Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Richly savory and, well, like chicken! Texture: Salty, oh-so-crisp skin with a super moist meat. Ease: This is probably the easiest way to enjoy perfectly cooked dark meat chicken with a scrumptious fried skin. Appearance: I don’t know about you but crisp skin makes my mouth water. Pros: Better than KFC! Cons: None that I thought up. Would I make this again? Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yesThis post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Have you seen the latest issue of Bon Appetit? The one where Gwyneth is smiling at you from the cover? If not, take a look the next time your standing in line at the grocery store.
Gwyneth’s pictures are redonkulous. I don’t know anyone who prances around in their kitchen wearing skin-tight, thigh-high dresses eating huge plates of pasta. I wanted to dismiss the issue after laughing at those photos but luckily I didn’t because there was at least one gem of a recipe in there. This recipe promised a simple technique to produce outstanding results and I’m happy to say it lived up to it’s promise. The chicken is succulent and flavorful with a beautiful crisp, salty skin. It’s great for those days when you are craving crispy chicken but don’t feel like frying or roasting a whole bird. Also, chicken thighs are dirt cheap so it makes a great family meal. If you want to add another punch of flavor, throw in some sprigs of thyme or rosemary or even a few lemon wedges.
*post edited 5/27/13 to add new and improved photo!
Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- fresh thyme or rosemary sprigs, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking.
- Nestle chicken in skillet, skin side down, and cook 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high and continue cooking skin side down, moving chicken around to ensure even heat. Cook skin-down until fat renders and skin is golden brown, about 12 minutes.
- Transfer skillet to oven and cook 10-13 minutes more. Flip chicken so the skin side is facing up and cook until the skin is crisp and the internal temperature registers at least 165 degrees, about 5 minutes more. Transfer chicken to a plate and allow to rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh herbs, if using.
I have made this before and it turned out really well. When I went to make it tonight the chicken skin stuck so badly to the pan that it was ruined. I used a lot of oil so I don’t understand. Anyone know what I did wrong?
@Teresa….no problem! I and my very very very picky husband love this recipe….actually he loves it more than I do bc he can’t believe how good it is. We ate this last night and had company over and my girlfriend couldn’t believe how crispy and juicy it was and how quick it was, she watched me cook and was in disbelieve. Trying your chipotle salmon next so I will be giving feed back and once again……Thank you so much for this recipe…it will stay in my kitchen til i’m gray and wrinkle
I’m totally perplexed by the comments where this recipe didn’t work out or tasted bad…I’ve been using this recipe once a month since I first saw it in the summer of 2011 and it’s perfect every time. Maybe the key is a perfectly seasoned cast iron…all I know is we eat it all the time and love it.
I made this for dinner tonight and it made eating dark meat bearable. I only used the burner at medium high and than medium for the times given and my skin was a lot darker (almost burnt) but I like it that way better. Only commenting on that for others to be careful with the high and medium high temperature given above. It definitely would have made it inedible on my stovetop. I did put it in the oven for close to the temperature given at 450 and the meat temperature came out at over 170 degrees after the time as given above. I added a lot of varied seasonings and my chicken came out crispy outside and moist inside. Thanks for the tips!
I made this tonight using organic chicken thighs and my husband told me it was the BEST chicken we have ever eaten in this house! we also sprinkled some lemon over it with the rosemary bc we love that lemon taste.
What i DIDNT tell him was how EASY it is. With some crispy potatoes– this meal was perfection.
Tried this last night and loved it. Got the crisp without all the deep frying. Meat was so moist and tender! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes so glad to have found your site.
Thank you so much. I hope I can help make your life a little more tasty!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS RECIPE!!!!! I have seen the comments about being a bad or horrible recipe and I can see how it went wrong. First of all I have to say thank u on the idea of rosemary, sage, and garlic. I didnt see it until the thighs were in the oven but I said “it couldnt hurt” so sure thing I sprinkle all 3 on the chicken on both sides and it was pretty damn good. My husband is the pickest person and 1 he doesn’t eat chicken skin and 2 it was season to perfection and the cherry on top….he hates chicken thighs!!! Now to the bad expeience comments…. when I first started to cook n follow recipes I burn many things. I would think “2 minutes on each side” meant ” til I see fit or maybe 3 mins is better” when your frying and finishing it by oven it literally means 2 mins. Another suggestion that I had to learn the hard way was deciding, depending on what I was cooking, on what level to put my oven trays and unfortunately this only comes from using your oven and getting to know it. Im a military wife and we move constantly, this year alone we moved 3x and all were in the same apt complex so the appliances are all the same….and guess what???? All 3 ovens cooked different. And final note…I have to say, even though I did add the sage, rosemary n garlic powder at the end, the taste really comes from your cast iron. If u have not seasoned your cast iron nor use it all the time, I can see how it could be tasteless bc in the beginning, cooking in my cast iron took more than salt&pepper for the food to come out great…now I can literally fry in it without seasoning at all n the food comes out great. I hope Ive help some of you out bc I sure wished someone would have told me this when I started cooking n if not im sorry you had a bad experience. I love this recipe and it surely will be a repeat in my house
Thank you for your thoughtful comment! Isn’t it crazy how every oven and stovetop work differently? I have also had the same exact oven in two different houses and one cooks completely different than the other – it took weeks for me to get used to! I’m so happy you and your husband enjoyed the chicken 🙂
I love this recipe for many reasons. 1. No flour 2. Super easy 3. 1 Tbl. of oil! Recently I lost 50 pounds and this recipe gives me back fried chicken. When I first made it I made the mistake of using olive oil, I almost burned the place down. After making it several times now I feel I’ve worked everything out now and may never go back to regular fried chicken.
Yikes! Had no idea it would come out so great! My boyfriend usually refuses to eat chicken thighs – but it was literally the only thing in our fridge. After trying it this way, he said he would never want to eat chicken any other way. Maybe I used a little too much salt and I also added some sage instead of rosemary – but amazing! Couldn’t ask for better skin! And so easy!
Made it with a side of sauteed spinach w/ bacon and onions. YUM
I’m so glad you and your boyfriend enjoyed the chicken! Sage sounds like a wonderful autumn spin on this recipe 🙂
Excellent! I now use this technique to cook chicken for chicken salad, quesadillas, chicken pot pie, etc. So easy!!
I cooked this last last night, my wife and son loved and said they had not tasted chicken so good in years, definitely doing it again, I did mine with mushroom sauce. We live in Christchurch New Zealand at the bottom of the South Pacific and would love to hear from anyone in the Northern Hemisphere. gerry.mitt@xtra.co.nz
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