Technique: Crispy Chicken Thighs
Technique: Crispy Chicken Thighs
Mastering this simple technique will open many cooking doors.
Ingredients
- bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- oil, salt and pepper
- a large pan (preferably cast-iron)
It's hard to mess up chicken thighs because the longer fattier meats cook, the better they taste, so they're a good protein for the newer cook. Bone-in chicken thighs are especially tasty because of the skin which can be seared to crispy, toasty perfection.
Heat your pan to medium-high. The chicken produces a lot of oil when it cooks, so you only have to lightly oil the surface of your pan with whatever oil you like. Salt and pepper the skin side of the thighs and place skin side down into the pan leaving a little space between them. Now season the other side of the chicken facing up. Don't touch them for about 7 minutes. They're done when they release easily from the pan and all the fat is a crispy, toasty brown. Turn them over carefully so the oil in the pan doesn't spray and cook for another 10 - 12 minutes. That's really it.
When you turn the chicken over, this is the point when most recipes have you add some kind of liquid to the pan so they cook while partially submerged, also called braising. My Chicken Marbella recipe is a good way to practice this.