Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: I will always LOVE the chicken + garlic + lemon + rosemary flavor combination. It’s perfection.
Texture: Like fried chicken without the breading or gallon of oil. The skin is so crackly and crisp while the meat inside is juicy and tender. AH! So good.
Ease: Very easy. The hardest part is cleaning the cast iron pan.
Appearance: Just look at that golden brown skin. Yum.
Pros: 30 minute meal you’ll crave over and over.
Cons: Cast iron pans can get a little smokey and take some extra effort to clean but it’s the best way you’ll get that perfect crisp skin.
Would I make this again? I’ve made this countless times.
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I started working on a new project that I am seriously SO excited about. Don’t you love when you have something new to focus your energies towards and it’s fun and exciting and challenging? I’m totally one of those people that LOVES to start projects. Everything about approaching something for the very first time excites me. I usually make my best effort to finish everything I start, but I definitely get a bit of a high off those first few weeks. Are you one of those people who has endless projects half finished??
Today’s recipe can be started and finished in about 30 minutes. WIN! These chicken thighs are seriously goooood. They’re total comfort food to me because they involve both my favorite flavors (garlic, lemon, and rosemary) and my favorite texture (crisp crackling goodness). You basically start off the chicken in a cast-iron pan on the stove to sear, then finish it off in the oven. The cast-iron gets super hot, so hot that it might actually smoke so be sure to turn your hood fan on. That heat is what imparts that super golden crispness to the skin while making the inside stay nice and juicy. You could use another type of oven-safe pan for this recipe, but I can’t promise it will make as crispy of results as that good ole’ cast iron will. I promise, it’s so worth the clean-up.
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Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 6 to 8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Combine the salt, pepper, garlic powder, lemon zest (reserve the juice), and rosemary in a small bowl. Sprinkle mixture evenly over both sides of the chicken thighs.
- Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Place the chicken thighs, skin side down, and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue cooking with the skin side down until the fat renders and it is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook for another 6 minutes. Flip the chicken so the skin side is facing up and cooking until the skin is crisp and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers at least 165°F, about another 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken before serving.
Delish, wasn’t sure about lemon at the end but it truly made the dish.
Excellent! Crispy outside, moist inside, very flavorful. Worth smoking-up the kitchen a bit — after all, that’s what hood/vent fans are for!
So happy you loved them!
This is one of our favorite chicken recipes. Even make it with chicken thighs without bones and it’s amazing! Always get compliments on it. Thank you!
YAY!
Love, love, love!!! Made it numerous times and
it is always a hit!!
Very tasty! Loved the combination of all the flavors of the seasonings!
Absolutely delicious! My wife and I either take turns or tag team in the kitchen. It was my turn, and what drew me to this recipe was not only it sounding tasty but the simplicity of making it.
My only stray from the recipe was giving the chicken a really light spray of cooking spray to help the seasonings stick to it. The rest was by the numbers to its final resting place in our full tummies…
A definite keeper! Two thumbs up from the Mrs. also.
Thanks! Happy Feasting!
we made these last night, they tasted just perfect. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
This chicken is look very yummy!! And I did try this today ..but i use skinless chicken thigh and I add paprika just because I want little Redish ,oh gracious a came out so beautiful and delicious I can’t stop eating..so from now on this is my favorite recipe ..thank you for sharing..
First let me say, this was delicious!! My husband is not a poultry eater but I have been trying to make him a convert for the last year. He will only eat chicken thighs so I relented, but it is difficult to find good recipes for thighs. He LOVED this! And I love cooking in my cast iron pan so this recipe was perfect! Thanks!!
Happy to hear that Ann!
Has anyone ever tried this with boneless, skinless thighs?
I am not sure how anyone who made this wasn’t eating absolutely raw chicken. My husband and I are sitting here waiting and waiting for it to be finished. It just isn’t happening. It looks great and I am sure will turn out fantastic, but the cooking time is waaaaaay off.
did you use frozen chicken thighs and not thaw them? did you only put the pan in the oven and not on the stovetop?