Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs are roasted perfectly in 30 minutes and seasoned to your taste. Using a convection oven for crispy skin, these moist and tender chicken thighs will become a family favorite.
Ingredients
Chicken thighs
Seasoning—salt, black pepper, and garlic powder mixture (All-Purpose Seasoning) OR
Optional seasoning of your choice
Jump To (scroll for more)
- Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Bake Chicken Thighs—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
- ⏰ How long to bake chicken thighs and oven temperature
- 🐓What chicken thighs to use
- Seasoning tips
- 🌡️The best final internal temperature
- Related chicken recipes
- Serving chicken thighs
- What to do about smoking ovens
- Storing and reheating leftovers
- Food safety
- ❓FAQs
- 📖 Recipe
Featured Comment from 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."
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There are only a few secrets to making the best baked chicken thighs:
- Cook to the proper internal temperature of 185° to melt the connective tissue—don't stop at 165*.
- Use high heat in a convection oven for crispy skin—425° preferred, but other oven settings will work.
- Finally, using a rack to brown all sides and get the thighs out of the fatty drainage while they cook is best.
Make this recipe for chicken thighs in the oven with the easy step-by-step photo instructions with only 5 minutes of preparation and about 30 minutes of baking time. Cook along with baked chicken legs at the same temperature and time.
You can also fire up the gas grill for Grilled Bone-in Chicken Thighs or Grilled Chicken Drumsticks.
👨🍳How to Bake Chicken Thighs—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F convection or 450°F conventional.
2. Pat dry and trim off any loose skin with no meat. Also, remove any fat that is easily removed.
3. Prep a sheet pan by lining it with aluminum foil. Add a rack and a heavy coat of PAM cooking spray.
4. Spice both sides with the seasoning of your choice. Place on tray with the skin side up and tuck any skin under the thigh.
5. Bake until internal temp of 185°F—about 30-35 minutes of cooking time. Rest for 5 minutes or more before serving.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏰ How long to bake chicken thighs and oven temperature
The best oven temperature to bake bone-in 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 baked at 350°F conventional takes about 50-55 minutes—will dry more.
Chicken thighs baked at 350°F convection or 375°F conventional takes about 45-50 minutes.
Chicken thighs baked at 375°F convection or 400°F conventional takes about 40-45 minutes.
Chicken thighs baked at 400°F convection or 425°F conventional takes about 35-40 minutes—recommended.
Chicken thighs baked at 425°F convection or 450°F conventional takes about 30-35 minutes—recommended.
Times are approximate and provided for planning only. Cook to a final internal temperature of 185°, using a meat or instant-read thermometer.
ALWAYS COOK TO A FINAL INTERNAL TEMPERATURE. PLEASE, NEVER BY TIME ALONE.
🐓What chicken thighs to use
This recipe assumes bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs. Just trim any loose fat and skin, then pat dry. Bone-in skinless chicken thighs will work fine but cook faster since they are thinner, and there is no bone to absorb heat.
If using skinless boneless chicken thighs, brush them with vegetable or olive oil. They tend to be smaller, thinner and have 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.
Since there is no skin, if you want crispy skinless boneless thighs, they will need some breading like Panko breadcrumbs or a coating like oven-fried chicken breasts, but not this recipe.
Seasoning tips
A good sprinkle of kosher salt and black pepper for seasoning will be enough. I usually use my All Purpose Seasoning, which has kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.
You may use other spices like paprika, oregano, thyme, Italian spice mix, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and other spice rubs.
Make great baked BBQ chicken thighs with a BBQ dry rub and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce for the last 5 minutes of cooking. Or make some tasty marinaded chicken thighs with my butter, garlic, and lemon chicken marinade or any marinade you love.
🌡️The best final internal temperature
The best final internal temperature for chicken thighs is 185° to 195*. You are melting some connective tissue, according to American Test Kitchen (subscription required).
The USDA's minimum safe internal temperature is 165°, perfect for white meat like chicken breasts, but dark meat with connective tissue will still be stringy and tough.
Related chicken recipes
For other inside quick chicken recipes, check out Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Seared Chicken Breasts, or Chicken Breasts in a Convection Oven.
Serving chicken thighs
Serve with one-pot mac and cheese, Stovetop French fries, Oven Roasted Baby Potatoes, and vegetables like a fresh spinach salad, green beans with almonds, or microwave corn on the cob. Finish the meal with Fresh Strawberry Pie with Jello or Old Fashioned Apple Crisp.
What to do about smoking ovens
Smoking ovens have been an issue for some due to high-temperature cooking. If you do have a problem, here are a few tips.
- If there is trimmable fat, trim it along with excess skin.
- The oven should be clean so the smoke isn’t coming from a previous splatter.
- Use a pan with some side to keep any splatter contained.
- Use the bake mode if your oven has a convection roast and convection bake. 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.
- Adding water to the pan under the rack will prevent smoking. It will cool the fat when it drips. This always works, but the moisture may interfere with some crispiness.
Storing and reheating leftovers
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 it tends to affect the texture adversely.
Food safety
Raw chicken and other poultry should be considered contaminated and handled with care. Wash your hands carefully before and after touching raw chicken. We do NOT wash raw chicken routinely due to water splatter. See Chicken... To Rinse or Not To Rinse? for more information.
You must cook chicken to an internal temperature of 165° for safety—see the USDA for more information. You need to check this with an instant-read thermometer.
❓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. Fat drainage will be rendered, 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 cook to a final internal temperature and never by time.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
📖 Recipe
Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs
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Ingredients
- 2 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 sheet pan by lining it with aluminum foil. 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 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 one.
- 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.
