Making a show-stopping, magazine-worthy smoked chicken and salsa verde corn salad is easier than you think! So fire up that gas grill, and fill a smoker box with Western BBQ Peach Smoking Chips; let’s get smoking!
This post is sponsored by Western Wood BBQ Products.
So you are planning to have a few friends for a bite of smoked chicken. But before you begin to prepare the chicken it is a must to decide on the side dish! After all, smoking chips aren’t only for adding flavor to chicken but for sides too. Western BBQ Peach Smoking Chips will infuse both Smoky Salsa Verde and Charred Corn Salad in the recipe below! And ohhh what a smoky flavor boost you and your friends will enjoy!
Meanwhile, Check out Smoked Side Dish Tips below!
See my full guide on how to use a smoker box on a gas grill for everything you need to know to get the most bbq flavor on these gas-grilled smoked chicken thighs.
HOW TO ELEVATE A SMOKED CHICKEN DINNER
Have you ever considered that choosing the complimentary side dishes for a smoked chicken dinner is just as important as the preparation, cook, and presentation of the chicken? Well, it is! After all, we feast with our eyes!
Imagine plopping down bone-in grilled chicken on a platter with no garnishes or side dishes. Not the prettiest sight! When you compose a meal, even if it is for “just” the family, think of painting a masterpiece not handing diners just one piece of the puzzle!
When serving smoked chicken, think of a variety of textures, contrasting colors, freshness, and a balance of sweet, heat, and acid. Boom! You just painted a culinary masterpiece!
HOW TO SEASON CHICKEN THIGHS
Jack Daniel’s Rub is sweet with a mild heat, and a delicious easy way to season chicken thighs. After all, It is a complete seasoning! For finishing flavors, after the chicken has cooked, I add a squeeze of lime, a drizzle of agave syrup, and a little more chicken rub or salt.
To prepare and infuse the chicken meat with lots of flavor follow the steps below!
Cut Fatty Deposits But Not Skin
When preparing smoked chicken, cut solid white fatty deposits, tendons, extra bits of this and that but DO NOT cut excess skin because the excess skin is wrapped around the back of the chicken. Take note, kitchen shears are my favorite way to way to remove unwanted chicken parts.
Season Chicken On All Sides
Lay chicken skin-side down on work surface. Stretch excess skin and season generously with Jack Daniel’s Chicken Rub. Sprinkle rub on exposed meat too! More rub more flavor!
Tuck Skin Around Chicken
Once the chicken has been seasoned on inside of excess skin, under the top skin, it is time to stretch the skin around any skinless surface. Tuck the chicken into a bundle. Season the outside of the skin! Wow! Lots of seasoning! I actually use about 3/4 cup seasoning for 10-12 chicken thighs! I measured!
Place Chicken Thighs Seam Side Down on Grill
In order to smoke chicken to perfection, brush the chicken thighs with oil right before you place it on a hot grill. And about that hot grill, make sure you have brushed the grill and rubbed the grates with a little oil!
Place chicken thighs seam-side down on a 300°F grill, over direct heat. The lower temperature is for smoke infusion! Cook chicken about 3 minutes on each side. Close the lid and smoke chicken for 25-30 minutes.
Adjust to a hotter heat, at the end of the cook to crisp skin over direct heat. The chicken has completed when the internal temperature is 165*F Fahrenheit (75°C Celsius).
Choose side dishes that compliment not compete with the main dish!
SIDE DISHES THAT COMPLIMENT NOT COMPETE
Choose a side dish that brings out the flavor elements in the smoked chicken. For example, baked beans that have an extra generous amount of ham, bacon, spicy heat or ketchup could overpower the chicken. If the chicken is spicy, consider serving a bean dish that has a gentle touch of sweetness with a squeeze of lime.
The charred corn salad that I am featuring today has a touch of agave syrup sweet, a light sprinkling of Jack Daniel’s Chicken Rub for heat, and a splash of homemade salsa verde for acidic freshness. The charred corn salad, served warm or at room temperature, takes the palate right back to the star of the show, smoked chicken.
