Easy Skillet Chicken Thighs
Published on May 11, 2022
Quick Summary
This Easy Skillet Chicken Thigh recipe with a simple garlic cream sauce is the perfect chicken dinner for easy weeknights or entertaining. Everyone loves this juicy chicken dish and it takes less than 30 minutes to make!
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Pin ItI have a winner, winner chicken dinner for you! This Easy Skillet Chicken Thigh recipe is a family favorite and takes less than 30 minutes to make!
We make this chicken recipe all of the time because it is so simple and the chicken is SO juicy. It turns out perfect every single time.
If you don’t cook with chicken thighs very often, you have to give them a try. Thighs are versatile, full of flavor, and absolutely delicious. They stay super juicy, no matter how you cook them. Plus, they are usually less expensive than chicken breasts.
For this recipe, we season the chicken thighs with a simple spice rub and cook them in a hot cast iron skillet. We also whisk together a simple garlic cream sauce to serve with the chicken. The sauce is INCREDIBLE, don’t be embarrassed if you lick every last drop off of your plate. It happens all of the time:)
This one-skillet chicken meal is the BEST! Make it for dinner tonight. I guarantee it will be a regular meal at your house.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients
The ingredients are simple, but put them all together and you will end up with the most amazing chicken dinner!
- Chicken thighs– you will need about 1 ½ pounds of chicken. You can use skin-on or skinless chicken thighs, whatever you prefer. Chicken thighs with the skin will have more flavor and the skin will get nice and crispy. Technically, you can use chicken breasts, but we recommend thighs because they are juicier.
- Spices– onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika create a great rub for the chicken.
- Olive oil– for cooking the chicken.
- Butter– to create a rich and delicious sauce.
- Shallot– look for shallot by the garlic at the grocery store.
- Garlic– for flavor!
- Chicken broth– for the sauce. You can also use white wine.
- Lemon juice– to brighten up the sauce.
- Thyme– fresh thyme goes so well with the chicken.
- Crushed red pepper flakes– for a little heat.
- Heavy cream– to finish the sauce, don’t skip it! It takes the sauce to the next level.
- Parsley– for garnish!
How to Make Skillet Chicken Thighs
- Use a paper towel to pat the chicken thighs dry. Don’t skip this step! You want to remove excess moisture so the chicken will brown and crisp up nicely.
- In a small bowl, combine the spices, salt, and black pepper. Rub the seasoning mixture all over the chicken thighs, on both sides.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet to medium heat and add the olive oil.
- Place chicken thighs skin side down in the hot skillet and cook, until skin is crispy about 5 minutes, flip chicken thighs and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes or until internal temp is 165 degrees. Transfer chicken to a plate.
- Add the butter, shallot, and garlic to the skillet. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in the chicken broth, lemon juice, thyme, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low and stir in the heavy cream. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until sauce thickens up a bit.
- Place the chicken back in the pan with the sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley.
- Serve the chicken warm with the sauce.
Side Dish Suggestions
We highly recommend serving the skillet chicken thighs with crusty bread or garlic bread to soak up all of that delicious sauce. If you want a few other side dish ideas, here are a few of our favorites.
- Simple Kale Salad
- Simple Arugula Salad
- Easy Green Salad
- Roasted Green Beans
- Roasted Carrots
- Roasted Broccoli
- Twice Baked Potatoes
- Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes
How to Store & Reheat
Leftover chicken thighs will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To reheat, preheat the oven to 325°F and place the chicken in an oven safe dish. Cover with foil and bake until warmed through. You can reheat in the microwave for 1 minute or until hot, but we prefer using the oven.
More Easy Chicken Recipes
- Teriyaki Chicken
- Honey Mustard Chicken
- Lemon Butter Chicken
- Baked Chicken Tenders
- Honey Mustard Sheet Pan Chicken with Brussels Sprouts
- Sheet Pan Balsamic Chicken
Easy Skillet Chicken Thighs
Equipment
- Cast Iron Skillet (I LOVE my Lodge skillet)
Ingredients
- 6 boneless chicken thighs, about 1 ½ pounds*
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- Freshly chopped parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Use a paper towel to pat the chicken thighs dry.
- In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and black pepper. Rub the seasoning mixture all over the chicken thighs, on both sides.
- Heat a large cast iron to medium heat and add the olive oil.
- Place chicken thighs skin side down in the hot skillet and cook, until skin is crispy about 5 minutes, flip chicken thighs and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes or until internal temp is 165 degrees. Transfer chicken to a plate.