- Skip the seasoning and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce for the last 5 minutes to make great oven-baked BBQ thighs.
Your Own Private Notes
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
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Editors Note: Originally Published January 24, 2014. Updated with re-edited photos and added information since the original version.
Jennifer says
Hi and thanks for the recipe! What temperature should you use if you don't have a convection oven?
DrDan says
I don't like running a oven at 450. So I would do 425 and it will take a few minutes longer. Remember you are cooking to a final temperature NOT by time.
DrDan
jack says
This was wonderful!! So easy and so tasty :)
Lolo says
I have very very picky eaters at home AND I really don't cook well at all. This recipe was a winner! The chicken turned out just as described with crispy skin and very juicy meat. I sprinkled a bit too much salt mixture on them so will tone that down next time and I did have to bake for 45 min to get to the desired meat temperature in our oven. Even with the extra salt, everyone but my toddler ate till they were full. Thank you for posting.
DrDan says
Glad it worked well for you.
Thanks so much for the note and rating.
DrDan
Nancy says
Tasty and perfect. I am down to one so your recipe gives me leftovers for another day. (Cook once, eat twice!)
DrDan says
Glad it worked well for you.
Thanks for the note.
DrDan
Laura says
These were delicious. So easy!
DrDan says
Thanks so much for the note.
DrDan
leslie trumble says
just as described! crispy skin and tasty. My husband de-skinned (ate) and we dipped in buffalo sauce. wonderful
DrDan says
Thanks so much for the note and rating.
DrDan
zena says
you say "skin side down" yet it looks like it is skin side up. which is it?? it has to be skin side up if you don't flip them... ?
DrDan says
Maybe my wording could be better. Place on a rack skin down, season, flip, season and then bake.
DrDan
Jacks says
I was confused about that too lol.
john says
Umm according to his directions it specificaly states to have them skin side down...sprinkle with seasoning, tuck in any loose or thin parts and then flip and season "the skin side"
karen says
Loved this chicken recipe. I needed a basic, quick chicken thigh recipe. I put poupon mustard on the chicken&salt.So I guess the recipe was an inspiration from which to innovate!
DrDan says
As they say, a recipe is more like guidelines then rules.
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
H. Mauldin says
Tried this with skinless/boneless chicken. Just as delicious.
Annie says
Is this for CONVECTION OVEN ????
How long for STANDARD OVEN????!
DrDan says
Yep convection. To convert to standard oven you can add 25 degrees or a little time (maybe about 5 minutes or so). When cooking at over 400 degrees I personally would add a little time. Remember you are cooking to a final temperature not a set time.
Hope that helps
DrDan
Joshalynn says
Okay, thanks. Maybe I'll try ranch next time.
nichole says
I tried ranch packet it was delicious i also tried this recipe it was delicious.
Joshalynn says
Do you think a pack of dry ranch dressing mix would be good instead of salt pepper and garlic?
DrDan says
I would be concerned about how the mix would react to the temperature. I count 15 ingredients most of which would be ok but not all that I know about.
Jennifer Simmons says
This was wonderful!! So easy and so tasty!! We will definitely do this one again!! Thanks
DrDan says
Hi Jennifer
Thanks for the note and rating. I do like simple recipes.
DrDan
Maria says
i realized that i accidentally peeled off the skin.. i wrote down the recipe.. but then after i peeled the skin, i seen the pictures...will it stillbe good????
DrDan says
I have not done them without skin. I guess I would coat with some olive oil and cook at a slightly lower temp (400 not 425) to try to keep them from drying.
Hope that helps.
DrDan
David says
Just drape the skin back onto th thighs before baking. This is actually a good way to make the skin even crispier! I do it all the time.
Sarah says
Love the flavor added some paprika for extra smoky flavor. Only comment is the bottom of my chicken was kind of gloopy and soft, suggestions? I am using the baking rake, but do I need to flip it close to the end of cooking time?
DrDan says
I have not been flipping but that soft bottom is the juices and fat draining. I feel the skin is extremely crisp so flipping the last ten minutes or so would help the soft bottom and I feel the skin would still be good. Let us know of that helps.
DrDan
Judith A Russell says
Just my thoughts...If you cook the chicken skin side down for the first half of roasting to prevent the "soggy bottom" and then flip the chicken skin side up for the rest of the roasting time both Top and Bottom would be crispy :)
Lara says
Sorry for the ignorance...but, can you tell me what your ratios in the recipe stand for? the 7:2:1? Thanks they look delicious!
DrDan says
7 parts course salt. 2 parts coarse pepper and 1 or 2 parts granulated garlic. I have a link in the post but here it is.
https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/everyday-spice-mix-721-mix/
DrDan
Lara says
Thank you! They are yummy!!
DrDan says
This is an extension of the drumstick recipe. They are very nice.
Thanks for the note.
DrDan
Dan says
Tried it, good idea but be careful. After 10 mins my oven started to fill with smoke from the chicken grease. Finished it off on stove top. Went well.
Kathleen brodbeck says
That's what I want to know also thanks for bringing it up
DrDan says
7 parts coarse salt. 2 parts coarse pepper and 1 or 2 parts granulated garlic. I have a link in the post and under FAQ but here it is.
https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/everyday-spice-mix-721-mix/
DrDan
TT says
Will this recipe turn out the same if i bake the chicken in a pan, on aluminum foil? I don't have a rack
DrDan says
Not quite, the chicken will be setting in fat and juices. Admittedly, that is the way most recipes do thighs and I'm sure they would be fine. But just I like my fat drained away. The foil may well stick, so a non-stick pan sprayed with PAM I guess would be best. Be sure to read the recipe notes about smoke.
Dan