Chicken Thigh
Food · Protein · Food, Typed Supps
Chicken thigh gives you protein plus iron and zinc, all from real food you can actually taste.
Stage by stage
- Chewing & Swallowing (Mouth & Esophagus): Chewing breaks the thigh's muscle fibres apart and saliva begins moistening the protein-rich meat for digestion.
- Protein Breakdown (Stomach): Stomach acid and the enzyme pepsin unfold and cleave the meat's proteins into smaller peptides while releasing iron bound within myoglobin.
- Nutrient Absorption (Small Intestine): In the small intestine, peptides are broken into amino acids and absorbed, and heme iron and zinc cross the intestinal wall more efficiently than the non-heme forms found in plant foods.
- Tissue Repair & Use (Muscle & Blood): Absorbed amino acids rebuild muscle tissue and enzymes, iron is incorporated into haemoglobin for oxygen transport, and zinc supports immune cell production.
Timing
Chicken thigh is typically eaten as part of a meal; it has no special time-of-day requirement, though spreading protein intake across meals tends to support steadier muscle protein synthesis than concentrating it all at once.
Time to effect
- Hours to weeks: Amino acids begin supporting muscle protein synthesis within a few hours of eating, while the iron and B12 it supplies take weeks of consistent intake to meaningfully shift blood iron and B12 status.
Allergens
None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.
Eating patterns
Fits: Keto, Low-FODMAP, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Halal, Kosher.
Satiety
115 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — moderate. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.
Environmental footprint
9.9 kg CO2e and 660 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Poultry meat" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.
Cost band
Mid — roughly £7 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.
Key nutrients
Nutrition per 100g
- Calories: 214.6
- Protein: 16g
- Carbohydrate: 0g
- of which sugars: 0g
- Fat: 16.9g
- of which saturated: 5.1g
- Fibre: 0g
- Sodium: 54mg
Food vs. supplement
Chicken thigh delivers complete protein alongside naturally well-absorbed heme iron, zinc, and B12 in one food, while isolated iron or zinc supplements skip the protein and can be harder on the gut at comparable doses.
Kitchen tip
Roast or bake chicken thighs to a verified internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) with a food thermometer; skin-on thighs benefit from higher heat to render fat and crisp the skin without overcooking the meat.
Common myth
Chicken thigh is a fatty, unhealthy cut compared to "lean" chicken breast. In reality: Skinless roasted thigh (about 8 g fat per 100 g) does carry more fat than breast (about 3.6 g per 100 g), but it remains a moderate-fat protein source that also provides roughly double the iron and several times the zinc of breast per 100 g, according to USDA FoodData Central values.
Recipes that use it
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