What Temp To Cook Chicken Thighs In Oven
We often ask ourselves how to cook chicken thighs in the oven. To cook chicken thighs, you need to choose a temperature. Cooking at a high temperature will destroy the fibers of the meat, so the texture and taste will be lost. Low-temperature ovens are better for melting the proteins that make chicken thighs juicy.
How To Bake Chicken Thighs In The Oven:
STEP ONE: First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly coat a baking dish with cooking spray.
STEP TWO: Next, brush olive oil over the chicken thighs. Then combine the seasonings in a small bowl.
STEP THREE: Sprinkle the seasoning blend over both sides of the chicken thighs before placing them in the baking dish.
STEP FOUR: Finally, bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.
Baked Chicken Thighs Ingredients
- Chicken thighs: Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are used here for more flavor.
- Olive oil: This is used to encourage browning.
- Lemon: The zest is used to season the chicken, then wedges are used for spritzing upon serving. I like to wait to add the juice just so chicken skin gets crispier in the oven without the added liquid.
- Garlic: Another alternative is to use 2 tsp garlic powder.
- Italian seasoning: Make your own blend using 1 tsp each basil, oregano, and thyme then 1/2 tsp each marjoram and rosemary.
- Paprika: This adds a nice light flavor and also improves color.
- Salt and pepper: Season with a fair amount.
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Why We Love Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
- Quick and easy dinner that only requires a little bit of prep, perfect for a weeknight.
- Juicy chicken every time with golden crunchy skin and tons of flavor. If you are used to cooking chicken breast, thigh meat is even more juicy!
- Can use the air fryer for this recipe or convection oven to make the chicken crispier and cook even a little faster. Can be made in an oven also.
- Simple dinenr the whole family will love, yet still impressive for company.
- Great recipe to meal prep ahead of time for dinner or lunches. I love this recipe to make ahead for a busy week or day.
Why Are Chicken Thighs Dry And Tough
There are the main factors that may have caused your chicken thighs to be dry and tough:
- You didnt bring the chicken out of the fridge for 20 minutes before cooking: This is key for even cooking!
- The thighs were overcooked: Make sure to take them out of the oven as soon as they reach an internal temp of 160° F .
- After baking them, you didnt allow the chicken thighs to rest for 3-5 minutes before cutting them. The resting time will re-distribute the juices and lock the moisture in.
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How To Cook Boneless Chicken Thighs In The Oven
What temperature do you bake boneless chicken thighs at?
- For the very best chicken thighs, youve just got to crank up the heat in the oven. Whether theyre on a sheet pan, in a skillet, or in a saucy marinade, the best temperature for cooking boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the oven is between 400°F and 450°F , with 425°F being the temperature we rely on most often.
How Do I Know When The Chicken Is Done
The most foolproof way to ensure chicken is cooked through is by using a meat thermometer. Insert the thermometer into the thickest or meatiest part of the chicken and it should read between 165 F 175 F degrees, when finished. I recommend using a meat thermometer for chicken attached to the bone as it can sometimes remain a little more pink than a chicken breast, due to the minerals in the bones.
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How To Make Chicken Thighs With Crispy Skin
This could be the best way to make chicken thighs ever! The skin gets insanely crispy and the meat juicy as can be. This method for coking chicken thighs involves a cast iron pan, the stove-top, and the oven. Here are the steps for making the chicken thighs.
Allow the chicken thighs to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Cold meat in a hot oven or hot pan will cook unevenly and be tough. Make sure to pat the skin dry with paper towels, moisture will prevent the skin from getting crispy.
- Season the chicken all over with salt and a good amount of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper only on the skin side. Rub the spices into the skin with your hands.
- Preheat a large cast iron pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes with 2 tablespoons of oil. Once hot, add the chicken thighs skin side down and allow them to cook for 8 minutes undisturbed. No need to move the chicken around, just let them do their thing and get nice and crusty. Move the pan to the oven and let them continue to cook skin side down for 9 minutes. Flip and cook another 3 minutes.
- Once the chicken is out of the oven, move to a clean plate and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. If you cut into the chicken thighs now, the juices will spill out and the meat will get dry.
Compound Butter Underneath The Skin:
Butter underneath the chicken skin ensures super juicy chicken thighs and adds loads of flavor, while the skin protects the butter and fresh herbs from the high heat of the oven.
- Butter I prefer grass-fed butter for nutrition and flavor, but you can use any unsalted butter.