A side dish is like a drumroll announcing something special is coming.
SIDE DISHES FOR SMOKED CHICKEN THIGHS
There are so many philosophies on what to eat these days! From gluten-free to Paleo to Keto, sometimes you need a few side dishes to accommodate all your guests. Whereas Charred Corn Salad is not for you non-carb Keto friends, the Smoked Salsa Verde is perfect for almost every style of eating! Here are a few other side dishes that are popular with the crowds!
- Garlic and Chives Roasted Carrots
- Charred Broccoli Florets
- Grilled Parmesan Green Beans
- Charred Brussels Sprouts with Red Pepper Rosemary Oil
- Creamy Poblano Potato Salad with Grilled Lime
- Grilled Potato Salad with Herb Vinaigrette
- Pan Roasted Maple Cranberry Butternut Squash
HOW TO MAKE A BALANCED CHARRED CORN SALAD
There are two basic ways to grill corn, husk on or husk off. The flavor and texture you want will determine the method of grilling the corn. For a Mexican Street Corn Salad, or grilled creamy corn side dish, removing the husk will create a more flavorful side dish. It is all about the char for flavor! And, before we even get to the grill, we start with a quick blanch.
Char is not the only goal though we are after texture. A tip I learned, from my mama, is to quickly blanch the corn in 1-tablespoon of salt and 1-tablespoon sugar. Blanching corn before grilling will help to plump the kernels before charring on the grill.
But get this, your goal is not to char every kernel! When every side of the corn is charred to the max the texture will be hindered! Huh? A variation of charred corn and soft moist corn kernels creates a balance in flavor and in mouth-feel. The moist corn kernels stay tender and are sweeter.
Three more elements bring a Charred Corn Salad to perfection! First, homemade salsa verde delivers the acid to the salad. Second, a sprinkle of Jack Daniel’s Chicken Rub seasons the salad with salt and heat. Third, cilantro and green onions add freshness.
HOW TO REMOVE CORN KERNELS FROM THE COB
So you remove perfectly charred corn from the grill, now what? Once the corn is cool enough to handle, it is time to free the kernels from the cob! Yes, there are fancy tools for this but there are some great corn-kernel-removal hacks!
*Place the thin end of the corn cob into the hole of a tubed pan. Use a serrated knife to cut the kernels from top to bottom. The kernels will fall into the tubed pan!
- Cut off the base part of the cob, if needed, to stabilize the cob. Place on the center of your largest cutting board and cut away. A straight edged paring knife will safely remove the kernels from the cob.
- Invert a 2-cup bowl into a large 8-cup or larger bowl. Place the cob on the smaller bowl and cut downward.
- Do you make your own flower arrangements? The pin frog or the small prong piece for stabilizing flower arrangements creates a stable base for removing kernels from cobs!
Let’s Get Smoking!
Smoked Chicken Thighs with Charred Corn Salad and Salsa Verde
Smoked Chicken Thighs infused with Western BBQ Peach Smoking Chips, and
seasoned with Jack Daniel’s Chicken Rub. Served with smoky salsa verde salsa that is
mixed with charred corn, poblano, jalapeños, and scallions. A smoky delicious chicken
and corn dinner everyone will devour!
Ingredients
For Chicken:
- 1 1/2 to 3 cups Western BBQ Peach Smoking Chips
- 12 bone-in chicken thighs
- 2/3 cup Jack Daniel’s Chicken Rub Seasoning
For Charred Corn Salad:
- 4 ears of corn, husk and strings removed
- 1 tablespoon canola oil or preferred cooking oil
- 1 poblano pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon Jack Daniel’s Chicken Rub Seasoning
- 1/4 cup green onions
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
For Salsa Verde Salsa:
- 1 tablespoons canola oil or preferred cooking oil
- 10 -12 medium tomatillos,
- 1 whole jalapeño
- 1 whole poblano pepper
- 3 scallions
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
To Serve:
- Cilantro sprigs, lime wedges, charred red bell pepper
Instructions
To Prepare Chicken:
- Trim excess fat from chicken thighs leaving as much skin on as possible. The excess skin will be wrapped around the side without skin.
