What Temperature To Slow Cook Chicken Thighs In Oven? The Ultimate Guide

In Absolute Best Tests, Ella Quittner breaks the rules in her own kitchen to find the truth. Shes boiled dozens of eggs, mashed a concerning number of potatoes, and roasted more broccoli than she cares to recall. Today, she tackles chicken thighs.

It was summer of 2013, hot and sticky in the city, and I’d just acquired 12 chicken thighs.

Perhaps if I’d used my kitchen for anything before that point—a piece of toast, a bowl of cereal—I’d have felt less panic staring down those lumps of poultry: glaringly pink, skin puckered and pooling around the edges like oversize blankets.

But I’d just moved into my first adult apartment a few days prior, and like anyone high on realizing they can shove several boxes in the crawl space next to their bathroom to deal with at another time would have done, I’d invited over four friends for dinner. And then panic-purchased more chicken thighs than I knew what to do with. So I called my mom.

“What would you do with 12 chicken thighs in 85°F weather, if you also only have olive oil, salt, and lemon, but there’s a Fairway nearby, but also it’s 85°F so you don’t particularly want to go to it?” I said.

“Did I mention you have two stockpots! And pretty much nothing else,” I said. “One is also burned on the bottom because your college roommate used it to make hot sauce and then left the room.” ”.

An hour later, out of the blue, an email with a recipe for what my mom calls “Joan Chicken” showed up in my inbox. It was for slow-roasted chicken thighs that had been rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with lots of salt and pepper. The skin should be as crispy as fried cabbage. It’s her riff on something she claims her friend Joan once made many decades ago at the beach. (Unconfirmed. There were also steps for cleaning a burned stockpot, a recipe for stockpot lentils, and a gentle reminder to buy wine in the email.

The dinner party was a success, in the sense that I forgot to serve the lentils à la burnt stockpot because I did remember to buy wine, and I managed to get the chicken thighs pretty crispy. In the ensuing years, I’ve expanded my chicken thigh canon a bit, though I often turn back to Joan Chicken for its reliable output of juicy, flavorful, and very crispy thighs. So when my editor asked me to compare as many cooking methods as possible for Absolute Best Tests, after confirming she wasn’t asking me to solve a riddle, I agreed to expand my chicken thigh repertoire even more. Behold, the results.

Sear & High-Heat Roast

• Heat the oven to 475°F.
• Heat a heavy nonstick or cast-iron pan over high heat. Add about a tablespoon of canola oil. While it’s heating up, season the thighs with salt and pepper.
• When the oil is shimmering, add the thighs skin-side down. Sear for 2 minutes, then lower the heat to medium-high. Cook the thighs with the skin down for about 12 more minutes, or until the skin is golden and crispy.
• Transfer to the oven and roast uncovered for 13 minutes. In 5 minutes, the meat closest to the bone should read 165°F on an instant-read thermometer. Flip the thighs over and cook for another 5 minutes.

This method was based on the technique in Bon Appétit’s Cast-Iron Skillet Chicken Thighs. Check out the full recipe for more details and tips.

Both in terms of how they looked (caramel-colored with dense, crunchy skin) and how quickly they were cooked (35 minutes from start to finish), these thighs were not at all like the slow roast. The meat was juicy, with very little shrinkage, and cooked satisfyingly evenly, as compared to the skillet-only method. The flavor of the chicken itself was nothing special beyond the usual salt and pepper highlights, but thanks to the juiciness, it would have made for quite an enjoyable dinner were it not 11:15 a. m.

• Heat the oven to 400°F. Set a cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add about a tablespoon of canola oil. While it’s heating up, season the thighs with salt and pepper.
• When the oil is shimmering, add the thighs skin-side down. Sear for eight to ten minutes, or until the skin is very golden and crispy.
• After 5 minutes, flip the thighs over and cook for another 5 minutes. Then, move them to the oven.
• Cover and roast for 10 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 165°F for the meat closest to the bone and the skin is puffed and crispy.

This method was based on the technique in Josh Cohen’s recipe for One-Pan Crispy Chicken Thighs, stripped down to just vegetable oil, salt, and pepper. Check out the full recipe for more details and tips.

This technique is very similar to the sear and high-heat roast, with two key differences. Firstly, this method features an oven temp of 400°F—75°F lower than the other method. Also, Cohen says to flip the thighs over before putting them in the oven, so the bottoms get 5 minutes of direct heat on the stove. This produces a nice crust on the bottom of each thigh, not unlike the skillet-only method, which is a bonus complement to crispy skin. The sear and roast approach is especially efficient (about 35 minutes all in) and user-friendly. I think I could have told the difference if I hadn’t been told. These thighs weren’t quite as juicy as the ones that had been sear and high-heat roasted.

