Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

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.

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!