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Home Recipe Index Easy Weeknight Dinners

Italian Baked Chicken Thighs

★★★★★ 5 /5
Jump to Recipe Rate Recipe
Polly Conner
By: Polly ConnerPosted: 4/17/23Updated: 4/11/23

This post may contain affiliate or sponsored links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Italian Baked Chicken Thighs are the most amazing, flavorful, juicy chicken thigh recipe you’ll find! With just a handful of simple seasonings, these chicken thighs turn out crispy on the outside and amazingly tender and juicy on the inside. 

Italian Baked Chicken Thighs on a white platter with another plate of oven roasted asparagus on it.

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Super easy recipe that is a flavor bomb! Will definitely be a regular recipe I make.” – Jennifer

Disclaimer: This post was created in partnership with Hy-Vee (Columbia). 

Table of Contents
  • About This Recipe
  • Want to make these in the air fryer?
  • Ingredients Needed
  • Where to Get Your Ingredients
  • Let’s Make Oven Baked Chicken Thighs!
  • Baking Tip
  • How to Freeze Chicken Thighs
  • Pro Tip: Cook them straight from frozen!
  • FAQs About Baking Chicken Thighs
  • Recipes That Go Well With Baked Chicken Thighs
  • Recipe: Italian Baked Chicken Thighs

About This Recipe

Reader, beware. You are about to encounter one of the most amazing chicken thigh recipes on the Internet.

It’s not only amazing in flavor and texture, but it’s amazingly simple. This is one of those recipes that will become part of your regular meal rotation.

Serve it with one of our easiest side dishes, Garlic Green Beans, Healthy Mashed Potatoes and our Bread Machine Dinner Rolls for a delicious well-rounded meal.

They are just SO. DANG. GOOD.

Stock picture of an air fryer.

Want to make these in the air fryer?

If you have an air fryer, this recipe is a must! We give you all the details on how to make air fryer chicken thighs in this post.

Air Fryer Chicken Thighs

Ingredients Needed

As promised, the ingredients in this recipe are simple. Here is what you’ll need on hand:

Italian Baked Chicken Thighs Ingredients measured out and labeled.
  • Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (Bone-in thighs turn out much more juicy than boneless.)
  • Olive oil or avocado oil
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Italian seasoning
  • Poultry seasoning
  • Paprika
  • Salt & Pepper

Where to Get Your Ingredients

We suggest grabbing these ingredients at your local Hy-Vee, since they are well-stocked year-round. The employees at the meat counter are so helpful if you have any questions.

Picture of the front of a Hy-Vee store.

Let’s Make Oven Baked Chicken Thighs!

Mix the Seasonings

Mix the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, and paprika in a small bowl.

If you think you’ll be making this recipe frequently, scale the seasonings up 3-4x and save the mix in a mason jar in your spice cabinet. I do this often with our Taco Seasoning Mix.

Seasonings for italian baked chicken thighs separately piled in a bowl.

Season the Chicken Thighs

Arrange the chicken on the baking sheet. Pat dry with paper towels and trim off any excess skin/fat.

Someone patting chicken thighs dry with a paper towel.

Drizzle the oil evenly over the chicken and rub in on all sides. Sprinkle the seasoning evenly over the chicken and rub in on all sides.

Seasoned chicken thighs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper ready for the oven.

Bake and Enjoy!

Bake the chicken, skin side up, for 40-45 minutes, until done. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165°F (source) and/or have no more pink inside.

Baking Tip

You can turn on the broiler and broil the chicken for a few minutes to get the skin even crispier, if desired.

Baked Chicken thighs straight from the oven still on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

How to Freeze Chicken Thighs

As self-proclaimed freezer cooking evangelists, we can’t help ourselves from sharing how to turn these chicken thighs into a freezer meal. Again, it’s SO easy.

Freeze For Later: Place the seasoned, raw chicken thighs into a gallon-sized freezer bag in a single layer. Seal and freeze flat.

Prepare From Frozen: Thaw using one of these safe methods for thawing chicken and then cook as directed.

Raw chicken thighs seasoned and in a freezer bag ready to be frozen.

Pro Tip: Cook them straight from frozen!

