5 Healthy Dinners In 30 Min! Wholesome Yum is a baked boneless chicken thighs blog for healthy recipes and keto recipes. Here you will find simple, healthy dishes made with whole food ingredients, as well as gluten-free, low carb meals — all with 10 ingredients or less. This post may contain affiliate links, which help keep this content free.
What Temperature To Bake Chicken Thighs? How Long To Bake Chicken Thighs? Can You Bake Frozen Chicken Thighs? For a long time, I was a little intimidated by oven baked bone-in chicken thighs. I’ve been making juicy baked chicken breast for years and years, but chicken thighs were a newer thing. I didn’t like meat with bones growing up, so it took some time to come around. The good news is, baking chicken thighs is easier than you might think.
This recipe is pretty much foolproof, so you can do it whether you’ve never oven baked chicken thighs or done it a hundred times. Chicken is one of my favorite dinner protein options, so I’ve got no shortage of options here on Wholesome Yum! This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for oven baked bone-in chicken thighs, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below. Chicken Thighs: I prefer to use organic chicken, but the most important thing is that your chicken thighs are bone in, with skin. This is imperative for extra crispy baked chicken thighs!
This recipe won’t work with boneless skinless chicken thighs, since we’ll be placing butter underneath the skin. 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. I prefer grass-fed butter for nutrition and flavor, but you can use any unsalted butter. Use whole garlic cloves, because we are going to crush them. I used fresh parsley and dill. You can experiment with other fresh herbs — see variations in my compound butter recipe post. 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.
You can also use any other vegetable oil or olive oil. This section shows how to make baked chicken thighs in the oven, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique. For full instructions, see the recipe card below. In a small bowl, mash butter. Mix in crushed garlic, fresh parsley, fresh dill, and sea salt. You can use other versions of compound butter here. I’m using the simplest version with garlic, salt, and fresh herbs.
Place compound butter underneath the chicken skin and press the skin down to spread it around. Run your hands under the chicken skin to separate it from the chicken underneath, so that you can easily spread the compound butter. Pat the chicken skin with paper towels and then drizzle oil onto chicken on both sides. Sprinkle with sea salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper.
Place the chicken skin side down on a baking sheet and roast, then flip and continue roasting until done. Use a meat thermometer to check that the chicken thighs are done. The internal temperature should be 165 degrees F. Let the chicken sit for 5 minutes before serving. This will allow the juices to settle in the meat, so that your chicken thighs are super juicy. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired. I recommend baking chicken thighs at 450 degrees F, because the high temperature will make the skin super crispy and the inside juicy.