- Garlic Use whole garlic cloves, because we are going to crush them.
- Fresh Herbs I used fresh parsley and dill. You can experiment with other fresh herbs see variations in my compound butter recipe post.
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Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs
How to bake chicken thighs so that they come out with crispy skin and juicy meat? Simply season them, then place them in a 400°F oven and bake for 45 minutes.
They’ll emerge from the oven browned and gorgeous, with wonderfully crispy skin and succulent meat. A true delicacy!
Chicken thighs – tender, Juicy, and very flavorful, are my second-favorite chicken part. The favorite is chicken wings, which happen to have the perfect ratio of skin to meat.
Properly cooked chicken thighs delight with crispy, well-seasoned skin, and with juicy, succulent meat. It’s chicken perfection!
In fact, they are so good, that these days, when I buy chicken, I almost always choose bone-in, skin-on thighs. And today I’ll share with you the best way to cook them.
Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
Crispy golden brown oven-baked chicken thighs are simple to prep and easy to make! These chicken thighs are juicy on the inside and packed with flavor. Simple ingredients make a delicious and easy chicken dinner that youll want to make again and again!
So in our house, we eat a lot of boneless skinless chicken breast with meals. Ive made these chicken drumsticks often enough and I love the convenience of having chicken thighs with roasted vegetables on the same pan. Often though, I reach for chicken breast when I am making a recipe.
The thing is sometimes chicken breast can dry out. I started really paying attention to chicken meals Ive had out at restaurants and I noticed that many times when the chicken was delicious and juicy? It was thigh meat in the recipe. I knew I had to try chicken thighs more often. Boy was I glad I did because these chicken thighs are juicy, flavorful, and amazing! The leftovers are great for salads, sandwiches and wraps!
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How Long To Bake Chicken Thighs At 400f
Most bone-in skin-on chicken thighs will take between 25 and 45 minutes to cook at 400F depending on their size. Your average sized chicken thighs should be plenty cooked by 35-40 minutes. Chicken thighs are tougher and become tender once they’re cooked beyond the 165F safe minimum temperature, so that’s why I suggest the cooking time of 35-40 minutes for this recipe.
How To Make Chicken Thighs In The Air Fryer
Make the rub mixture. In a small bowl, combine together the salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and Italian seasoning.
Prep the chicken. Preheat the air fryer to 380°F. My air fryer doesnt really need to be preheated, but in this cake everything will go so fast, you might as well have it ready to go. Before starting, pat the thighs dry with paper towels. Brush each chicken thigh with olive oil on both sides. Generously sprinkle the chicken on both sides with the rub mixture.
Air fry the chicken. Place chicken thighs skin side down in the basket to air fry. Cook for 12 minutes, then turn them over and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. If you like the chicken to have crispy skin, and the thighs are not crispy enough, cook for an additional 5 minutes or until its to your liking. The chicken is cooked through when a thermometer reads 165°F inserted in the center of a thigh.
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Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs
The next time you need a delicious recipe for a chicken dinner, try these Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Thighs. This chicken thigh recipe is at the top of my list when it comes to my favorite dinners for busy weeknights.
The flavorful, juicy, tender boneless chicken thighs are wrapped in bacon and then topped with luscious brown sugar for that perfect combo of sweet and salty in every bite. The recipe takes a few minutes of prep time, so you will have it ready to cook in no time at all!
This flavor combo just makes sense! Chickengood! Bacongood! Chicken and bacongood! Whats not to love? I love the smell of bacon.
So adding the bacon to these juicy chicken thighs is a match made in Heaven! The succulent chicken with the crispy bacon is mouth-watering and beyond satisfying.
It starts in a skillet on the stovetop and finishes in the oven in the same skillet! Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Thighs is genuinely a super simple recipe that will become your new family favorite.
Steps To Cook Chicken Thighs In The Oven
To make perfectly baked chicken thighs, follow these 4-5 steps:
Baking perfect chicken thighs is a combination of high temperature and cooking time.
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Top Tips For Baking Chicken Thighs
Because chicken thighs have more fat from their skin and dark meat, they have loads of flavor. Your chicken thighs should come out of the oven browned, crispy and bursting with juicy goodness. It can be intimidating to know how long to bake chicken thighs, so were taking the guesswork out of it.
Pat the Skin Dry
The first step to preparing your chicken thighs is also the most important. Make sure the outer skin is as dry as possible. Moist skin causes steam, making your cooked thighs mushy. Pat them dry for crispy skin.
