Description
Picture crispy skin and pan juices so zesty you’ll keep coming back for more of these chicken thighs!
Ingredients
1 Teaspoon olive oil
4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
Sea salt and black pepper
1 Tablespoon minced fresh thyme, or sage/rosemary, see notes
2 cloves garlic, minced, see notes
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 thin lemon slices, optional as garnish
1/4 cup chicken stock
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
Place a 9-10″ cast iron skillet over medium high heat. When the pan is hot but not smoking, add the olive oil to the pan.
Then place the chicken thighs in skin side down. (You may want to use some sort of shield for grease splatter.) Cook over medium heat until the skin is crispy, about 10-15 minutes. Turn the chicken and sear about 5 minutes before removing it from the pan.
Add the thyme and garlic to the pan and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Then add the lemon juice and chicken stock. Using a metal spatula, (or appropriate tool for your skillet) scrape across the bottom of the pan to pull up the browned bits into the sauce.
Place the chicken thighs back into the pan, and lay the 4 lemon slice evenly around the pan if using.
Roast the chicken thighs in the oven until a thermometer reads 165ºF, about 15 minutes. The timing will vary depending on your chicken thighs.
Serve immediately with your choice of sides.
Notes
For the fresh herbs you can substitute 1 teaspoon dried herbs instead. My favorites are Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence. Also for the fresh garlic, you can sub in 1/2 teaspoon garlic granules.
If you don’t want to make a mess on the stove top, you can place the chicken thighs skin side down in the cast iron skillet and roast them in the oven for 20 minutes. Then remove the skillet from the oven to add the ingredients for the sauce and roast again with the skin side up until done. I’ve made it this way before with less mess, but the skin doesn’t render quite as crispy as using the stove top.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 35
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven Roasting
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Crispy chicken thighs, Crispy Lemon Chicken Thighs, Lemon Chicken Thighs, Lemon Herb Chicken Thighs, Baked Lemon Chicken Thighs