Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs – The most amazing oven baked chicken thighs!  These chicken thighs come out crispy on the outside and amazingly tender and juicy on the inside.  Baked chicken thighs are so easy to make with only a few ingredients and one pan!

Baked Chicken Thighs

Ok, folks!  One of the questions I get asked most often is how to cook chicken thighs. Try these with a side of our Classic Baked Mac and Cheese, so good! They’re so easy to make, and this has become one of my most popular recipes!  If you’re looking for other fun chicken thigh recipes, try these Garlic Parmesan Chicken Thighs and these Greek Chicken Thighs!  We’re also loving these Grilled Chicken Thighs during the summer months and of course Crispy Baked Chicken Wings all year long!

Questions that I hear about them the most are:

  1. How long do I cook chicken thighs in the oven and at what temperature?
  2. How do I cook chicken thighs in a pan but make sure they turn out crispy on the outside?
  3. Should I use boneless skinless chicken thighs are bone in with skin?

I think people love the thigh meat because it’s super flavorful, but they just aren’t as familiar with cooking them as they are the breast meat.  Luckily, it’s an incredibly easy process that takes only a few minutes of prep and then the thighs bake up to crispy tender perfection on a sheet pan.

And, I am here to answer those questions for you today with my favorite baked chicken thigh recipe ever, plus a quick video that shows just how I make them!

Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

Let’s go directly into tips for success when making baked chicken thighs:

  • Pat them dry with paper towels before seasoning.  The natural moisture from the chicken can prevent getting a really good sear.  These thighs basically sear right in the oven, so this is an important but quick step to take.

  • How long and at what temperature should you bake the thighs?  You’ll want to bake these at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes without moving or turning them during the process.  This temperature and time ensure that crispy outside and juicy inside we’re looking for.  The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees before being consumed.

  • Use a rimmed baking sheet.  The chicken will produce some of its tasty natural juices, and you don’t want those running off the pan into your oven!

  • I use bone in and skin on chicken thighs for this recipe.  I find that it produces the best results.  However, if you have boneless skinless on hand or that is just your preference, they work just fine with this recipe as well!  They may take about 10 minutes less to cook, so just keep an eye on them.

Baked Chicken Thighs

I hope you guys enjoy this simple chicken recipe as much as my family does!  As always, leave me a comment if you have additional questions, I’m happy to answer them!

Be sure to check out our video for this recipe below and follow along on Facebook to see all of the yummy food videos we share!

~Nichole

4.99 from 2150 votes

Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs

Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs - The most amazing oven baked chicken thighs!  These chicken thighs come out crispy on the outside and amazingly tender and juicy on the inside.  Baked chicken thighs are so easy to make with only a few ingredients and one pan!
Prep 5 minutes
Cook 35 minutes
Total 40 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup and set aside.
  • Remove the chicken thighs from their packaging and pat them dry with paper towels. Arrange the chicken thighs on prepared baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil rubbing the oil into the chicken to coat.
  • In a small bowl mix together the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and paprika.  Sprinkle the spices over the chicken evenly. 
  • Bake chicken in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes.*

Notes

*Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees before consuming. 

Nutrition

Calories: 410kcal, Carbohydrates: 2g, Protein: 27g, Fat: 31g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 166mg, Sodium: 713mg, Potassium: 374mg, Vitamin A: 265IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 24mg, Iron: 1.4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Like this? Rate & review this recipe below!

If you’re looking for other tasty chicken recipes for dinner try these:

  1. Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken
  2. Chicken Enchilada Soup
  3. Honey Mustard Chicken Foil Packets

 

 

If you’re looking for baking recipes, these are some of my readers favorites:

  1. Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins
  2. One Bowl Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
  3. Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies

 


Hey! Nice to meet you! I'm Nichole!

Welcome to The Salty Marshmallow! I'm a mom, animal lover, photographer, & kitchen mess-maker. Here you will find the result of my decades-long passion for chasing the best flavors in the kitchen, all meant to be cooked by regular people with busy lives just like you and me.

Related Recipes

Rate & Review!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




1,222 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Made this tonite with no alterations and was incredibly impressed with the crunch and flavour – so great!! Definitely a keeper, thanks Nichole!!

  2. 5 stars
    Ah…mazing!!! The seasonings were perfect and the baking temp & time was spot on. I didn’t have onion powder so I threw in some 21 Salute from Trader Joe’s. Delicious!

  3. This was excellent. I took the skin off the thighs and even omitted the salt. The seasonings were perfect, Will definitely be making this again.

  4. 4 stars
    Made this a couple weeks ago and it was delicious, even my kids liked it!!! Will definitely make again…like tonight! Lots of opportunity to mix and match sides with this recipe.

  5. 5 stars
    YUM! Made this with boneless, skinless thighs. Already had all the spices in the cabinet. Delicious! Only change next time is will cut back on pepper and salt. Husband (who doesn’t like anything spicy thought it was a little spicy and I felt it was a tad salty). Will definitely make this again.

  6. I just made this tonight and it was De-Lish! I wouldn’t necessarily say it was “crispy” though. It WAS perfectly seasoned and the spices were “crisp” but the skin was still soft-ish. But that’s ok. I’ll be adding this to my weeknight rotation. BTW I added an easy side dish: Roasted cubed potatoes and carrots (or any hard vegetable for that matter) coated with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper, on a separate tray: Put both chicken and veggies the oven at the same time and they’ll be done at the same time. Easy as pie!

    1. Your chicken probably wasn’t crispy because you had the veggies cooking in the same oven, which adds a lot of moisture to the air in the oven, hence no crispy skin.

  7. This is a hit! Its flavorful and juicy…What else would you want? More importantly – very easy. Going into my black hole of best recipes….

    1. Omg!!! This is perfect. Tasty, juicy it’s in my favorite recipes. Ive made this so many times. Thank you!! Btw I haven’t made any changes to it, it’s that amazing!

    1. Linda, you can do chicken breasts the same way… don’t expect them to be crispy. I’d say go for 20ish minutes at 400, then check internal temperature. That’s usually long enough when I cook them.

    2. I’ve done this on chicken breasts, a whole chicken, chicken thighs it’s always perfectly amazing!!!

  8. 5 stars
    This is without a doubt the best recipe for chicken thighs ever! It’s my go-to recipe! Until I found this, chicken breasts were my favorite, but not anymore! Whomever I invite for dinner, this meal becomes their favorite as well! So easy and so incredibly delicious! Thank you for sharing!

  9. 5 stars
    Wow! I can’t believe it! My entire family actually all ate the same meal! My oldest son never eats seasoning on his food. He’s my “no condiment kid” lol! He loved it! My youngest said how good it smelled and cleared his plate! Even my husband liked it!!

    My oven seems to run hot, so I only cooked it for 20 minutes. The only extra step I took was to broil the chicken just for a few minutes after it was cooked through. It gave it a little crisp. Definitely keeping this recipe! Thank you so much!!!