Deliciously crispy skin and juicy inside, oven baked chicken thighs have it all. They are quick, economical, tasty, and require almost no skill — a great recipe for two or a crowd. Just one pan and a bit of seasoning will get you some of the best baked chicken you will ever taste.
Introduction
An easy recipe with simple step by step photo instructions to get great tender and juicy thighs every time. So easy, it will be one of your normal rotation of recipes.
This is a slight modification of my Oven Baked Chicken Legs – The Art of Drummies recipe. People kept asking for a thigh specific recipe. The baking time differs slightly, but the biggest difference is the trimming and dealing with the fat.
My Rating
A very strong five.
🍲The Method
We are aiming for crispy skin and eliminating a lot of fat.
- DO NOT SKIP THE PAT DRY, or you will not have crispy skin. See Chicken… To Rinse or Not To Rinse? about rinsing the chicken.
- Trim off any trimmable fat.
- Get the thighs up on a rack to let the rendered fat drain. It also gets them out of the drained fat.
- Cook at high temp and use a thermometer to be sure you get to 185°F. Do not guess. Thighs are safe to eat at 165°F but tender at 185°F.
- Spice as you want. I often add the Cayenne, but if you have little ones, skip it.
- Scale to any amount you need.
- Skip the seasoning and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce the last 5 minutes to make great oven baked BBQ thighs.
- COOK TO THE INTERNAL TEMPERATURE, not by time along.
🐓Chicken Thighs
- The chicken's dark meat is moist and flavorful. Why? Mostly the fat keeps it that way.
- They are economical and always available.
- Are delicious.
- Make great leftovers.
How much fat is there?
Since we are dealing with a natural product, there is some variability but think of a thigh having about two to three times the fat of chicken breasts.
Here are the numbers from the National Chicken Council. Roasted, a skin-on thigh has 15.5 grams of fat while a skin-on split chicken breast is 7.8.
⏰🌡️Time and Temperature
Chicken thighs and drumsticks should generally be cooked at high temperatures. This will give you great crispy skin along will getting the meat done to a proper temperature.
I use 425°F by convection for about 30 minutes to a final internal temperature of 180-185°F, which is best for thighs. See the next section for a discussion about the final internal temperature.
If no convection, bake still at 425°F, but it will take about 35 minutes, but remember to cook to the final internal temperature.
Cooking time will vary by your oven plus the thickness and size of the chicken. Boneless will be about 5-10 minutes less.
- 350°F convection or 375°F conventional – about 45-50 minutes
- 375°F convection or 400°F conventional – about 40-45 minutes
- 400°F convection or 425°F conventional – about 35-40 minutes
- 425°F convection – about 30 minutes - This is the preferred temperature.
Always cook to a final internal temperature. Please, never by time alone.
🌡️Internal Temperature
Many recipes suggest cooking chicken to 165°F, which is the minimum safe internal temperature by the FDA. But there is a difference between safe and done. Pork is safe at 145, but you sure won’t want your pulled pork to be cooked to 145°F. It would be terrible.
Also, some recipes call for cooking “until fluids run clear” or "no pink at the bone." How are you supposed to do that? Also, I suspect that it may even be below the safe minimum temperature since the pinkness disappears at about 155°F.
While I cook my chicken breast to 165°F, there is way too much fibrous tissue in thighs. They will be tough and stringy. Just plan not done. Please use 180-185°F as you finish temperature. Check the comments if you need confirmation.
🐓Boneless or Skinless
The boneless skin-on chicken thighs will be great here. But the cooking time will be less since the bone is not absorbing heat, and they tend to be thinner. About 5-10 minutes less, but your thermometer is a must use for them.
Skinless boneless thighs will work with a good brush of oil. But you will miss out on the crispy skin.
Remember, you will need to decrease the cooking time by 5-10 minutes from the skin-on bone-in version. Please use an instant-read thermometer to check the final internal temperature.
✔️Tips
Why Use a Rack?
A lot of the fat drained during cooking on the rack. You can cook this without a rack, but you will be happier with a rack.
Can I Freeze Them After Cooking?
Yes, sealed well, they should be fine for 3-4 months. Reheat by thawing first then reheat in an oven.
Also, good just refrigerated for 3-4 days.
Oven Smoke and What to do about it.
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.
- First, if there is trimmable fat, trim it.
- Use a pan with some side on it to keep any splatter contained.
- If your oven has convection roast and convection bake, use the bake mode.
- You could turn down the oven by 25-50 degrees. This will increase the cooking time some and may prone to drying out some. Remember to cook to an endpoint, not by time.
- Of course, the oven should be clean, so the smoke isn’t coming from a previous splatter.
- Some water in the pan under the rack will prevent the smoking issue. Fat drips and then hits the water and will be 212 degrees immediately and will not smoke.
