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Baked chicken thighs with crispy skin, brown sugar, garlic and cayenne pepper. This is one of the best chicken thigh recipes that takes 10 mins prep time!
Chicken Thigh Recipes
One of the best ways to cook chicken thighs is using the oven.
Chicken thighs always turn out extremely juicy, tender and moist after roasting and baking them the oven, for example: Cajun Chicken.
Bake chicken thighs recipe is also one of the easiest chicken thigh recipes, with short active prep time of just 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- Bone-in chicken thighs with skin on
- Brown sugar
- Garlic
- Salt
- Cayenne pepper
- Parsley
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Score the bottom part of the chicken thighs with a few slits. Rub the bottom part of the chicken and the skin with the garlic, leave them on (the garlic should get inside the slits and flavor the chicken thighs). Add brown sugar, salt, cayenne pepper, stir to mix well.
Step 2: Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the skin turns crispy and brown. Remove from heat, garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
Cooking Tips
- You can use skinless and boneless chicken thighs or bone-in chicken thighs. Personally, I prefer bone-in thighs. After baking the chicken thighs in oven at high temperature, the skin crisps up to golden brown color and becomes crispy.
- If you use skin on thighs, the skin adds grease to the chicken so you don’t need butter or oil in the recipe. The chicken meat will also be tender and juicy.
- Score the bottom of the thighs a few times. This will make more flavorful with the marinade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bake thighs takes about 35-40 minutes in the oven, at 425° Fahrenheit (220° Celcius).
The total time depends on the size of the bone-in chicken thighs.
The skin will turn crispy and brown and the internal temperature of cooked chicken thighs is 165° Fahrenheit.
This recipe produces juicy and tender chicken thighs so you don’t need to use foil.
Plus, you want crispy skin so do not wrap or cover the chicken with aluminum foil.
Chicken breasts are great for this recipe, especially if they are boneless and skinless.
This baked chicken thighs recipe is only 402 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
This recipe is great with rice and vegetables. I love serving them with cilantro lime rice and a healthy vegetable dish.
For a healthy meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Recipes You Might Like
Baked Chicken Thighs (Extra Juicy!)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. (750g) bone-in chicken thighs, 5 small thighs or 4 big thighs
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 dashes cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C). Score a few slits in the bottom part of the chicken thighs. Rub the garlic onto both the bottom and skin of the chicken, ensuring the garlic gets inside the slits to flavor the meat. Add brown sugar, salt, and cayenne pepper, and stir to mix well.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, or until the skin is crispy and browned. Remove from heat, garnish with chopped parsley, and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- You can use skinless and boneless chicken thighs or bone-in chicken thighs. Personally, I prefer bone-in thighs. After baking the chicken thighs in oven at high temperature, the skin crisps up to golden brown color and becomes crispy.
- If you use skin on thighs, the skin adds grease to the chicken so you don’t need butter or oil in the recipe. The chicken meat will also be tender and juicy.
- Score the bottom of the thighs a few times. This will make more flavorful with the marinade.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this last night along with the Buttery Brown Sugar Roasted Carrots from this site and it was really great. I used whole chicken leg quarters and I used erythritol brown sugar to reduce the carbs and it worked well. The garlic infused the chicken nicely and the brown sugar, salt, cayenne combo created a nice glaze that obviously complimented the carrots well. It was simply an awesome meal.
Hi Chris, thanks for trying my recipe and for the 5-star rating! :)
Im making skinless chicken thights. do i need toput foil on top? Making them today.
You can do without it, however it doesn’t hurt to keep it moist.
Hi
Thank you for sharing.
What should i do to ensure the chicken is juicy but the skin crispy?
Can I substitute paprika or chili powder for cayenne pepper?
Sure just use a little bit.
I’m cooking for 1, how would you suggest I modify the recipe?
Thanks,
Ken
Just cut into half.
Followed the exact recipe and it came out amazing. This recipe is a keeper.
Wow! This came out incredible. Super easy and quick to make and the flavor was sweet and spicy. Will definitely be making this again.
Thanks!
Reckon how a little fresh ginger would be in that.
Just wanted to say that I’ve made this recipe countless times and it’s become a household essential. We like to add a chopped onion to the baking pan and it’s super good. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Yummy, thanks for your support!