Chicken Thighs Instead of Breasts? Swap Times From 11 Savour Recipes
Chicken thighs instead of breasts, or the reverse: the cut swap, amount and new cooking time written into 11 Savour recipes, from teriyaki to coq au vin.
By Priya Raman
Published · Updated · 8 min read
Quick answer
Yes, when the recipe allows it. Each of the 11 Savour recipes here writes a cut swap into a tip, variation or FAQ: chicken thighs instead of breasts, breasts instead of thighs, or boneless thighs instead of bone-in. Nine give a new cooking time: 8 thighs in baked honey mustard chicken bake for 22 to 28 minutes, and breasts in slow cooker chicken and gravy cook on LOW for 4 hours. Cook every piece to 74°C (165°F).
- Recipes featured
- 11
- Quickest
- Easy Teriyaki Chicken (25 mins)
- Average total time
- 2 hrs 35 mins
- Average calories
- 457 per serving
- Reading time
- 8 min
- Section
- Ingredient guides
Yes, you can use chicken thighs instead of breasts in the Savour recipes that say so, and breasts instead of thighs in others. Each of the 11 recipes in this guide writes a cut swap into a variation, tip or FAQ, and 9 of them give the new cooking time. The quickest by total time are Easy Teriyaki Chicken (25 minutes), the creamy sun-dried tomato chicken (35 minutes), and Baked Honey Mustard Chicken and Mediterranean Chicken Grain Bowls (40 minutes each).
For each recipe: the cut and amount on its ingredient line, the swap it allows, what changes, and the doneness check that covers every cut. Total times are for the recipe as written; the recipes give a new time for the cooking step, not a new total.
Which Savour chicken recipes say you can swap the cut?
Sorted by the kind of swap: breasts to thighs, thighs to breasts, either cut, then bone-in pieces or wings to boneless thighs.
The jerk and fried chicken totals each include 240 minutes of marinating; their cooking times are 45 and 35 minutes. Four of these recipes (the jerk chicken, adobo, grain bowls and Korean fried chicken) are also compared on protein and calories in high-protein dinners ranked by protein per serving.
Can you use chicken thighs instead of breasts?
Yes, in the two recipes here that are written for breasts. Both name boneless, skinless thighs as the swap and give a new time for the cooking step.
The creamy sun-dried tomato and parmesan chicken, which its FAQ says is very close to what many recipes call creamy Tuscan chicken, slices 2 large boneless, skinless breasts (about 700 g total) into 4 cutlets, pounds them to 1.5 cm and sears them for 4 to 5 minutes per side. They finish in the cream sauce for 4 to 6 minutes. The variation uses 700 g boneless, skinless thighs, seared for 5 to 6 minutes per side, and the recipe's FAQ says to simmer them in the sauce until they reach 74°C (165°F).
Baked Honey Mustard Chicken pounds 4 breasts of about 200 g each to an even 2 cm and bakes them at 200°C (400°F) for 20 to 25 minutes. Its variation bakes 8 boneless, skinless thighs for 22 to 28 minutes instead. The recipe's FAQ adds that thicker, unpounded breasts can take 30 to 35 minutes, longer than the thighs: in this recipe, the thickness of the breast changes the time more than the cut does.
Can you use chicken breasts instead of thighs?
Both skillet recipes written for thighs accept breasts, once the breasts are cut or pounded to an even thickness.
Easy Teriyaki Chicken browns 700 g boneless, skinless thighs for 5 to 6 minutes, then 4 to 5 minutes on the second side. Its FAQ says to slice breasts in half horizontally and cook them for 4 to 5 minutes per side to 74°C (165°F). Breast meat is leaner, the answer notes, so take it off the heat promptly to keep it from drying out. The thigh version is Monday's dinner in the 30-minute dinner meal plan for 5 weeknights.
Mediterranean Chicken Grain Bowls cook 600 g boneless, skinless thighs for 5 to 6 minutes per side. Pounded to an even thickness, breasts get the same 5 to 6 minutes per side in the FAQ. The same answer says thighs stay juicier in the fridge over several days, which matters here: the packed bowls keep for up to 4 days.
For more dishes written for the leaner cut, see the chicken breast recipes category.
Do chicken breasts work instead of thighs in a slow cooker or braise?
They do in all three long-cooked recipes here. Two of them cut the time for breasts; the chili cooks both cuts the same way.
Slow Cooker Chicken and Gravy is written for 1 kg boneless, skinless thighs on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. Its tip says to use thighs rather than breasts because they stay moist through the long cook. If breasts are what you have, the variation cooks them on LOW for 4 hours to keep them from drying out; it gives no HIGH time for breasts. Either way, the gravy then thickens with a cornstarch slurry on HIGH for 15 minutes.
Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili lists "1 kg boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, thawed" on one line, with one time for both: LOW for 5 to 6 hours or HIGH for 2 to 3 hours. Its tip gives the difference: thighs stay juicier if the chili sits on WARM for a while, and breasts shred more neatly. Both slow cooker recipes say to thaw the chicken in the fridge first, whichever cut you use, and both are in the slow cooker chicken recipes collection. Their LOW and HIGH times are compared in slow cooker low vs high.
Coq au Vin braised in red wine uses 6 bone-in, skin-on thighs (about 1.4 kg), or a mix of thighs and drumsticks, braised covered for 40 minutes and then uncovered for about 15 more. Its FAQ says breasts go in for only the last 20 to 25 minutes and come out as soon as they reach 74°C (165°F). The whole-chicken variation works the same way: the breast pieces join for the last 25 minutes of braising.