- Rub seasoning under the skin by gently loosening skin with a finger. Rub the outside of the skin with remaining chicken seasoning.
- Set chicken aside and prepare smoky salsa verde and charred corn.
- Once the smoky salsa verde and charred corn are prepared continue with step 5.
- There might be a need to add more smoking chips to the smoker box after charring the corn before the chicken smokes.
- Once you have a smoky grill prepared, adjust heat to 300°F degrees.
- Grill the chicken thighs, skin side up, over direct heat for about 3 minutes.
- Turn chicken over with the skin side down and continue to cook for 3 minutes, turning chicken as needed to prevent burning.
- Transfer the chicken, skin side up to indirect heat.
- Close the grill’s lid and continue to cook the chicken thighs for about 25-30 minutes. The grilling time varies due to the size of the thighs.
- The internal temperature of the grilled chicken should be 165°F Fahrenheit (75°F Celsius).
- Rest chicken for 10 minutes before serving.
To Smoke the chicken thighs on a gas Grill:
- Clean grill grates and brush with cooking oil.
- Place 1 1/2 cups Western Peach Smoking Chips in a smoker box. Place on back grill grate, above the burner.
- Turn grill on high or to 500°F. Close lid and wait 10 minutes before checking on smoke.
- After 10-15 minutes a steady stream of smoke should have developed.
- Adjust grill to 400°F heat to char corn and smoke salsa verde.
- Lower the grill temperature to 300°F for the chicken.
- Use BBQ gloves or tongs to move smoker box over the indirect heat. There is a chance you will have to refill the smoker box after the charred corn completely cooks before smoking the chicken.
To Prepare Charred Corn Salad:
- Bring a pasta pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon salt. Blanch corn for 3 minutes, drain, and pat dry.
- Toss corn in canola oil.
- Grill corn until charred on most sides, or desired doneness. A few sides of corn without char creates a variation of texture and flavor.
- Grill corn about 15 minutes, rotating as needed to prevent burning.
- As the corn is grilling, place red bell pepper and poblano pepper on grill and char skin.
- Remove peppers from grill, scrape off charred skin, and chop. Reserve 1/2 of the charred red pepper to garnish the charred corn.
- Place remixing chopped peppers in a salad bowl, and toss with lime juice, chicken rub, green onions, and cilantro.
- Remove charred corn, cool slightly, and remove kernels from cob with a sharp serrated knife.
- Stir charred corn kernels into the salad bowl with peppers. Set aside.
To Prepare Smoked Salsa Verde Salsa:
- Toss prepared tomatillos, jalapeño, and poblano in oil.
- Place on grill while corn chars, if there is room. Grill until peppers are charred and tomatillos have softened.
- Cut charred peppers in half and remove and discard the seeds, stem, and membrane. Place in a food processor.
- Add tomatillos, scallions, cilantro, garlic, and salt. Process on high until the consistency is like salsa.
- Add 1/3 cup smoked salsa verde to the charred corn salad. Taste, and season with additional salt, pepper, chicken rub, and lime juice.
- Pour the remaining smoked salsa verde into a small serving bowl.
To Serve Smoked Chicken Thighs with Charred Corn Salad and Salsa Verde:
- Arrange Smoked Chicken on a platter with cilantro sprigs and lime wedges.
- Serve Salsa Verde Charred Corn underneath the chicken or in a separate bowl. Add the smoked salsa verde on top of the chicken or in a separate small bowl. Enjoy!
Notes
Chicken Tip: Chicken can be trimmed, seasoned, covered, and stored in the refrigerator overnight if desired.
Crispy Skin Chicken: When the chicken has reached 155-160°F remove from grill. Increase grill temperature to 400°F and quickly crisp chicken thighs, on both sides, about 1 minute per side.
Charred Corn flavor boosts: Add Cotija cheese or Queso Fresco for cheesy goodness. Add hot sauce to bring up the heat level!
What to do with leftovers: Leftover smoked chicken and charred corn can be tossed into a salad! Scrumptious!
For more delicious smoked chicken, proteins and produce head to
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