I’ve really been loving cooking with my cast-iron skillet lately. It’s naturally non-stick (when seasoned properly), extremely durable, and super easy to clean (I’ll be sharing a video on that soon!).
Oh! And you can make some seriously delicious chicken in a cast iron skillet (remember this recipe?).
This chicken is less of a recipe and more of a technique. Having techniques like this in your back pocket will make you feel like a professional healthy home cook, in no time (#promise).
I went with chicken thighs because they came in my last delivery from *Butcher Box so I had them on hand but you can certainly use this techniques for chicken breasts as well (just be sure to adjust the cooking time).
You will see that this technique makes for some seriously crispy and delicious skin, but if you don’t want to eat the skin, I still encourage you to leave it on the chicken when you cook because it will help to keep the meat nice and juicy.
I find a big fat, crisp salad is the prefect partner to go with this chicken. I mean, just look a that! #SoGood
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Iron-Skillet Chicken Thigh Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in skin-on, chicken thighs (about 6 ounces each)
- 2 teaspoon coconut oil
- kosher salt and pepper
- garlic powder optional
- smoked paprika optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Pat chicken dry with some paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Season skin side generously with salt and pepper. Flip and season the meat with salt and pepper and any additional spices you like (if you decide to stick to salt and pepper, your chicken will still be delicious).
- Heat cast iron skillet over a medium heat. Add coconut oil to coat the bottom of the pan (if you have excess oil in the pan, carefully wipe it out with a paper towel).
- Once the oil is hot, place chicken skin side down in the pan and set your timer for 6 minutes. You want to brown the skin to a golden brown color. The chicken will easily release from the pan when it is done.
- Flip the chicken and pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165F. Serve an enjoy!
Kimberly
So many wonderful flavors going on in here!
Sharon McDonald
Can the chicken thighs be cooked in a regular skillet being I don’t own an iron skillet? Oh and I already have skinless thighs in my freezer, do I do anything different with skinless thighs?
Dani
You need to make sure you have a heavy skillet that can go in the oven at 425 degrees. Do your skinless thighs have a bone in them?