Perfect Baked Chicken Thighs have delicious crispy skin with a tender and moist inside. Only a short prep, then bake for 30 minutes in your oven. Your chicken dinner has never been so easy.
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😊Why you will love this recipe
- Economical baked chicken thighs are delicious, moist, and flavorful.
- Quick and easy with only 5 minutes of preparation and about 30 minutes of baking time. Just follow the step-by-step photo instructions.
- Your convection oven will make the skin extra crispy, or use a regular oven if you don't have convection.
- For better texture, it uses a rack to get the thighs out of the draining fluids and fats.
- Simple spicing and no marinades are needed.
- It has excellent moist and tender meat from cooking to 185° internal temperature to melt the connective tissue.
- A great easy dinner that the whole family, even picky kids, will love.
👨🍳How to bake chicken thighs
- Pat dry and trim chicken thighs.
- Season both sides of the thighs with salt and pepper or All-Purpose Seasoning, which adds garlic, or use the seasoning of your choice.
- Place them on a baking sheet with a rack and a heavy spray of PAM.
- Bake in a 425° convection oven until an internal temp of 185°F—about 30-35 minutes of cooking time.
- Rest for 5 minutes or more before serving.
⏰ How long to bake chicken thighs
The best oven temperature to bake chicken thighs is 425° convection which will take about 30 minutes to reach 185° (the best internal temperature). This will vary by the weight and thickness of the thighs and your oven.
- Chicken thighs at 350°F conventional – about 50-55 minutes—will dry more
- Chicken thighs at 350°F convection or 375°F conventional – about 45-50 minutes
- Chicken thighs at 375°F convection or 400°F conventional – about 40-45 minutes
- Chicken thighs at 400°F convection or 425°F conventional – about 35-40 minutes—recommended.
- Chicken thighs at 425°F convection or 450°F conventional—about 30-35 minutes—recommended.
Times are approximate and are provided for planning only. Cook to a final internal temperature of 185° and use an instant-read thermometer or meat thermometer.
ALWAYS COOK TO A FINAL INTERNAL TEMPERATURE. PLEASE, NEVER BY TIME ALONE.
🐓Chicken Thighs
This recipe assumes bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs. Just trim any loose fat and pat dry.
If using skinless boneless chicken thighs, give them a brush of vegetable or olive oil. They will tend to be smaller and thinner, and there is no bone to absorb heat. Cooking time will be faster, generally by 5-10 minutes. But remember, you are cooking to a final internal temperature of 185°+ and not by time.
Seasoning tips
- For seasoning, a good sprinkle of kosher salt and black pepper will be enough. I usually use All Purpose Seasoning - 7:2:1 and 7:2:2.
- Feel free to season to your taste. Typical seasonings include paprika, oregano, thyme, Italian spice mix, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and other spice rubs.
- To make great baked BBQ chicken thighs, skip the seasoning and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce for the last 5 minutes of cooking.
🌡️The best final internal temperature
The best final internal temperature for chicken thighs is 185°+. You are melting some connective tissue, and cooking up to 195° will still be okay, according to American Test Kitchen (subscription required).
The USDA's minimum safe internal temperature is 165°. But there is a difference between safe and done. Pork butt is safe at 145°, but you sure won't want your pulled pork to be cooked to 145°F. It would be terrible. 165° is perfect for white meat like chicken breasts, but dark meat with connective tissue will still be stringy and tough.
❓FAQs
No. It will interfere with the crisping of the skin. So no aluminum foil or lids.
It is not needed, and I don't. Thighs are high in fat, and that will generally be enough. But you can, and the skin will still be crispy but a little thicker and with a different texture. So brush a few and see which you like.
A baking rack is highly recommended. There will be rendered fat drainage, and the rack will get the thighs out of the drainage for better texture. You can cook this without a rack, but you will be happier with a rack.
Use the rack on a baking tray with sides since there is drainage during cooking. Add aluminum foil to help clean up.
