These Buttery Lemon Thyme Chicken Thighs are tender, juicy, flavorful and delicious! They are also easy to make!
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Buttery Lemon Thyme Chicken Thighs:
To make this chicken we start with thighs, why? Because bone in skin on thighs are the most tender and flavorful part of the chicken! We tuck a thin slice of lemon and a thyme sprig under the skin, sprinkle the skin with sea salt and pepper and then sear in a frying pan until the skin is golden and crispy. Yum! Then we pop the pan in the oven to bake for 25 minutes, which gives us time to put together the side dishes, so easy!
So When Does The Butter Come Into Play?
When the chicken comes out of the oven, we remove it from the pan and add butter, melting it and scraping the chicken bits from the bottom of the pan. We use that buttery sauce to give this chicken even more flavor. This main course is Paleo, Low Carb and keto friendly. Wow, beautiful, am I right?
What to Serve it With:
You can serve with a side salad, or over rice, or pasta.
This Recipe is Made with Thighs, BUT if You Prefer Breasts, I got You!
If you prefer Roasted Lemon Chicken Breasts <—-click!
The Recipe: Buttery Lemon Thyme Chicken Thighs
What you need: A good pan, preferably cast iron, and a great sea salt.
Easy, delicious chicken thighs with a buttery sauce
- 4 large chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
- 4 lemon slices
- 8 sprigs thyme
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 shallots, peeled and sliced
- 3 tablespoons good quality olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place oven rack in the center position
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Slice lemon into thin slices, break thyme springs into eight 2-3 inch segments, peel and slice shallots, set aside
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Use your fingers to gently separate the chicken skin from meat, slide a slice of lemon and two sprigs of thyme under the skin of each chicken thigh. Gently slide skin back in place. Season both sides of chicken thighs with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
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Heat a frying pan (preferably cast iron) on medium high heat for two minutes. Add olive oil to pan. You want the entire bottom of pan to e covered with oil. Heat oil for 60 seconds. Add chicken thighs to pan skin side down. Cook for 6 minutes, until skin is golden (chicken will continue to brown in the oven). Turn heat down a little if needed.
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Leave chicken skin side down and place pan in the oven, cook for 12 minutes. Turn chicken skin side up, add shallots to the pan in between the chicken pieces, cook for 12-13 more minutes. Remove pan from the oven, place chicken on a plate. Add butter to pan, use a spatula to move butter around and scrape the chicken bits from the bottom of the pan. This forms a tasty sauce.
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To plate: pour sauce onto a plate, slide the lemon slices and thyme sprigs out from under the skin of the chicken thighs, add chicken on top of sauce this gives that great flavor while keeping the skin crispy). Enjoy!
If desired, garnish with chives, pomegranate seeds, lemon wedges etc...
MAY I PLEASE ASK A FAVOR?
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I’ve always struggled with keeping the lemon from getting too bitter when roasting, but tucking it under the skin is such a smart move! It looks like it keeps the meat so juicy while letting the skin stay perfectly crispy—definitely trying this for Sunday dinner.
Hi Ava. In the recipe I do mention you can slide the lemon out before serving. That way you get the flavor but not the bitterness. Hope you love it.