Chicken thighs are a cheap and delicious ingredient that are easy to make. The best way to cook them is to crisp the skin in a cast iron pan and then finish them in the oven so the meat stays tender and juicy. They are great with just some salt and pepper but they are easy to add flavor to and pair so well with a delicious pan sauce!
This variation calls for sliced lemon, rosemary sprigs, and lots of garlic. You season the vegetable oil first with the rosemary and garlic and then add the chicken to the hot oil, skin side down. You want to make sure that the skin is really dry before it hits the pan or it won’t get really crispy! Once it is in the pan, top with lemon and let it sit until the skin is crispy and pulling away from the pan.
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- Put skin side down in hot oil to crisp skin
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- Once skin is crispy, flip the chicken over and finish in the oven
Once the skin is crispy, flip the chicken over and finish in the oven at 425°F. Once the chicken is finished cooking, you can transfer the chicken to a plate and start on the pan sauce. To make the pan sauce you will need some white wine, chicken broth, butter, and corn starch (optional). I like to add the corn starch because it helps thicken the sauce and give it a really nice, velvety texture. But if you don’t have any on hand, its just as good without it!
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- Remove the chicken, but leave the lemon, garlic, and rosemary to add flavor while you build the sauce
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- Remove the large pieces before you add the butter
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- Whisk in the cornstarch to thicken
The pan sauce comes together in very little time. You will remove the chicken from the pan, but leave the lemon, garlic, and rosemary. This will help flavor the sauce. Then add wine and reduce it by half, then add chicken broth and again reduce by about half. Then whisk in the butter to round out the sauce. You can stop here if you want, or you can continue and whisk in a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce (as shown above). Then you have yourself an easy and delicious meal!
Lemon Rosemary Crispy Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 2 rosemary sprigs
- 4 garlic cloves cut in half
- 4 bone-in skin on chicken thighs
- 1/2 medium lemon sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the pan sauce:
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 2/3 cup chicken broth
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Add the canola oil to a cast iron pan and heat over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the rosemary and garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
- Pat the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel and season both sides liberally with salt and pepper.
- Add the chicken, skin side down, to the cast iron pan. Top with lemon slices.
- Allow the chicken to cook undisturbed for about 10 minutes, until the skin is crispy and is pulling away from the pan. Resist every urge to move the chicken around. The skin gets crispiest if it stays in one spot!
- Flip the chicken over (so the skin side is up) and place the whole pan in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is finished cooking. The chicken is done when an instant read thermometer shows the internal temperature at 165°F.
- When the chicken is finished, remove the cast iron pan from the oven. Be very careful when doing this - the pan gets very hot in the oven and it's quite heavy!
- Transfer the chicken to a plate, but leave the rest of the juices and seasonings in the pan.
- Pour out the cooking liquid so there is only about 1 tbsp of liquid left in the pan.
- Over medium-high heat, deglaze with the white wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan to get the crispy bits off of the bottom.
- Once the wine is reduced by half, add the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, and reduce by half again.
- Remove the large pieces of lemon, garlic, and rosemary from the sauce.
- Whisk the butter into the sauce until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch with 2 tbsp water to create a slurry.
- Whisk the slurry into the sauce to thicken it.
- Once the sauce is thickened, it is ready to be served.
