipe is incredibly delicious. The chicken thighs are so tender and are smothered in a thick savory sauce, seasoned with saffron and essential Spanish paprika seasoning. A true comfort food that soothes the soul!

Jump to:

Why You'll Love this Beer-Braised Chicken Thighs Recipe
Ingredients
How to Make Beer-Braised Chicken Thighs
Tips for Success
Storage
How to Reheat the Leftover
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

Why You'll Love this Beer-Braised Chicken Thighs Recipe

Complex flavor. The beer and saffron were added to the stew to bring out the richness of the chicken thighs and aromatic vegetables.
Affordable. This recipe uses common ingredients that you can find in your pantry. Saffron is expensive, but you only need a small amount of it. Saffron can be purchased from the bulk bin to save money.

Perfectly Seasoned and Tender Meat. The chicken thighs are browned prior to braising them on moderately low heat.
No oven is needed. The chicken thighs are braised on the stove in a large Dutch.

Ingredients

Chicken Thighs. I used chicken thighs with skin and bone-in.
Bacon. It adds an intense unique flavor to the sauce. You also need the bacon grease to brown the chicken thighs.
Yellow Onion. It's a basic ingredient to add sweetness and delicate flavor to the sauce.
Garlic. It's also used to create base flavors and aromas for the sauce.
Celery. It creates an aromatic foundation and adds depth of flavor to the sauce.
Paprika. I used Spanish smoked paprika to add color and a mild-sweet and subtle smoky flavor to the sauce. Regular paprika can also be used as a replacement ingredient.

Saffron. It adds a sweet floral taste to the sauce. Saffron is also high in antioxidants.
Beer. You can use ale or lager. Beer adds a sweet, rich, earthy, or nutty taste to the sauce. In this recipe, I used ale beer.
Diced Tomatoes. I used canned diced tomatoes with no seasoning added.
Chicken broth. It's used to simmer the chicken thighs and to add a wonderful depth of flavor to the sauce.
Thyme. You can use fresh or dried thyme. It's one of the most popular herbs used to flavor meat in stew or braise.
Flour. Use all-purpose flour to thicken the sauce.

How to Make Beer-Braised Chicken Thighs

Here are simple steps to make beer-braised chicken thighs.

Preparations:

Chop the bacon, onion, and celery.
Mince the garlic.
Soak the saffron in warm water to draw the flavor and color out of the saffron.

Cooking Process:

Step 1. Render the Bacon and Brown the Chicken

During this step, you will need to render the fat of the bacon and then use it to brown the chicken thighs.

In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until crispy.
Remove the crispy bacon to a plate and leave about 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pot.
Season chicken thighs with salt and black pepper.

Brown the chicken over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes on each side or until brown.
Transfer the browned chicken thighs to a plate.

Step 2. Cook the Aromatic Base and Sauce

In the same Dutch oven, add onion, and celery and cook for about 8 minutes over medium heat.

Add the garlic and thyme. Continue stirring for 2 minutes or until the vegetables are soft but not browned.
Add flour and stir for 1-2 minutes, then stir in the paprika.

Add beer and let the foam subside for about 1-2 minutes.
Add the diced tomatoes and broth, then let it simmer for a few minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened.

braising chicken in beer, saffron, tomato, and paprika.

Step 3. Braise the chicken

Put the browned chicken (including the juice) back into the pot, skin side up.
Simmer for 40 minutes over medium-low heat or longer, until the chicken is fully cooked.
10 minutes before the cooking process is done, add bacon and saffron. Stir to combine.

Tips for Success

Cook uncovered. I braised the chicken in an uncovered pot to let the tomatoes and aromatic vegetables develop more flavors.
Stir (a lot!). Because you'll be cooking the chicken in a pot that is uncovered, make sure that you stir it a lot, and gently scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula. This is a very important step to do to avoid burning the bottom of the pan.

Have extra liquid ready. If you think that the liquid evaporated too quickly, feel free to add extra liquid, a small amount at a time.
Add saffron at the end. To get the most flavors of the saffron, soak them for at least 10 minutes in warm water, and then add them at the very last minutes of cooking.
The safe temperature for chicken thighs. Insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, the internal temperature should register at 165°F.

Storage

Discard any leftover chicken that has been left out for more than 2 hours at room temperature or 1 hour when the temperature is above 90°F. You can learn more here.

Let the braised chicken thighs cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
Transfer the leftovers to an airtight container.
Properly stored, the leftover can last 3-4 days in the fridge or up to 2 months in the freezer.

How to Reheat the Leftover

In the oven. Put the leftover in an oven-safe dish and cover them with an oven-safe lid or foil. Reheat the braised chicken thighs at 350°F for 20 minutes or longer until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
On the stove. Put the leftover in a pot and cover it with a lid. Reheat on medium-low until the internal temperature registers at 165°F.

Check Out More Tasty Chicken Thighs Recipes

I hope you'll enjoy this recipe and share it with friends! If you try it and don’t mind, please leave me a comment and/or give this recipe a rating. Be sure to subscribe to receive weekly recipes and follow me on Pinterest.