How much faster do boneless chicken thighs cook than bone-in pieces?
Four recipes written for bone-in pieces or wings give a version with boneless chicken thighs instead of bone-in, and every one shortens the cook.
- Chicken Adobo: 1.2 kg bone-in, skin-on thighs (about 8) simmer covered for 25 to 30 minutes. Boneless thighs need 15 to 20 minutes. The FAQ adds that chicken breast also works but dries out more easily, so check it after 12 to 15 minutes.
- Jamaican Jerk Chicken: 1.5 kg bone-in leg quarters (about 4), or thighs and drumsticks, roast at 200°C (400°F) for 25 minutes, then 15 to 20 minutes more after basting. Boneless thighs roast for 20 to 25 minutes at the same temperature, then go under the broiler briefly.
- Crispy Buttermilk Fried Chicken: 1.5 kg bone-in pieces fry for 12 to 15 minutes. Boneless thighs fry for 6 to 8 minutes, for fried chicken sandwiches. The tip says to cut large breasts in half so every piece finishes at the same time.
- Korean Fried Chicken (Yangnyeom Wings): written for 1.2 kg wings (about 24 pieces), first fried for 8 to 10 minutes per batch. The boneless variation uses 1 kg boneless, skinless thighs cut into 4 cm pieces, and their first fry takes 5 to 6 minutes.
Savour lists more dishes written for this cut on the chicken thigh recipes page.
How many chicken thighs replace a chicken breast?
Only three recipes name an amount for the swapped cut, and they do not follow one rule:
- Baked Honey Mustard Chicken swaps by count: 8 boneless, skinless thighs for 4 breasts of about 200 g each, or 2 thighs per breast, for 4 servings.
- Creamy sun-dried tomato chicken swaps by weight: 700 g of thighs for 700 g of breasts, for 4 servings.
- Korean Fried Chicken swaps to a lighter weight: 1 kg of boneless, skinless thighs for 1.2 kg of wings, for 4 servings.
The other eight name no separate amount for the swapped cut.
How do you know swapped chicken is cooked through?
The time changes with the cut; the finish line does not. Every recipe in this guide cooks its chicken to 74°C (165°F), 9 of them measured in the thickest part or the thickest piece. That is the safe internal temperature for chicken pieces in government food safety guidance.
Food safety: Cook chicken pieces, thighs and breasts alike, to 74°C (165°F). Read it in the thickest part of the meat, not touching any bone.
For bone-in pieces, the coq au vin and jerk chicken recipes say to take the reading without touching the bone, the adobo reads it away from the bone and the fried chicken near the bone. The jerk chicken step adds that leg meat is even more tender at 80 to 85°C (175 to 185°F).
How long do these chicken thigh and breast dishes keep?
Each storage note covers the dish as written; none gives a different time for the swapped cut.
Nine of the 11 reheat notes say to reheat until the chicken is hot to 74°C (165°F). The grain bowls can be eaten cold, and the jerk chicken reheats in a 180°C (350°F) oven for 15 to 20 minutes until steaming hot all the way through. The white chili's note adds one rule: do not reheat leftovers in the slow cooker; heat them first, then hold on WARM.
Sources
Recipes in this post (11)
Frequently Asked Questions
How much longer do chicken thighs take than breasts?
It depends on the recipe: in Savour's baked honey mustard chicken, 8 boneless thighs bake for 22 to 28 minutes instead of 20 to 25 for pounded breasts. In its creamy sun-dried tomato chicken, thighs sear for 5 to 6 minutes per side instead of 4 to 5 for the breast cutlets, and both cuts cook to 74°C (165°F).
Can you use chicken thighs instead of breasts in Marry Me chicken?
Yes. Savour's creamy sun-dried tomato chicken swaps its 2 large breasts (about 700 g) for 700 g of boneless, skinless thighs, seared for 5 to 6 minutes per side and then simmered in the cream sauce until they reach 74°C (165°F).
Can I use chicken breasts instead of thighs in the slow cooker?
Yes, with a shorter time in Savour's slow cooker chicken and gravy: its variation cooks breasts on LOW for 4 hours instead of 6 for thighs, though its tip prefers thighs because they stay moist through the long cook. The slow cooker white chicken chili takes either cut with no change: LOW for 5 to 6 hours or HIGH for 2 to 3 hours.
How much less time do boneless chicken thighs need than bone-in?
In Savour's chicken adobo, the covered simmer drops from 25 to 30 minutes for bone-in thighs to 15 to 20 minutes for boneless ones. Boneless thighs in the buttermilk fried chicken fry for 6 to 8 minutes instead of 12 to 15, and in the jerk chicken they roast for 20 to 25 minutes at 200°C (400°F) instead of 25 minutes plus 15 to 20 more.
How many chicken thighs equal one chicken breast?
In Savour's baked honey mustard chicken, 8 boneless, skinless thighs replace 4 breasts of about 200 g each, which is 2 thighs per breast. Its creamy sun-dried tomato chicken swaps by weight instead: 700 g of thighs for 700 g of breasts.
What temperature should chicken thighs and breasts reach?
Cook chicken pieces, thighs and breasts alike, to 74°C (165°F), measured in the thickest part. For bone-in pieces, Savour's coq au vin and jerk chicken recipes say to take the reading without touching the bone.
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