These aromatic, crispy baked Italian chicken thighs are full of flavour and so easy to make with this simple recipe that it will soon become one of your go-to dishes, whether it’s for an easy supper or relaxed entertaining.
Crispy baked Italian chicken thighs
Nothing could be simpler that this dish of baked chicken thighs with an Italian seasoning of fragrant dried herbs, yet the results are fabulous – a crispy skin, and juicy roast meat infused with all those tempting aromas of the herb and garlic mix.
See also
- For another irresistible chicken dish, try hunters chicken, a pub classic
- Chicken biryani is a delicious Indian dish with fabulous fragrant spice
- If you love barbecue flavours, you need to try this wonderful slow cooker pulled chicken recipe
This recipe is really the perfect expression of why I like to keep an Italian seasoning mix ready made up in the spice drawer. With this is place, the usual salt and pepper aside, this becomes a two ingredient recipe that I can throw together in no time. There’s no added fat and no fuss.
Once it is in the oven, I only need to pop back once to adjust the heat and this easy pan roast Italian chicken is ready in less than an hour, with only a few minutes hands-on time. What could be easier?
I love the simplicity and purity of this recipe, which really shows off the meat to best advantage with no over-processed nasties in sight. I’m convinced you will love it too.
Why make baked Italian chicken thighs
- the simplest Italian chicken recipe
- perfect texture – juicy inside, crispy outside
- full of fabulous flavour
- effortless cooking
Baked Italian chicken ingredients
- Chicken thighs – choose large thighs, as these will not dry out. You want the skin on. I like to keep the bone in. It may look less elegant but you get more flavour.
Thighs are always my first choice for chicken pieces. They have more flavour and a little more fat, so they don’t dry out. You don’t need to add any oil here as there is enough fat in the meat. Chicken thighs are also more affordable than breasts.
Do try to buy good quality chicken that has not been intensively reared. Not only is it kinder, but the bird will have built more muscle from moving more freely, and this means better flavour.
- Seasoning – I use my quick and easy homemade Italian seasoning, a mix of dried woody and leafy herbs that are widely used in Italian cooking together with some garlic granules, plus a little sea salt and ground black pepper.
If you use a different Italian seasoning mix, check whether the salt and pepper are already in there, so that you don’t end up over-salting the dish.
How to make baked Italian chicken – step by step
Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this baked Italian chicken thighs recipe perfectly every time.
Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.
Step One – Pre-heat the oven to hot: 240°C fan / Gas 9 / 475°F.
Allow the chicken to come up to room temperature. Pat the skin with a paper towel to dry it. The less liquid in the skin, the crisper it will be.
Mix a little sea salt and black pepper with the herb mix.
Now loosen the skin on top of the thigh by sweeping a finger under it, gently pulling the skin away from the flesh while taking care not to tear it. Slip the seasoning under the skin and spread it out there, pulling the skin fully back into place when you have finished.
With the seasoning under the skin, the fat from the skin will run through the herbs as it renders, flavouring the meat and ensuring that the seasoning will not burn.
Step Two – Roll any loose bits of skin and meat up under the thigh.
Arrange the thighs on a wire rack standing in a roasting tin. Don’t crowd them. You want some space between them, at least as much as shown in the photograph.
Put the chicken in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes until golden.
Step Three – Turn the oven down to 180°C fan / Gas 6 / 400°F and cook for a further 30 minutes, until cooked through.
Step Four – When your Italian roast chicken thighs are ready, the juices will be clear and the flesh will be coming away from the bone. The internal temperature should be 75°C / 165°F.
Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Serving suggestion
These Italian baked chicken thighs would be delicious served simply with Italian rice or sauteed potatoes and a simple rocket salad or steamed rapini.
For a more sumptuous meal, add creamy garlic mushrooms or a good homemade tomato sauce.
Variations
Use your favourite seasoning mix to ring the changes, or add a little dried chilli or chilli flake to the mix.
Storage
Keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 days.
To reheat, put a glug of oil to a frying pan and add the chicken pieces skin side up. Fry gently over a low heat. You can speed the process up by putting a lid on to hold the heat. Once the chicken thighs are warmed through, flip them over, adding a little more fat if needed, and turn the heat up to recrisp the skin.
Serve immediately.
Hints and tips
- Drying the skin before cooking makes a real difference, so do not skip this stage and mop up as much of the moisture as you can.
- Give the thighs space when cooking. You want them to roast rather than steam.
- Pour off the rendered fat and juices and freeze. Use these to make chicken stock.
FAQs
Yes. I know there are a lot of recipes for variations on the theme out there that show the chicken baked on the pan without the rack to lift it up, but you won’t get the juices and fat running off in the same way, and the skins just won’t get the same chance to crisp up without creating that space under the meat.
When you roast meat, the advice is always to let it rest before serving. This is because during cooking the moisture is drawn out towards the surface of the meat. When you rest it, the moisture is redistributed, so that your Italian baked chicken dish will be juicy all the way through.
Meat continues to cook in the residual heat once you take it out of the oven, so if a recipe tells you to rest it, assume that really is part of the cooking time to get to just where it needs to be.
In this instance, nothing at all. There are a lot of pixels expended on this. The Oxford English Dictionary, however, gives roasting as cooking in an oven or by exposure to fire without added liquid, and baking as cooking in an oven without added liquid or fat.
So this can be an Italian baked chicken recipe or an Italian roast chicken recipe as you prefer!
More Italian-inspired recipes
- Fried pumpkin gnocchi with sage – a delicious Northern Italian style dish
- Spicy garlic chicken pasta – a quick and delicious dinner
- Pressure cooker pasta puttanesca – quick, easy and spicy
Baked Italian Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs (large)
- 1 pinch sea salt
- black pepper
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to hot: 240°C fan / Gas 9 / 475°F.Allow the chicken to come up to room temperature. Pat the skin with a paper towel to dry it.4 chicken thighs
- Mix a little sea salt and black pepper with the herb mix.Loosen the skin on top of the thigh by sweeping a finger underneath, taking care not to tear the skin. Push the seasoning into the gap under the skin, spread it out and pull the skin back into place.1 pinch sea salt, black pepper, 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- Roll any loose bits of skin and meat up under the thigh.Arrange the thighs on a wire rack standing in a roasting tin, spreading them out so that they do not touch.
- Put the chicken in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes until golden.
- Turn the oven down to 180°C fan / Gas 6 / 400°F and cook for a further 30 minutes, until cooked through.
- When the skin is a rich golden colour with the juices running clear and the meat coming away from the bone, remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Storage
Keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 days. To reheat, put a glug of oil to a frying pan and add the chicken pieces skin side up. Fry gently over a low heat. You can speed the process up by putting a lid on to hold the heat. Once the chicken thighs are warmed through, flip them over, adding a little more fat if needed, and turn the heat up to recrisp the skin. Serve immediately.Hints and tips
- Drying the skin before cooking makes a real difference, so do not skip this stage and mop up as much of the moisture as you can.
- Give the thighs space when cooking. You want them to roast rather than steam.
- Pour off the rendered fat and juices and freeze. Use these to make chicken stock.
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