📖Related Recipes
Oven Baked Chicken Legs – The Art of Drummies
Grilled Chicken Drumsticks – The Art of Drummies
🖼️Step-by-Step Instructions
Preheat oven to 425°F convection. Pat dry the chicken.
Trim any loose skin with no meat off.
Prep a baking sheet. Line with aluminum foil, add a rack and give a heavy spray of PAM.
Place thighs skin down and sprinkle lightly with the spices of your choice. I went with 7:2:1 or 7:2:2. If you don't have that, then just a little salt and pepper to taste. A pinch of cayenne would be good also. Flip and tuck in any thin parts underneath and sprinkle skin side.
With skin side up, bake until internal temp of 180° to 185°F. About 30 minutes of cooking time, then rest for 5 minutes or more before serving.
📖 Recipe
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 2 chicken thighs - do as many as you want
- 7:2:1 or 7:2:2 Seasoning - or kosher salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F convection. Pat dry the chicken.
- Prep a baking sheet. Line with aluminum foil, add a rack and give a heavy spray of PAM. If you don't have a rack, you can still do this but it will not be as nice.
- Place thighs skin down and sprinkle lightly with the spices of your choice. I went with my homemade 7:2:2 seasoning. If you don't have that then just a little salt and pepper to taste. A pinch of cayenne would be good also. Flip and tuck in any thin parts underneath and sprinkle skin side.
- With skin side up, bake until internal temp of 180 to 185°F. About 30 minutes of cooking time. Rest for 5 minutes or more before serving.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- DO NOT SKIP THE PAT DRY or you will not have crispy skin.
- Trim off any trimmable fat.
- 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°F. Do not guess. Thighs are safe to eat at 165°F but tender at 185°F.
- Options for other oven temperatures are in the blog post above.
- Spice as you want. I often add a touch of Cayenne.
- You can find my seasoning at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/everyday-spice-mix-721-mix/
- Scale to any amount you need.
- Skip the seasoning and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce the last 5 minutes to make great oven baked BBQ thighs.
- If there is trimmable fat, trim it.
- Use a pan with some side on it to keep any splatter contained.
- If your oven has convection roast and convection bake, use the bake mode.
- You could turn down the oven by 25-50 degrees. This will increase the cooking time some and may prone to drying out some. Remember to cook to an endpoint, not by time.
- Of course, the oven should be clean, so the smoke isn’t coming from a previous splatter.
- Some water in the pan under the rack will prevent the smoking issue. It will cool the fat when it drips.
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
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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.
judy
Love the dog
Cindy Clanton
Our favorite chicken recipe!
Marie
My love the chicken thighs they were awesome. And will your recipe again. Thanks
Cassie
Hello! I am currently making chicken skins in the crockpot, I seared them first in a skillet and got them crisp but after some time in the crockpot they seem soft and soggy. I want to crisp the skins up but they're already done cooking internally. Can I bake them the same with just for less time to crisp the skins but not overcook?
DrDan
Hi Cassie,
Welcome to the blog.
I doubt if there is a way to get crispy chicken skin out of a crock pot. And baking like my recipe will not do the trick. The only thing I can suggest is a few minutes under a broiler but I doubt if that will be adequate. I think that once chicken skin has been cooked in a crock pot, there is no hope for crispy.
Sorry I'm not very helpful.
Dan
Ruth
I have made these thighs and your drumsticks, many times. I noticed the comments about putting water in the pan to prevent the smoking so I tried it. I may have put too much water in the pan initially, but I found that my thighs, that were on a rack, btw, were steaming and not getting crispy skin. After the 30 min on bake at 425 F, (not convect because I don't have it), I carefully poured off the pan drippings and put the chicken back in to try to crisp up the skin. It worked to some extent but I was afraid to leave it in too long for fear of drying out. The chicken still tasted great and was tender but I missed my really crispy skin. Next time I may pour the liquid off sooner.
DrDan
Hi Ruth,
Glad you enjoy those recipes.
The water will stop the smoke. But if you haven't had that problem, I wouldn't do it. I think your lack of convection may also be a contributing factor to the effect on the crispy skin. With convection, that humidity would be moved around the oven.
Thanks for the report.
Dan
Laura Dean
Tried to post picture of my Great White Pyrenees. Love yours!
DrDan
Hi Laura,
Welcome to the blog.
Molly and Lilly say thanks. Give your Pyrenees a good ear rub from me.
As typical of wordpress blogs, only the administrator can put in an image and it must be on the web somewhere to link it in.
Dan
Chicken Staple
Another suggestion that works great. Trim fat and clean thighs as mentioned, but cover with foil at 375 for about 50 minutes. Uncover, and drain broth...or save and use. Bake again for about 1/2 hour and you'll have tender thighs with a crispy skin.
Erin Carlson
Can you please explain trimmable fat? This has me a little confused. Thanks
DrDan
Hi Erin,
Welcome to the blog.