Most toaster ovens will be able to cook chicken thighs. The oven must have a controlled higher temperature and account for drainage. And like in bigger ovens, you are cooking to a final internal temperature and never by time.
Smoking ovens have been an issue for some due to high temp cooking. I haven’t had a problem, BUT it is probably related to multiple factors.
1) If there is trimmable fat, trim it.
2) Use a pan with some side to keep any splatter contained.
3) If your oven has a convection roast and convection bake, use the bake mode. Or skip the convection entirely.
4) You could turn down the oven by 25°-50°. This will increase the cooking time some and may cause some drying out. Remember to cook to an endpoint, not by time.
5) The oven should be clean, so the smoke isn’t coming from a previous splatter.
6) Adding some water to the pan under the rack will prevent the smoking issue. It will cool the fat when it drips. This always works, but the moisture may interfere with some crispiness.
Serving and Leftovers
Serve with macaroni and cheese, French fries or other potato dishes, and vegetables like a fresh salad, green beans, carrots, or peas.
Store leftovers sealed in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days or frozen for 3-4 months.
To reheat leftovers, thaw overnight in the refrigerator if frozen. Leftovers will have a much better texture when reheated in the oven at 350° for about 15 minutes. An air fryer works well, also. A microwave can be used but tend to adversely affect the texture.
📖Related Chicken Recipes
Oven Baked Chicken Legs—Quick and Easy
Grilled Chicken Drumsticks —Quick and Easy
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Preheat oven to 425°F convection. If you don't have convection, use 450°F.
Pat dry the chicken with paper towels. Trim off any loose skin with no meat. Also, remove any fat that is easily removed. Rinsing chicken is no longer recommended due to the health risks of splattering the work area. See Chicken… To Rinse or Not To Rinse? for more information.
Prep a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil, and add a rack and a heavy coat of PAM cooking spray.
Place thighs skin down and sprinkle lightly with the spices of your choice. Flip and tuck in any thin parts underneath and sprinkle the skin side. Just coarse salt and black pepper are fine, or the seasoning you like. We use our homemade 7:2:2, which adds some garlic.
With skin side up, bake until internal temp of 185°F—about 30-35 minutes of cooking time. Rest for 5 minutes or more before serving.
Recipe
Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- chicken thighs - do as many as you want
- coarse salt and pepper to taste - or seasoning of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F convection. If you don't have convection, use 450°F.
- Pat dry the chicken with paper towels. Trim off any loose skin with no meat. Also, remove any fat that is easily removed.
- Prep a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil, and add a rack and a heavy coat of PAM cooking spray.
- Place thighs skin down and sprinkle lightly with the spices of your choice. Flip and tuck in any thin parts underneath and sprinkle the skin side. Just coarse salt and black pepper are fine, or the seasoning you like. We use our homemade 7:2:2, which adds some garlic.
- With skin side up, bake until internal temp of 185°F—about 30-35 minutes of cooking time. Rest for 5 minutes or more before serving.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- DO NOT SKIP THE PAT DRY, or you will not have crispy skin.
- Trim off any trimmable fat or extra skin.
- Get the thighs up on a rack to let the rendered fat drain. It also gets them out of the drained fat. You can do this without a rack, but it is nicer with a rack.
- Cook at high temp and use a thermometer to be sure you get to 185°+. Do not guess. Thighs are safe to eat at 165°F but tender at 185°F.
- A convection oven is recommended but not required. Options for other oven temperatures are in the blog post above.
- Spice as you want. I often add a touch of Cayenne.
- Scale to any amount you need.
- This recipe can also be done in a toaster oven or an air fryer which is just a small convection oven.
- Skip the seasoning and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce for the last 5 minutes to make great oven-baked BBQ thighs.
- If there is trimmable fat, trim it.
- Use a pan with some side to keep any splatter contained.
- If your oven has a convection roast and convection bake, use the bake mode. Or skip the convection entirely.