• Season the thighs all over with salt and pepper. In a sauté pan over medium heat, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil. It will take about 5 minutes per side to brown the thighs. Place the thighs on a plate and pour off all but one tablespoon of the fat that has been rendered.
• Put in about 10 ounces of chopped tomatoes from a can, 1/2 cup of chicken stock, and a pinch of salt. Bring the liquid to a simmer, scraping up brown bits. Nestle the thighs in the sauce, skin-side up.
• Partially cover and cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes, or until the thighs are soft and an instant-read thermometer reads 165°F in the meat closest to the bone.

This method was based on the technique in Merrill Stubbs’ Braised Chicken Thighs With Tomato & Garlic, stripped down to just olive oil, salt, pepper, canned chopped tomatoes, and chicken stock. Check out the full recipe for more details and tips.

Braised chicken thighs have a lot going for them. Namely, velvety meat that’s flavored with whatever you simmer them in, and a ready-made serving sauce. The main knock against braised thighs is the lack of bracingly crispy skin. While this technique does have you brown both sides of the thighs before braising, resulting in an initially golden exterior, the skin ultimately wilts during the partially covered braising step. Still beautiful and flavorful, but it’s not going to win any awards for structural integrity.

• Prepare the chicken ahead of time by brining or marinating it in something like water with sugar, salt, and spices mixed in for a brine or buttermilk with hot sauce, garlic powder, and other spices mixed in for a marinade.
• If you brined in seasoned buttermilk, proceed to step 3. If you marinated it in something other than buttermilk, you can now dip it in seasoned buttermilk. (Some recipes also call for eggs and/or vodka to be mixed into the buttermilk.) ).
• Use a mix of garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, salt, cornstarch, and cayenne pepper in the flour to coat the chicken thighs. See the recipes above for more information.
• On medium heat, bring neutral oil in a cast-iron skillet to about 325°F to 350°F. Fry each thigh for about 10 minutes on each side until golden. Drain on paper towels before serving.

This method was based on the technique in a few recipes, including Buxton Hall Barbecue’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Aaron Hutcherson’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken, and Chef James’ Classic Southern Buttermilk Bathed Fried Chicken. It’s worth checking out the full recipes for more details and tips.

I would eat battered and fried chicken at any time of day, at any time of year, in any emotional state. I would eat it even if my greatest enemy made it and thereby got to experience the satisfaction of my enjoyment. It’s a pretty much perfect food when done correctly, with a craggy, sapid shell that locks in the thigh’s moisture, so its interior remains juicy enough to inspire a Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion duet.

• In a large bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of salt with 1 cup of warm water. Put the chicken thighs and a tray of ice cubes in the fridge for a few hours to brine the meat. Warm up the oven to 400°F and put a roasting pan inside with a few tablespoons of butter.
• Salt and ground black pepper, along with all-purpose flour, should be mixed together in a zip-top bag. Pat dry the thighs and add to the bag. Seal and shake, then take the thighs out and tap off the extra flour.
• Carefully take the pan out of the oven and place the thighs in it with the skin side down. Fry in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the skin is golden and crispy. If you use an instant-read thermometer, the meat closest to the bone should read 165°F after 20 minutes. Flip the meat over and cook for another 20 minutes.

This method was based on the technique in Judy Hesser’s Oven-Fried Chicken. Check out the recipe for more details and tips.

If you’re looking for something relatively low-mess that produces a satisfying crunch and juicy meat, the oven-fry technique for chicken thighs is a revelation. It’s not particularly hands-off, nor is it efficient when you factor in the brine (which you shouldn’t skip), but the meat turns out surprisingly tender and soft, with an exterior like a savory version of Magic Shell. Despite the thighs’ shrunken, wizened appearance, they were delightful.

• Put a cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Salt and pepper the thighs, then put them in the pan skin-side down.
• For 15 to 25 minutes, until the skin is golden and crispy, do not move the pan. (If the skin begins to burn, reduce the heat. ).
• 12 to 15 minutes, or until the meat closest to the bone reaches 165°F. Flip the thighs over and keep cooking.

This method was based on a pared-down version of Canal House’s technique. Check out the recipe for more details and tips.

Of the bunch, these thighs had the best double crust, by which I mean a caramelized, crisp bottom as well as crunchy skin. (This is excluding the battered-fried and oven-fried thighs, which had unfair advantages in that department.) The skillet-only approach was fairly no-fuss, requiring only a stovetop, and took no longer than 45 minutes. The only disadvantage was that the meat cooked somewhat unevenly, since the thighs didn’t sit flat—I had to jostle them around to make sure the thickest parts were cooking through.

Controls & Fine Print

I used two bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, all roughly the same size (about 6 ounces) for each test. Each thigh was seasoned only with salt, black pepper, and oil, except in methods where otherwise noted (i.e., tomatoes and broth for the braise; buttermilk, flour, and spices for the batter-fry; flour and butter for the oven-fry). Each thigh was cooked until the meat closest to the bone registered 165°F on an instant-read thermometer. No stockpots were harmed in the making of this column. From Our Shop

Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs