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.This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
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.
Crispy Chicken Thighs
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.
Made this last night for my husband and I, it was delicious and super easy! Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly, juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside…with amazing flavor! Thanks for this!
hi
dis recipe looks nice
yay
I made this recipe yesterday….my whole family LOVED the crispy chicken…especially my husband. I will definitely make this again soon! 🙂 Thank you!!!
It burned in half of the cooking time (pan). A little disappointed, but I am still putting in the oven to finish cooking. I wanted crispy, but not THAT crispy…
WOW, love it.
Am nuts about chicken. Quick and easy dishes of this sort.
Definitely trying.
More power.
WOW what an easy and delicious recipe. I love chicken thighs… it is just so tasty 😉
Excited to hear about the new project! Loving these chicken thighs — they look perfect!
This is seriously delicious!
Love chicken thighs. I don’t think most people realize how tasty they are and easy to cook!
I have some bone in chicken thighs and was looking for a recipe! These sound delicious. Will definitely try this recipe.
These look awesome ;-D
Drooling over these photos! Totally digging these classic flavours, and this girl can never say no to some crispy chicken! Pinned!