Oven-Roasted Chicken Thighs

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Oven-Roasted Chicken Thighs

More flavorful and less prone to overcooking than lean breasts, chicken thighs are a perfect weeknight dinner. The only problem is that the layer of fat underneath the skin that helps keep them moist during cooking often leads to flabby skin. To combat this, we cooked the thighs, skin side down, on a preheated baking sheet, until the skin was browned and rendered. We then flipped the thighs over and put them under the broiler briefly to dry and crisp the skin. The result was chicken thighs with succulent and juicy meat under a sheer layer of crackly crisp, deeply browned skin.

Servings:

Calories: 633kcal

Author: America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

8 6- to 8-ounce bone-in chicken thighs trimmed
1¼ teaspoons salt
pepper to taste
vegetable oil spray
1 recipe sauce see related recipes

Instructions

Adjust oven racks to middle and lowest positions, place rimmed baking sheet on lower rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees.

Prepare the chicken:

Trim any overhanging fat from around the thighs.
Using metal skewer, poke skin side of chicken thighs 10 to 12 times.
Season both sides of thighs with salt and pepper.
Spray the chicken skin lightly with vegetable oil spray.

Roast chicken thighs:

Place thighs skin side down on preheated baking sheet.
Return baking sheet to bottom rack.
If preparing sauce (see related recipes), place foil packet on middle rack.
Roast chicken until skin side is beginning to brown and meat registers 160 degrees, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pan and, if preparing sauce, removing foil packet after 10 minutes.
Remove chicken from oven and heat broiler.

Broil chicken thighs:

While broiler heats, flip chicken skin side up.
Broil chicken on middle rack until skin is crisp and well browned and meat registers 175 degrees, about 5 minutes, rotating pan as needed for even browning.
Transfer chicken to platter and let rest for 5 minutes.

Finish and serve:

While chicken is resting, finish sauce, if using.
Serve chicken, passing sauce separately.

Notes

Serve the chicken plain or with any of these related recipes:

Nutrition