This easy Oven Baked Chicken Thigh recipe is reminiscent of Mom's...tender, flavorful dark meat with a crispy skin!
Serve with your favorite bowl of homemade mashed potatoes or a side of rice and chicken gravy or, shred the chicken and make a big batch of homemade Chicken and Dumplings!
Why you'll love this recipe:
- Oven roasted chicken is a universal comfort food with each culture having its own version. In fact, nothing says "home" more than the wonderful aroma of baked chicken.
- Versatile - bake the chicken with whatever seasonings, spices and herbs you have on hand!
- In order to retain the natural juices of the chicken, this recipe first bakes the dark meat, then roasts it. Roasting (cooking it uncovered) allows the skin to get crispy without losing the tenderness of the meat.
This recipe uses dark-meat chicken thighs with the bone-in and skin-on. The natural flavors from the skin and bone offer a delicious, natural flavor and great texture.
What you'll need:
Sometimes "simple is best" and this recipe calls for simple ingredients: chicken thighs- you can use skin-on, bone-in or boneless/skinless thighs, salt, pepper, butter and onion (optional)
How to make oven baked chicken thighs
If you've never made oven baked chicken thighs, you're in for an easy experience! All you do is put a little water in a baking dish, then season the chicken with a little salt and pepper, cover with foil and bake at 350°F.
It generally takes about an hour, but once you've cooked the chicken, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freeze it for later use.
Seasonings can vary. If you don't know what you're going to use the cooked chicken in, just season it with salt and pepper; however, if you know you'll be using the meat in a Mexican recipe, then feel free to add in some chili powder, garlic powder and/or onion powder.
Same thing applies to Italian-if you know you want to use the chicken in an Italian dish then season it with Italian herbs-sage, rosemary, thyme, or herbs de provence.
Recipe FAQ
Generally, 8 thighs takes 50-55 minutes in a 350°F oven, but it also depends upon a few factors:
Temperature of oven
Type of poultry: skin-on takes a little longer than skinless
Number of thighs (8-10 thighs take longer than 2-3)
As ovens vary, the best way to determine the doneness of poultry is to use a reliable meat thermometer. When the internal temperature reaches 165°F, it's done!
Food safety regulations require poultry reach an internal temperature of at least 165ºF. The best way to take the temperature of a skin-on, bone-in chicken thigh is to place the thermometer in the thickest area of the thigh, but not next to the bone.
How to remove the skin
If you bought skin-on chicken pieces, but don't want to cook them with the skin on, use a sharp knife and gently cut away the skin before you season the poultry.
Keep in mind the skin offers flavor and fat, so if you want to make chicken gravy to go with your roasted chicken, you might want to keep the skin on.
How to make chicken gravy
After the chicken is done, place it in foil and pour the remaining liquid into a measuring cup to determine how much fat residue is leftover (this will determine how much flour to add to make a roux for the chicken gravy).
- Pour the chicken liquid into a cast-iron skillet on medium heat
- Add an equal amount of flour to the liquid; whisk and cook for 3 minutes
- Add chicken stock to roux until it reaches the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper
- Serve over chicken, rice or potatoes
Note: if you need to make more chicken gravy, add butter or oil to the chicken juice then, add an equal amount of flour to the skillet.
The beauty of oven baked, or roasted chicken thighs is that they're relatively inexpensive and perfect for feeding large groups! If you have leftovers, you can always debone the dark meat and make chicken salad or chicken spaghetti!
Related recipes:
- Mom's Pot Roast
- Beef Tips with Rice and Gravy
- Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
- Chicken Stew
- Cajun Chicken Gumbo
♥ If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and rating. I love to hear from you!
📋 Recipe
Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs bone-in, skin-on (See Recipe Notes: Chicken)
- 1 stick butter cut into 8 sections
- ½ large yellow onion (optional)
- 1 cup water
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Pat dry chicken thighs with paper towel
- Add 1 cup water to baking dish
- Lightly salt and pepper chicken thighs (top and bottom)
- Place chicken thighs in baking dish
- Place one dollop of butter and two slices of onion on each thigh
- Slice onion into 16 small pieces; cut butter into 8 slices (optional)
- Cover baking dish with foil
- Bake for 50-55 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165ºF
- Remove foil and place chicken and baking dish back into the oven
- Turn oven setting to 500ºF
- Allow to cook for 5-8 minutes, or until the chicken skins begin to brown
- Remove from oven and serve
Notes
- temperature of oven
- type of poultry: skin-on takes longer than no-skin
- amount of chicken thighs (8-10 thighs take longer than 2-3)
- Pour the chicken liquid into a cast-iron skillet on medium heat
- Add an equal amount of flour to the liquid; whisk and cook for 3 minutes
- Add chicken stock to roux until it reaches the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper
- Serve over chicken, rice or potatoes
Sandra says
My chicken thighs didn’t have skins, so I omitted the final roasting. Is this okay? I also forgot about the butter accidentally. Okay???
Anecia says
Yes! Just make sure the chicken reaches 165ºF!