RECIPE: Better broiled chicken, thanks to mayonnaise

Let’s get this out of the way first — this recipe calls for slathering raw pieces of chicken with mayonnaise. That may turn you off. But I’d encourage you to have an open mind and just go with it. This technique, which I first learned from J. Kenji López-Alt in The New York Times, is wildly effective for improving browning on thin cuts of meat, carrying the flavor of marinades and getting said marinade to stick on those thin cuts of meat.

As López-Alt has said, you can truly go wild with the method and incorporate just about any sauce, dressing or combination of finely minced fresh ingredients with a big scoop of mayonnaise and use it as an instant marinade for chicken, pork, beef and even fish.

I particularly like to use it on boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which can be challenging to brown effectively in a short period of time. And you don’t even need to leave the meat in the marinade for any length of time. Simply mix up the mayonnaise blend, toss it with chicken and cook. In the recipe below, I combine the mayonnaise with a generous amount of grated garlic, finely chopped dill and red pepper flakes for a bit of heat. This flavor combination evokes Greek souvlaki, especially given the light tang from the mayonnaise.

And while you can cook the thighs any which way you’d like, I prefer to do it hands-free under the broiler. You needn’t worry about splatters in a skillet or flare-ups on a grill, and the flavor-packed juices left on the sheet pan taste glorious drizzled over steamed rice.

Garlicky Mayonnaise Chicken