Italian Chicken Thighs
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.
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“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
How to Video
Italian Baked Chicken Thighs
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
Instructions
- 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.
Freezer Instructions
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.
Nutrition
So easy and so yummy! The whole family loved it!
Glad to hear it Lindsey! Thanks for leaving a review.