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I’ve been perfecting this recipe for crispy chicken thighs that are juicy and tender for years. This recipe serves as the base for so many of our other recipes, but they’re perfectly delicious on their own! You’ll never cook bone-in skin-on chicken thighs another way.

Perfect crispy chicken thighs in a large skillet.

Before You Get Started

The food safe temp for chicken is 165° Fahrenheit, but dark meat like chicken thighs will actually be juicier and more tender between 180° and 195° Fahrenheit!

How to Make This Recipe

See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.

Season the Chicken Thighs

Pat four medium chicken thighs completely dry with paper towels, then season them generously with salt and pepper on all sides. Feel free to use other herbs or spices if you’d like!

Sear the Chicken tHIGHS

Heat a large, oven-safe skillet on the stovetop, over medium-heat. When the pan’s hot, add 2 teaspoons of oil and swirl the pan to spread the oil out evenly. Keep heating the pan until the oil is hot and shimmery, then place the seasoned chicken thighs in the skillet skin-side down. Sear the chicken until the skin releases easily, without sticking to the bottom of the skillet at all.

rOAST THE chICKEN thIGHS

When the skin lets go easily, flip the chicken thighs over, then immediately pop the skillet into the preheated oven. Roast the chicken 15 minutes, or until the internal temp of the meat reaches 170° Fahrenheit.

Cheryl’s Tip: Safety first. Always, always use a potholder when moving the skillet or checking the temperature of the chicken!

Rest, then Serve

Once you hit your target internal temp, remove the skillet from the oven and transfer the chicken thighs to your serving plates. Let them rest 5 minutes to lock in the juices and finish cooking. After 5 minutes, add your favorite sides or sauce and serve!

Two perfect crispy chicken thighs plated with a leafy green side salad.

What I Love About This Recipe

This is the absolute best method for cooking bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs that you will ever try! A quick sear followed by a 15-minute roast gives you perfectly crispy chicken thighs that are still mouthwateringly juicy inside. You’ll be ready to eat a delicious dinner in almost no time!
Because this recipe uses super simple staple ingredients, these chicken thighs will go well with absolutely anything! Smother them in cottage cheese alfredo sauce or a rich chicken gravy. Pair them with creamy risotto or truffle mac and cheese or air fried green beans. Plate them with your favorite cheesy pasta or a hearty baked potato. Crispy chicken thighs are a fabulous base that you can use for literally any type of cuisine.

Recipe Variations

Add More Seasoning: Using salt and pepper makes these crispy chicken thighs super versatile, ready for any side or sauce you might want to pair with them. You’re more than welcome to add any herbs or spices you like, though! Blackened seasoning or cajun seasoning would both be delish. I also like a combo of garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, paprika (regular or smoked), and oregano.

Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.

Recipe By: Cheryl Malik

Perfect Crispy Chicken Thighs

Prep 10

Cook 25

Total 35

This recipe for crispy chicken thighs serves as the base for so many of our other recipes, but they’re perfectly delicious on their own!

4 chicken thighs

Equipment

Oven
Cutting board
Paper towels
Large oven-safe skillet cast-iron preferred
stovetop
Tongs
internal meat thermometer

Ingredients

▢ 4 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs approximately 6-8 ounces each
▢ sea salt to taste
▢ freshly cracked black pepper to taste
▢ 2 teaspoons neutral oil avocado oil, olive oil, refined coconut oil, etc.

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Adjust oven racks to center of oven if needed.
Place 4 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs on cutting board. Pat chicken thighs completely dry on all sides with paper towels.
Season chicken thighs generously on all sides with plenty of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Set aside.
Place large skillet on stovetop over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons neutral oil to skillet and heat pan until oil is hot and shimmery, swirling and tilting pan as needed to distribute oil across surface.
When oil is hot, place seasoned chicken thighs skin-side down in skillet. Sear chicken thighs, undisturbed, 7 to 8 minutes or until skin of chicken thighs is golden-brown.
Flip chicken thighs over. If skins stick to skillet, cook chicken thighs 1 to 2 minutes more, then try again. Continue searing chicken thighs until skins easily release from bottom of skillet.
After flipping chicken thighs, immediately place skillet in preheated oven. Roast chicken thighs 15 minutes or until internal meat thermometer inserted into thickest area of thighs registers 170° Fahrenheit.
When target temperature is reached, carefully remove skillet from oven. Transfer chicken thighs to serving plates and set aside to rest 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, add preferred sides and serve chicken thighs as desired.

Internal Temperature: The food-safe internal temperature for bone-in chicken thighs is 165° Fahrenheit, but chicken thighs will be juicier and more tender between 180° and 195° Fahrenheit. Remove the chicken thighs from the oven when they reach 170°-175° Fahrenheit internally and set them aside to rest 5 minutes. The residual heat will continue cooking the chicken during that time, bringing them to a higher internal temp.

Approximate Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1 servingCalories: 442calProtein: 31gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 189mgSodium: 3637mgPotassium: 396mgTotal Carbs: 0.5gNet Carbs: 1gVitamin A: 150IUCalcium: 18mgIron: 1mg