I think I’ve mentioned a few times that I often get into a rut with boneless skinless chicken thighs. They’re just so easy, and I end up using them for everything from stir fries to our favorite Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. But recently my sister-in-law made a fantastic dinner with bone in/skin on chicken thighs. She season hers with salt and pepper, and then roasts them into crispy perfection. It’s one of those cases where the sum equals more than the parts because they are next-level good! And so from there I’ve been inspired to start roasting chicken thighs again with the skin on. Which of course is the round about way to how we’re here today talking about these lemon chicken thighs.
Simple ingredients often come together to make the best meals
They’re also very simple with just a few ingredients. Yet again the sum equals more than the parts. When it all gets roasted together the end result is so incredibly flavorful that I like to pair these with simple sides. My Easiest Garlic Roast Green Beans and the Best Mashed Potatoes will round these chicken thighs out into a meal worthy of any company dinner. I’ve also served these with roast broccoli and roasted butternut squash as well. The roasted butternut is a nice sweet counterpart to the zesty lemon sauce with these chicken thighs. So I guess it would stand to reason that mashed sweet potatoes would work well, although I haven’t tried it yet. And for something fresher, try my Caramelized Fig Spinach Salad.
Let’s make this recipe step by step
Step 1
Start by prepping the seasoning ingredients you’ll need for the chicken thighs. Mince the garlic, and remove the thyme leaves from the stems before finely chopping them.
Step 2
After the ingredients are prepped you start by sautéing the chicken skin side down to crisp things up. There’s also an oven version listed in the recipe below.
Step 3
Then we’ll add the sauce ingredients, and the chicken is placed back into the pan with the skin side up to finish roasting.
Step 4
While the chicken finishes in the oven, you can prep your choice of sides, then serve them all together!
Side Dish Recipe Inspiration
And finally, I hope you enjoy this as much as we have! If you do make it, I hope you’ll leave me a comment/rating below. And I always love hearing from you here, and over on Instagram where you can tag me at #getinspiredeveryday with your photos. Budget Tip: For fresh herbs in the winter months, I like to get the small package labeled ‘poultry mix’. In our grocery stores here, it’s a mixture of rosemary, thyme and sage. You can use a mix of all 3 here, or just one herb and use the rest in other recipes. That way I get a lot of variety with just one package of herbs.