- You could turn down the oven by 25°-50°. This will increase the cooking time some and may cause some drying out. Remember to cook to an endpoint, not by time.
- The oven should be clean so the smoke isn’t coming from a previous splatter.
- Adding some water to the pan under the rack will prevent the smoking issue. It will cool the fat when it drips. This always works, but the moisture may interfere with some crispiness.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editors Note: Originally Published January 24, 2014. This recipe is part of my family of chicken recipes. There have been updating photos and added information since the original version.
That I can use my toaster oven would be appreciate it thank you
I like to use my toaster oven it helps my light bill not to be so high and the heat not to be so intense like a large conventional oven since I cook only for one maybe two people sometimes I only need the toaster oven any recipes That I can use my toaster oven would be appreciate it thank you
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Welcome to the blog.
Many (most?) recipes can work in toaster ovens. The big "maybe" is your toaster oven being big enough and being able to control the temperature (most important). I highly recommend a couple of thermometers to get an idea of what you can do and to monitor the results. All my recipes are cooked to an endpoint almost always an internal temperature. So an instant-read thermometer and an oven thermometer to know the temperature you are generating.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Julie
This is the only way I make chicken now! Question, the first time I made this, the skin was delightfully crackly crispy. I used a convection oven. Every time since, I’ve cooked them in a non convection oven. The skin is not as crispy. They do get up to 185. Should I try broiling them for 5-10 minutes? I don’t want to overcook them. Thanks!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Julie,
The broiler will crisp it some but it will not be quite the same as convection. That air movement with convection causes that crackly skin but just a few minutes of broiling will get a crispier skin. Start the broil a bit before they reach the final temperature.
Dan
Dbarrett57
What is 7:2:1 and 7:2:2 seasoning?. I have never heard of it before. Will Lawry’s Seasoned Salt work with this recipe?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Welcome to the blog.
7:2:2 is our homemade all purpose seasoning It is linked in the post and covered in the FAQs/Help area in the menu. It is a ratio of Diamond crystal salt to pepper to granular garlic powder. All salt is not equal, so if you use Morton or similar the use 4 parts not 7.
Having said that, season however you want and it will be good. I think Lawry's is a fine choice—I use it a lot for many things.
Dan
Gretchen
This is by and far my FAVORITE recipe. I’ve always hated chicken thighs and now I know why… the internal temperature. I generally will modify a recipe to my liking, however yours is hands down sensational. I also would like to note that I appreciate how much time and effort you put in to your recipes to give step by step instructions. Everything is so easy to follow and you answer all of the questions. Thank you for your time!
Robin
Going to try this as soon as I can get to the store to buy chicken. But I just had to let you know how much I appreciate all the pictures of the steps in your recipe. Most sites don't do that and I pretty much have quit looking at those recipes as they usually don't turn out so well for me and I consider myself a pretty knowledgable cook. I'm so appreciative that you take the time to do that and don't just show a hundred pics of the end result. Every one of your recipes I have tried have turned out wonderful. Love simple, economical and tasty recipes. You should be quite proud!
Ms. Dale Goodloe
I just have a regular, cheap electric oven (live in an apartment). After reading the comments, I'm concerned about fixing these and having splatter on the inside of the oven. May just reduce the temp.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Welcome to the blog.
There are a couple of things you can do to decrease splatter.
1-use a pan with a higher edge... like a cake pan
2-trim all the fat you can before cooking.
3-and the stuff in the smoking oven suggestions which includes decreasing the temp a bit.
Dan
suescatlady
I never leave comments. I've used this recipe twice now and it is the best. Trimming the excess skin really helps to control the amount of mess. I'm not a fan of fried chicken or the mess it makes. Really try to keep meals low in fat. On the other hand my husband loves fried chicken. I refuse to fry. This recipe is wonderful. The skin is very crispy and the meat isn't fatty at all. We are both satisfied.