I mean if you can cut it off easily. Along the edge of the skin, that big chunk of fat on the underside, etc. Do not take the skin off and go digging into the meat.
Interesting enough, competition grillers and smokers do take the skin off and dig out any pieces of fat. I don't think it is worth your time.
Hope that clarifies.
Dan
Jennifer
When making the chicken ..do u cover with foil?
DrDan
Hi Jennifer and welcome to the blog.
No covering with foil. I do put foil under the rack for cleanup reasons. It would be a heck of a mess with the fat if you don't do that.
If you covered with foil, you would "steam" the skin and it would be wimpy and not crispy.
Dan
Kat R
This is my go-to recipe. I used to avoid cooking with thighs because they always used to turn out either slimy or overcooked. These instructions were a godsend, and this is now my favorite thing to cook for dinner. I’ve used it 7 times with many different dry rubs. A big hit in my house is mesquite dry rub. Anyway, thank you so much for posting this recipe. I’m so satisfied with the way these turn out!
DrDan
Hi Kat,
Glad it is working so well for you.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Nancy
I wished I had read the comments before trying this recipe. My oven is trashed, so much smoke and grease in my oven.
Chicken tasted great but not worth the mess.
Donna
I want to make these for a buffet can I make ahead and freeze for a few days than take out day of party and put on buffet? I know they won’t be as crispy
DrDan
Hi Donna,
I'm not convinced it would do too well. It will be like warmed up old chicken. Please check my Chicken for a Hundred https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/chicken-for-hundred/ Just sub in the thighs and cook to 180-185.
Dan
Cheryl
I bought about a dozen thighs with skin and bone to get some bones to make broth. I don't really care for thighs for the same reason you don't - all that fat! So I found your recipe and tried it. My pan was tightly packed so I turned the heat down to 400 after about 20 minutes and let them go for another 20 minutes. Used McCormick Chicken seasoning. They got up to about 190 before I pulled them out, but they are just right. Not dry at all and fall off bone tender. I saved just the meat (tossed the skin and poured off the fat) and put the meaty bones into my Instant Pot with a couple of big roasted beef marrow bones, some veggies and herbs and spices, and in about 3 hours I should have some rich broth to take to a sick friend. Thanks for the recipe - you have some good ideas and "how-to"s that I save regularly.
Garey
Warming in the air fryer works well for us. Really it works for most left-over chicken.
Debbie
Dr. Dan,
This recipe brought us into the world of convection baking. Had the capability for a while, yet never motivated to try it. WOW! Gorgeous browning! I've made these on the regular bake, too.
Give me advice on reheating the leftover thighs. I batched cooked 8, so we'd have them for lunch.
Sure enjoy your site, especially Lily and Molly.
We had a Golden in our family for a wonderful 13 years. Scooter was a perfect dog, except for her occasional enjoyment of rolling in the most vile smelling material she'd find out in the woods outside our home. She'd always have sincere remorse. :-)
Thanks,
Debbie
DrDan
Hi Debbie,
Sorry for your loss of Scotter, Jake (our first Golden) lived 13 years also which is apparently average for American Goldens. Actually, Jake loved these chicken thighs. I would cook them for him near the end.
Now on to the chicken. I don't really have a great reheat method. The "crispy" skin will probably not be very good no matter what you do. I would perhaps cover with foil in the oven for about 30 minutes then remove the foil for about 10 minutes. But really, I eat them cold or a short microwave since I'm in a hurry.
Molly and Lilly say hi.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
fran hubbard
I love chicken thighs, increased fat and all!!! I dont have them everyday! Anyway, I love using smoked/hungarian paprika not only as a spice, but its used to "crisp" up the skins or other foods. Try it, its WOnderful.....Thanks.....
DrDan
Hi Fran,
Thanks for the note and suggestions.
Dan
Cathy
Hi, I'm in the process of doing skinless boneless thighs, unseasoned as a base for quick mole chicken. I tried doing the mole sauce last time on chicken legs, but I think thighs eaten with a knife and fork are going to work out much better. Trick is that this time I'm cooking 52 of them in one big pan, by convection for heat regulation. I marinated them in lemon and orange juice beforehand for the citrus flavor that should go well with the sauce. This means they won't brown much but the mole sauce (think deep chocolate) should take care of that! Just thought I'd share this idea. I like the idea of using the rack to lift the chicken out of the grease in the pan, and using high heat. I think I'm going to need the high heat to cook them all through. If I'm wrong, I'll let you know.
DrDan
Hi Cathy,
I think you are definitely right about needing the high heat if you want juicy.
And thanks for the suggestions and note.
Dan
Agnes
Simple and delicious! I cook the chicken on pieces of pumpkin, carrot and potatoes, as I love the roast vege with all the chicken fat and flavour :) Thanks for the recipe.
Y
This chicken was super duper yummy!