Psst:Did you know chicken skin isnt so bad for you?
Prep the Night Before
Save time and get more flavor by preparing your chicken thighs the night before you bake them. By allowing them to sit with the vegetables and seasonings overnight, youll have nothing to do at dinnertime but pop the sheet pan in the oven. Just be sure to keep an eye out for the most common sheet pan dinner mistakes.
Know How Long to Bake Chicken Thighs
You dont want to overbake and risk dry thighs, so roast only until a thermometer inserted in the chicken reads 170°-175°. It usually takes about 40 minutes. And, yes, you really need a meat thermometer.
Here are more baked chicken recipes youll love. Check out these boneless chicken thigh recipes, too.
Can I Use Boneless Chicken Thighs
Yes, you can use boneless chicken thighs in this recipe. I actually like boneless chicken thighs quite a bit because they are a little less messy, but bone-in chicken thighs tend to have a little more flavor.
Boneless chicken thighs also usually dont have the skin. If you want crispy skin, youll need to use a bone-in chicken thigh. This recipe is still delicious and flavorful with boneless chicken thighs, but wont be crispy without the skin.
Boneless chicken thighs will take slightly less time to cook than bone-in chicken thighs. Expect boneless chicken thighs to take about 25-30 minutes before they are finished. Use a meat thermometer to check, the chicken is cooked when it reaches 165 degrees.
Whether you use bone in- or boneless chicken this baked chicken thighs recipe will be delicious for dinner.
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Seasoning Over The Skin:
Seasonings over the skin ensure that the skin has lots of flavor, and we use oil instead of butter here since it has a higher smoke point and will be exposed to direct heat.
- Avocado Oil You can also use any other vegetable oil or olive oil.
- Spices Smoked paprika and garlic powder. You can also add other dried seasonings here, such as dried oregano, dried rosemary, onion powder, chili powder, and/or cayenne pepper.
- Sea Salt & Black Pepper
What To Make With Crispy Chicken Thighs
Serve up these crispy oven baked chicken thighs with an easy side dish:
- Potatoes Roasted or mashed are popular options, but I prefer healthier mashed cauliflower or roasted rutabaga instead.
- Rice Regular white or brown rice, or cauliflower rice.
- Vegetables Try roasted asparagus, green beans almondine, sauteed zucchini or mushrooms, or a mix of oven roasted vegetables.
- Salad Healthy salads always pair well with chicken!
- Sauces These chicken thighs are already super crispy and juicy, but if you want a sauce, you can serve BBQ sauce or honey mustard on the side.
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How Do You Know When Chicken Thighs Are Cooked
To test when chicken thighs are cooked we recommend using a meat thermometer. Using a digital thermometer will help you to become a more confident cook and remove any stress of potential food poisoning.
Chicken is cooked when it has an internal temperature of 74C. To probe your chicken thighs you should insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat.
You can also test to see the chicken is cooked if the juices run clear when cut and pressed. However, this method isnt as precise and can also ruin the presentation if youre serving chicken thighs at a dinner party. Follow our simple guide on how to check if a chicken is cooked for more information.
What Temperature To Bake Chicken Thighs
I recommend baking chicken thighs at 450 degrees F, because the high temperature will make the skin super crispy and the inside juicy. You can also bake them at 400 or 425 degrees F, but it will take longer.
I actually dont recommend oven baked chicken thighs at lower temperatures like 350, or even 375. Not only does it take longer, but in my testing the meat was less tender and the skin less crispy.
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Buying And Storing Chicken
Buying chicken for cooking can be a bit tricky because of the variety of different kinds of chicken. You want to make sure that you buy the right chicken for the right meal. Some of the most common types of chicken include: Breast: The most common kind of chicken, breast is usually best for fried chicken, grilled chicken, stir fries and stir fries. Thigh: Thighs are a little thinner than breast, and are great for stir fries and stews. Leg: Like thighs, legs are a little thinner than breasts, and are great for stir fries. Wings: Wings are usually a lot larger than breast or thighs. If youre looking for the perfect chicken recipe, a good rule of thumb is to choose the chicken that fits the largest piece of your meal. Cutlets: Cutlets are very small chicken breasts that are typically used for stir fries and soups. Chicken Breast: Chicken breasts are usually the most tender and tender chicken breast, and are great for slow cooker recipes and grilling.