I rub the rack with vegetable shortening and clean up is a breeze. Tried using coconut oil but that didn't help at all.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I'm guessing drumsticks could probably be cooked the same way.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Welcome to the blog. So glad you find it useful.
Drumsticks are basically the same. A little more trimming on the thighs. The drumstick is the original recipe and people kept asking for thighs. I couldn't convince them it was about the same so after a few years, I added more trimming and discussion then made it a separate recipe.
The drumsticks are https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/the-art-of-drummies-oven-baked-chicken/ and it really came from the "chicken for a hundred" recipe which was a large cooking and I had to experiment with techniques to get it done right and safely.
Dan
Julie
I am never doing chicken another way! Normally I eschew chicken skin. I not only did I eat the skin from my piece, but from a leftover piece! 425 and 185 is my new mantra. Thank you. It was scrumptious!
j
thanks looks good and i'm cooking them right now!
Deborah L.
I'm about to make Chicken thighs. But looking at the picture of Molly and Lily, it's hard to believe they were taken in January. Heat advisories here on the east coast and the girls look like I've been feeling. Hot, hot, hot. Almost too hot to look for veggies in my garden. Running the chicken in a pan out to the grill, Closing the lid. and hoping for the best. By Thermopen, of course. We bought ours through your website. I consider myself an experienced cook and occasionally it proves me wrong. So very wrong...
Will rate when this grill experiment is over.
Julie
Therms pen is the best! I have two!
Marianne
Just finished making your oven baked chicken thighs. This was fabulous! I marinated the chicken first and then followed your instructions allowing some more spices to be added. I must say that this was the most tender chicken we have eaten in some time. I usually cook it too tough or dry. Looking forward to trying some of your other recipes. Thank you for posting these recipes.
Lilianne
The chicken thigh recipe was great, but it splattered the ceiling of the oven and we could not get it clean. I've been afraid to try any chicken in the convention oven with skin on it again.😔
Elisabeth
This happened to me, too. The next time I cooked them, I put the chicken on a rack in the middle of the oven. Then I put another rack as close to the top of the oven as it would go and placed a sheet of parchment paper on it. (I weighted the paper with a small ramekin filled with pie weights to keep it from shifting in my convection oven when the fan was on.) This was effective at preventing any splatter from hitting the ceiling of the oven. Any splatter that hit the top rack was easy to remove with a scrubby sponge.
Elisabeth
Can this be done with skinless thighs?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Elisabeth,
Welcome to the blog.
I have that covered in the discussion in the post. So yes with some adjustments.
Dan
Juvet Dakay
True to its name Dr. Dan, the chicken thighs turned out crispy on the set oven temperature of 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Thanks for the helpful tips. Im glad I opened your website and looked at your recipes. I can use some of them in the coming weeks and months. More power and keep on sharing.
Greg C.
Sorry if I missed it - What is the 7:2:2 and 7:2:1 seasoning? I’d like to get it right the first time...
Thank you!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Greg,
Welcome to the blog.
It is linked a few times in the post but is easy to miss. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/everyday-spice-mix-721-mix/
It is a mixture of 7 parts kosher salt, 2 parts pepper and 1 or 2 part granular garlic. I use it in many recipes. Feel free to modify it or season the drumsticks with the seasoning of your choice.
Dan
Connie Landwehr
Made this a few days ago and loved it. Followed recipe and used my convection bake....which worked great. LOVED the crispy skin.
Timing depends on size of thighs.....I had smaller ones so didn't cook to 185 as suggested. I cooked to 175 and they were great.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Connie,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad it is working well for you. You may notice a bit of a facelift on the post. I updated it yesterday. I clarified some of the discussion but the recipe is unchanged.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
TARASIA WILLIAMS
Dr. Dan
The chicken came out Amazing! I also made your cinnamon roll cake it is to die for!! Thank you for make my dinner and dessert easy tonight! Looking for more recipes to make from you! Have A Blessed Rest Of The Day!!