Crispy Skin Chicken Thighs have super crispy crunchy golden brown skin over juicy tender meat. Crispy Skin Chicken Thighs are browned in a skillet then baked in the oven. Serve with a quick white wine pan sauce made in the same skillet used to brown the chicken.
Regular readers know by now that we love our roast chicken here. I’ve shared a recipe for Engagement Chicken and Slow Roast Chicken. We also love chicken thighs for a quicker weeknight option, especially since my husband prefers dark meat. The beauty of using individual pieces like chicken thighs is you have the option to brown the skin in a skillet before roasting.
Now, what are you going to do with that leftover rendered chicken fat in the skillet? These chicken thighs don’t need a sauce. They’re good enough on their own. But I like making a quick white wine pan sauce to drizzle over them, particularly if I’m making rice or another grain with this meal. The pan sauce over rice is the best.
How Do You Make Chicken Skin Crispy?
If you bake chicken thighs without browning them first, the skin stays kind of limp and soggy. Browning the thighs skin-side down in a skillet allows the fat to render, so the remaining skin has the chance to get crispy and crackly and golden brown. You can then finish cooking the chicken in the oven, and the skin stays crispy.
It’s important to remember that chicken skin shrinks as it cooks. Don’t be tempted to trim off too much excess skin-a mistake I’ve made in the past.
Ingredients for Crispy Skin Chicken Thighs
Here are the very limited ingredients for this recipe. I generally portion two chicken thighs per person although it depends on the size. The thyme, minced garlic, chicken broth, and white wine are for the pan sauce.
How to Make Crispy Skin Chicken Thighs
Start out by seasoning your chicken generously with salt and pepper.
Brown the chicken thighs skin-side down in a skillet. Then transfer to a baking dish. Here they are before going into the oven.
How Long to Roast Chicken Thighs
When you brown the chicken thighs, they already start to cook. Once they’re transferred to the 425-degree oven, they need about 20 minutes to bake. Chicken is cooked when it reaches internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Here is the baked chicken. See how that skin stays crispy?
What to Serve with Crispy Skin Chicken Thighs
In the pictures in this post, I served the crispy skin chicken thighs with roast baby artichokes and spring vegetables. I’ll be sharing the recipe for this side dish on Friday. (Update: Click here to get the recipe.) If you don’t have the oven space for roasting vegetables, try steamed broccoli or asparagus or some sautéed spinach.
For starch, we like rice, quinoa, farro, or whole wheat orzo pasta. If you’re going low carb, maybe cauliflower rice to soak up that white wine pan sauce?
If you make this recipe, please give the recipe a rating and/or leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!
Crispy Skin Chicken Thighs with White Wine Pan Sauce
Crispy Skin Chicken Thighs have super crispy crunchy golden brown skin over juicy tender meat. Crispy Skin Chicken Thighs are browned in a skillet then baked in the oven. Serve with a quick white wine pan sauce made in the same skillet used to brown the chicken.
Ingredients
- 8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking oil spray.
Sear chicken: Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 chicken pieces, skin side down, and cook without moving until skin is browned and crispy, 6-8 minutes. Use a splatter guard if you have one. Remove chicken from skillet and place on the prepared baking sheet, skin side up. Sear the second half of the chicken and place on baking sheet. (Do not wash the skillet you used to sear the chicken, save that for when you make the sauce.)
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Make sauce: When you have about 10 minutes left on the baking time, make sauce. Heat the same skillet you used to brown the chicken thighs over medium heat. Remove all but 1 tablespoon fat from the pan. Add garlic to the pan and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until wine is mostly evaporated, then add broth. Simmer until the sauce is reduced by half, about 7 minutes. Stir in thyme leaves and add salt and pepper as needed.
Bon Appétit!
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