How to Trim the Fat From Chicken Thighs

Do you feel guilty eating chicken thighs? Are you hesitating incorporating chicken thighs into your cooking routine because of all the fat? Well, that's all going to change. TODAY. I feel like I'm writing an intro to an infomercial. But seriously, I've heard people time and again say they don't want to eat chicken thighs because of all the fat. So how about we take a couple extra minutes and cut all the fat off? Today, I will show you how to trim the fat from chicken thighs.... with this Ah-mazing new tool for only $19.99!! Just kidding - it's not an infomercial. It's just instructions how to trim the fat from chicken thighs.

There Is Some Technique Needed to Properly Trim The Fat

If you are a regular reader of my website (which you obviously are), you know that I love my dark meat chicken. Love it. Chicken thighs are my favorite and I love 'em bone-in or boneless. They are so amazing and flavorful. They are also filled with fat. Oh, they come packaged so neatly in those plastic wrapped containers... and then we open them. Have you ever picked up a chicken thigh and said, "What the heck is going on with all this fat?"

See, I handle a lot of chicken thighs, more than the average person. At a certain point, I realized it was an absolute necessity to take a couple of extra minutes to trim the fat from the thighs. I've timed it. Once you've practiced this a few times, it takes about 45 seconds to a minute to trim the fat from each thigh.

It's starts with the obvious flaps of fat hanging from the outer skin. Anyone can do that and most of us do. However, there is still a lot of hidden fat on the underside and that's what I'm diving into today. Here are some terms you should know:

Technical Terms for Trimming the Fat from Chicken Thighs:

• Obvious Flaps of Fat
• Nose Diving
• Hidden Fat Pockets
• Scissor Skimming
• Triangle of Fat (aka The Troublemaker)

Easy Steps for Trimming the Fat from Chicken Thighs

Now That You've Trimmed Your Thighs, Wanna Make Something?

• One-Pot Chicken with Carrots & Fennel
• Rosemary Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs
• Dijon Chicken Thighs w/Apples, Leeks & Fennel
• Cardamom Chicken Thighs w/Coconut Raisin Rice
• Rosemary Balsamic Grilled Chicken Thighs
• Grilled Chimichurri Chicken Thighs (boneless chicken, same techniques used)
• Ina Garten's Chicken Marbella

How to Trim the Fat From Chicken Thighs

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• Author: Stacey
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 5 minutes
• Yield: 4 trimmed chicken thighs

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Description

Want to eat guilt-free chicken thighs? I can teach you how to trim the fat from chicken thighs. It's really easy, promise.

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Ingredients

Four chicken thighs

One pair of good kitchen shears

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

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Instructions

• Get a cutting board and your kitchen sheers. 
• Trim the obvious flaps of fat hanging off the chicken. I always start here and this is where most of the big pieces of fat come from. 
• Cut any remaining strips of fat from around the edges. These strips of fat are sometimes hiding under the top layer of chicken skin. Lift the skin slightly around the edges and you will see the fat. You may need to skim the scissors across the surface of the chicken to get that fat off. 
• For the underside of the chicken thighs, look for the obvious fat you can see and dig down a little with your scissors with a nose diving motion. These are often hidden pockets of fat. Whenever you see fat, do an exploratory nose dive to see how deep it goes. With the underside, hold the fat on top with one hand and trim the fat from below with the other. (my video show this well). 
• There is a small triangle of fat that can run deep so look out for this. Nose dive your scissors into the triangle of fat. It might look small, but there is often a huge amount of fat below the surface as well. 
• After all the thighs are trimmed, do a onceover to see if you missed anything. 
• This same method works for boneless, skinless chicken thighs too. All that fat is still on the underside and should be removed before cooking. 
• Once you’ve practiced this technique a few times, it should take about 45 seconds to a minute per chicken thigh to get all the fat out.