Forget to thaw your chicken thighs? Want to cook them straight from frozen? If you have an Instant Pot, no sweat.

We show you how to cook frozen chicken thighs in the Instant Pot here.

FAQs About Baking Chicken Thighs

Can I use boneless chicken thighs?

You totally can, but just decrease the baking time to 25-30 minutes. Check the internal temperature to make sure it gets to 165°F.
While boneless chicken thighs are an option, having skin-on, bone-in thighs really helps keep the chicken moist and juicy. It’s also hard to get that desired crisp if you don’t have skin on it.

How do you store baked chicken thighs?

Baked chicken thighs can be refrigerated for four to five days. If you won’t be eating them during that time, you can freeze the leftovers for future use.

Can I make these in the slow cooker?

Yes… but they may not be as good. It’s hard (actually impossible) to get that crispy skin if they are cooked in the slow cooker. One solution would be to broil the slow-cooked thighs at the end but it’s hard to replicate roasting in the oven.

When it comes to chicken thighs in the Crock Pot, we have found it’s always best to cook them on Low and only for 3-4 hours at the very most. While chicken thighs can cook a bit longer than chicken breasts in the Crock Pot, they will definitely start to dry out after that amount of time cooking.

Recipes That Go Well With Baked Chicken Thighs

Here are some recipes that would pair well with Italian Baked Chicken Thighs

Oven roasted asparagus on parchment paper.

Oven Roasted Asparagus

Spoon with Instant Pot Mac and Cheese being lifted out of an instant pot.

6-Ingredient Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

A hand holding a serving dish of roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

A bowl of coleslaw for pulled pork.

5-Ingredient Coleslaw

Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!

Italian Baked Chicken Thighs on a white platter.
★★★★★ 5 from 22 reviews

Italian Baked Chicken Thighs

With just a handful of simple seasonings, 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 and we show you how to turn them into a make ahead freezer meal too!

Yield: 6 1x
Prep: 5 minCook: 40Total: 45 minutes
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Scale:

Ingredients

  • 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 lbs)
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or olive oil)
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed in hand
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

Instructions

Make It Now:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, and paprika.
  3. Arrange the chicken on the baking sheet. Pat dry with paper towels and trim off any excess skin/fat. Drizzle the oil evenly over the chicken and rub in on all sides. Sprinkle the seasoning evenly over the chicken and rub in on all sides.
  4. Bake the chicken, skin side up, for 40-45 minutes, until done. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165°F and/or have no more pink inside. Optional: You can turn on the broiler and broil the chicken for a few minutes to get the skin even crispier, if desired. 

Freeze For Later: Place the seasoned, raw chicken thighs into a gallon-sized freezer bag in a single layer. Seal and freeze flat.

Prepare From Frozen: Thaw using one of these safe methods and then cook as directed in Step 4.

© Author: Polly Conner
Cuisine: Italian Method: Oven

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Polly Conner

Polly Conner

As co-founder of Thriving Home, Polly’s passionate about helping busy parents get dinner on the table. With a house full of kids, dogs, and (usually) a DIY project in the works, she knows firsthand how every minute (and every dollar) counts. As a business owner, she enjoys wearing multiple hats and serves best as a project manager for Thriving Home.

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  1. AvatarGypsy says

    Posted on 11/19/23 at 6:55 pm

    I made this tonight using a cast iron skillet. Followed the recipe and didnt change anything except making one less chicken thigh (avoiding to overcrowd the skillet) Saved the remaining seasoning to make this again one day soon! It was very delicious !
    As a side with this I cooked:
    *Linguini with tomato, onion,spinach and garlic
    *Garlic bread
    Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Carla from Thriving HomeCarla from Thriving Home says

      Posted on 11/20/23 at 12:41 pm

      I wish I was at your house for dinner Gypsy! That all sounds amazing. So glad you liked this recipe. It is a fan-favorite around here. 🙂

      Reply
  2. AvatarRenee Fraser says

    Posted on 10/14/23 at 9:23 am

    My husband said this was a new top meal for him! Very flavorful rub and crispy skin make this a recipe we’ll make again.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Carla from Thriving HomeCarla from Thriving Home says

      Posted on 10/14/23 at 10:50 am

      Glad you won the husband over Renee! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

      Reply
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