Smoked Paprika Chicken Stuffed with Olives

Smoked paprika chicken thighs are stuffed with olives, cooked on top of sliced potatoes and onions. Perfect for dinner parties!

Smoked paprika has quickly become one of my favorite spices.

I love to use it in any dish that would benefit from a little bit of extra smokiness, like barbecue sauce or pulled pork. I've used it in salads, soups, you name it. It's particularly good as a rub on these Smoked Paprika Chicken Thighs Stuffed with Olives.

I have been making these chicken thighs for several years now, and I'm particularly fond of making them when we're having people over for dinner.

Because they take quite a while to cook, I like that I can get them all prepped up, then stick them in the oven and clean up before my guests arrive.

How to make Smoked Paprika Chicken Stuffed with Olives

The first time I made this recipe, I tossed the potatoes and onions with a little olive oil, because I couldn't fathom cooking veggies without any sort of fat. Big mistake.

The extra fat from the chicken skin drips down onto the veggies, making sure they don't end up dry. In fact, if you don't cut off extra fat and skin, they get a little greasy.

I prefer to take the bones out of my chicken thighs before I cook them because it makes them so much easier to eat. Maybe you could have your butcher do this for you.

It's really not that hard, to do, but having a good pair of kitchen shears does make it a lot easier.

You can skip that step if you really want, but it can be a little tricky to cut around the bone when you're eating. But, if you're not having guests over, and there's no one there to judge, just pick it up and eat it with your hands, fried chicken style!

Smoked Paprika Chicken Stuffed with Olives Ingredients:

• Yukon gold potatoes: you might also find that the potatoes are just called "yellow potatoes"
• Small yellow onion
• Pimento or garlic-stuffed olives
• Lemon zest from one lemon
• Garlic cloves
• Smoked paprika
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Bone-in skin-on chicken thighs: note that you will be removing the bones (it helps to have a good pair of kitchen shears for this, but it's not necessary), but keeping the skin on.

Want more chicken recipes?

Smoked Paprika Chicken Thighs Stuffed with Olives Nutrition Notes:

The sodium content of this recipe is quite high, mostly due to the olives used in stuffing the chicken. If you really need to cut down on sodium, try reducing the amount of salt in the rub to ¼ or ½ teaspoon.

Serve this chicken and potato dish with a green salad or roasted vegetables to make a complete meal.

Carissa Serink

Smoked Paprika Chicken Thighs Stuffed with Olives

5 from 1 vote

Skin on chicken thighs rubbed with smoked paprika and stuffed with olives, cooked on top of sliced potatoes and onions. Perfect for dinner parties!

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Servings: 4

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Universal

Calories: 464

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

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Ingredients Equipment Method Nutrition Notes

Equipment

• Kitchen shears or a sharp paring knife
• Baking sheet
• Cooling Rack
• Aluminum foil

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• ▢ 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes (yellow potatoes) thinly sliced
• ▢ 1 small yellow onion thinly sliced
• ▢ 3 ounces pimento or garlic-stuffed olives coarsely chopped
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• ▢ 1 garlic cloves minced
• ▢ 1 ½ Tablespoons smoked paprika
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ 4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs

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Instructions

 

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread sliced potatoes and sliced onions evenly on the baking sheet. Place a cooling rack on the baking sheet, over top of the potatoes and onions.
2. Stir together the chopped olives, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, and the minced garlic in a small bowl. Set aside. In a separate small bowl, mix together 1 ½ Tablespoons smoked paprika, 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, and ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to form a paste. Set aside.
3. Using sharp kitchen shears, trim excess skin and fat from the chicken thighs. Cut a slit along the bone of the chicken thigh, and carefully cut the bone from the thigh, being careful not to cut any holes in the chicken. (If you don't have kitchen shears, carefully use a paring knife to cut away excess skin, fat, and bones from the chicken).
4. Carefully stuff about 2 Tablespoons of the olive mixture under the skin of each chicken thigh. Rub the skin and meat of each thigh evenly with the paprika mixture. 
5. Place chicken thighs skin side up on the cooling rack over the potatoes and onions. Bake until the skin is crispy, about 60 minutes. Divide potatoes and onions evenly among 4 plates, and top each with one chicken thigh.

Nutrition

Calories: 464kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 27gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 142mgSodium: 888mgPotassium: 873mgFiber: 4gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 1492IUVitamin C: 25mgCalcium: 49mgIron: 3mg

Notes

Removing the chicken bones is optional, but makes it much easier to eat the thighs. If you decide not to remove the bones, you may need to add 5 minutes on to the cooking time.

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NOTE: I originally got this recipe from a co-worker in around 2010 after she brought this mouth-watering chicken to a potluck and I have been making it ever since.

However, it has been brought to my attention that Alton Brown has a recipe that appears to be very similar, and was probably where my co-worker got the recipe that she gave to me.