- Add the butter, shallot, and garlic to the skillet. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in the chicken broth, lemon juice, thyme, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low and stir in the heavy cream. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until sauce thickens up a bit.
- Place the chicken back in the pan with the sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve the chicken warm with the sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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Followed this recipe exact and it was so delicious! I could not stop raving about how good it was while I was eating it. My husband also loved it. I made mine with skinless thighs and served over bow tie pasta. Next time I will trying add some mushrooms. Thanks for sharing this super flavorful yet simple recipe!
I am glad you enjoyed the chicken thighs!
Easy and delicious! Wish I would have had some mushrooms to add to it!
Mushrooms would be a great addition.
my boyfriend does not eat chicken. Ever. not even chicken wings at home or a restaurant. tonight I found myself in a pinch since we just got back from traveling. I had 2 frozen thighs so I par boiled the and cut away the chicken from the bone and removed anything that could resemble “gross” I didn’t tell him however I fried the chicken chucks with the skin and rub, I followed this recipe as close as possible. since I didn’t have cream I used sour cream as another person suggested and used 2 pinches of dried time to the red flakes and tbs of wine to let it soften a bit. once the whole meal was in the pan and coming together I could see his attention growing. the house smelled like a holiday. I only had frozen broccoli and a bag of white instant rice. he knows I usually don’t cut corners so was a bit apprehensive. HE LOVED THIS MEAL! told me to keep it in the rotation and now is more optimistic about chicken. growing up his mom used canned chicken or tuna for everything, including spaghetti. he is 57 years old and ready to discover chicken…… finally. thank you for making my life a bit easier. great recipe!
I am THRILLED he loved it. Nice job!!
Super easy and yummy recipe! My family liked it so much I made it two nights in a row!
So awesome!! A dinner winner!
Great recipe! The family loved it. I served it with mash and marmalade glazed carrots. I added about 2 tablespoons of capers to the sauce at the end to bring out the lemon flavour and some white wine when I deglazed the pan.
I am glad your family loved it!
Delicious recipe for sauce and raw chicken. Make sure your oven is ready to actually cook those chicken thighs once the sauce is thickening
Hi, I’d like to use chicken thighs bone in? Your thoughts?
Ev
You can!
That was a delicious chicken dinner. I added a splash of red wine and only had a lime so used that. I popped it in the oven for about 10 mins when the sauce just started to boil. Took it out of the oven and removed the chicken. The sauce was still runny so I reduced it to thicken. Lovely with mash and broccolini.
Sounds perfect! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe is so good. I highly recommend focaccia with it. The whole family raved about dipping the focaccia in the sauce. Thank you for a great recipe.
One change was I had no pepper flakes so, I added 1/2 tsp cayenne instead.
Oooh, focaccia would be amazing with the chicken. Thanks for sharing!
I made it a bit too spicy so I added cream of mushroom over some box ties. Yummy
Bow ties….
YUM!
Excellent sauce! Full of flavor and very satisfying dish that is now part of our rotation. I used a light white wine instead of stock and let it cook down a little to concentrate the flavor prior to adding the cream. It is a hit with my family. Thank you, Maria!
You are welcome!
First, let me say it was delicious and worthy of 5 stars. I don’t usually pan fry chicken and there was a lot of splatter. I used a 2 quart saucepan, which is pretty deep, but still needed to cover it with a paper plate. No splatter guard here. The thighs were not done after the recommended cooking time. My meat thermometer only made it to 140 degrees. So into the microwave at half power for a minute. Only moved to 150 degrees so used high power for a minute and it was 180 degrees. All good. I used white wine in place of chicken broth. Had to use dried thyme, but fresh would have made it even more awesome. I had to use yogurt to sub sour cream. It didn’t look the best as it got a little clumpy, but the taste was Mmmmm. Thank you for a wonderful recipe. And to the folks who made suggestions on substitutions. Helped me a lot.
I am glad you loved the recipe! Thanks for your comment.
Made this for dinner tonight! Everything was perfect except for it took wayyyy more than 15mins to fully cook my thighs (to be fair, I only have my cheap Walmart Teflon sauce man, not a cast iron pan (though I would LOVE one) so that might be on me). Took me closer to 30mins for the chicken, but I’m horrified of raw chicken despite my handy meat thermometer, so that may also be on me. I also added mushrooms and spinach to the sauce and served it over some brown rice! Wasn’t spicy enough so i added a bit more paprika & some sriracha, and it was perfect! TLDR; this chicken recipe is so good.