Italian Chicken Thighs
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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.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Super easy recipe that is a flavor bomb! Will definitely be a regular recipe I make.” – Jennifer
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, Boursin Cheese Mashed Potatoes (or Healthy Mashed Potatoes) and our Bread Machine Dinner Rolls for a delicious well-rounded meal.
They are just SO. DANG. GOOD.
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.
Ingredients Needed
As promised, the ingredients in this recipe are simple. Here is what you’ll need on hand:
Ingredient Notes:
- We use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs because they turn out much more juicy than boneless. However, you could easily use boneless chicken thighs. As a general guideline, boneless chicken thighs may take around 5-10 minutes less to bake compared to bone-in chicken thighs at the same temperature.
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.
Season the Chicken Thighs
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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!
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
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- In a small bowl, mix together the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, and paprika.
- 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.
- 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.
Notes/Tips
- This seasoning can be used on all cuts of chicken. Cooking times will vary.
- Use this recipe for Air Fryer Chicken Thighs is you want!
- Not all chicken thighs are the same size. Be sure internal temperature is at least 165°F to determine if it’s safe to eat.
- We show you how to cook frozen chicken thighs in the Instant Pot here.
- If using boneless chicken thighs, decrease the baking time to 25-30 minutes.
Excellent! The thighs remained moist and full of flavor. Thighs are a budget friendly meat and the seasoning ingredients are probably in your pantry.
Yes Paula! Those are the things I love about this recipe. If I don’t have a meal plan for the night, I can stop by the store and grab some thighs without breaking the bank and I know everything else is in my pantry. And of course the flavor! 🙂 Thanks for leaving a review.
Super delicious, juicy, the seasoning was amazing, rubbed it under the skin too! So looking forward to grilling this recipe on the grill!!
Oooh, I haven’t tried these on the grill Sherry, great suggestion!
This was really good & easy to make on a week night! My daughter & husband are picky eaters & loved it 😍
Yay! Picky eater compliments are our favorite. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and review, Heather.
Even my picky eaters loved these!
Always good to hear when picky eaters love one of our recipes! Thanks for leaving a review Amy.
Made these tonight—wow, these were delicious! The seasoning is perfection. I ran my finger under the skin, to separate it from the meat. I’ve found this helps it crisp up more. I even sprinkled some seasoning into the “pocket” directly onto the meat under the skin. I’m definitely going to make this again!
Thanks for the suggestions Brian! I can’t wait to try separating the skin for more crispiness and more flavor on the meat. It’s making my mouth water!
Loved this !
Would it work as well with drumsticks ?
While we haven’t tried it yet, I don’t see why it wouldn’t? If you give it a try, let us know how it turns out Tina.
This was phenomenal. I made it for a family birthday and everyone loved it! So easy and so delicious! I made baby potatoes and asparagus as a side. So yummy!
Glad everyone enjoyed it Emily.
These are so delicious, flavorful and juicy! They come together fast, use easy ingredients, freeze and bake well, and the whole family loves them. As an added bonus, they make the whole house smell AH-MAZING~!
They do smell so good, don’t they? So glad your family loves them Kate.
Made these last week and am making them again tonight! Talk about deliciousness!!!!
There just aren’t enough words to describe how yummy these are, right Janny? And so easy too!
So good and super easy!
Yay! That’s what we strive for around here… delicious AND easy! Thanks Kishia.
10 min from end I layered chicken with Tuscan fontal cheese
That sounds like a delicious addition Phil. Thanks for leaving a review!
Super easy recipe that is a flavor bomb! I had to keep it warm in the oven for almost an hour after cooking before eating, and it was still moist and delish! Will definitely be a regular recipe I make. I served the Simple & Delicious Boiled Baby Potatoes and sauteed green beans on the side. Wonderful!
Flavor bomb! I love it! My high school senior makes this every time it’s her turn to cook dinner. So easy and everyone loves it. Those sound like perfect side dishes for this recipe. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!
We loved the flavor and it was nice and moist ☺️
Hi Rosemary! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review.
This chicken is one of the first meals we ate after giving birth and I gotta say that it hit the spot! We had it with corn on the cob, a bagged salad, and some baked beans and it felt like when you go to your in-laws for a fabulous Sunday dinner! The chicken cooks up perfectly moist and so so flavorful in the oven (I thought I might need to broil it at the end but no, perfection). I’m just so thankful that I bought this 1 hour freezer meal prep! (This was one of the fall ones)
Aww, we love hearing that 1 Hour Freezer Prep has been helpful to your family. You’re right, this is a great one for an easy Sunday dinner. Thank you so much for the review!
This is seriously the only way I make chicken thighs anymore. So flavorful and juicy!
Hi Emily. My HS senior said the other day that she will probably just make these over and over when she moves out on her own! They are delish!
I made this for my boyfriend who is working from home. He said his mouth was watering smelling the chicken cooking in the oven. He quickly stated this is some of the best chicken! Love the flavor of all the spices coming together in delicious harmony!!
Thanks so much for the feedback! Love hearing that it was a win for you guys.
Easy and good. My toddlers ate a chicken thigh each! That’s success in my book!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing, Marie.