These baked chicken thighs are coated in olive oil, garlic and herbs, then oven roasted until tender and golden brown. A super easy way to prepare chicken thighs that always gets rave reviews!
Chicken is often on our dinner table, and I try to mix things up a bit with different flavor combinations including using a BBQ chicken marinade or making Peruvian chicken, chicken pad thai, rosemary chicken, chicken scallopini, and these Greek style chicken thighs.
Chicken thighs are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and tend to be more flavorful than chicken breasts. My favorite way to prepare this cut of meat is with baked chicken thighs bathed in a zesty marinade.
This chicken thighs recipe would be great with delicious side dishes like cucumber tomato salad, sauteed green beans, homemade rice-a-roni or zucchini casserole. With a few delicious side dishes and this chicken you will have a fantastic feast!
Table of Contents
Baked Chicken Thighs Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, kosher salt, black pepper, garlic, oregano, paprika and fresh parsley.
How Do You Make Baked Chicken Thighs?
The first step in this recipe is to make a marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano and spices. The chicken thighs are tossed in the olive oil mixture. I like to let the chicken sit in the marinade for at least 30 minutes if I have the time. The chicken thighs go onto a sheet pan to roast until they’re golden brown and cooked through. Add a sprinkling of fresh parsley and some lemon wedges and dinner is served!
Tips For The Perfect Chicken
- I prefer to use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe because they are super flavorful and they don’t dry out in the oven. Boneless chicken thighs will work too, but you’ll need to cook them for less time.
- If you’d like, you can reserve a tablespoon or two of the marinade before you add the chicken, then drizzle that reserved marinade over the cooked dish for added flavor.
- This dish is great for meal prep; it will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- If you like your chicken skin especially crispy, feel free to broil the chicken for a few minutes before you serve it for extra crispy skin.
- For even more flavorful chicken, add a tablespoon of homemade chicken seasoning to the marinade.
- No fresh garlic on hand? Garlic powder will also work, just use half the amount of fresh.
- If you feel that your chicken is getting overly browned on the baking sheet in the oven, you can cover it with foil.
- You can freeze the uncooked chicken in the marinade, then just thaw in the fridge and bake as directed at a later date.
Quick Tip
This recipe also works with chicken drumsticks or bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. The bone-in chicken breasts will take longer to cook than the chicken thighs, so keep that in mind.
Recipe FAQs
It takes approximately 45 minutes to bake chicken thighs at a temperature of 400 degrees F. The bake time can vary depending on the size of your thighs. This bake time assumes an average sized chicken thigh that weighs about 6 ounces.
You can tell that your chicken is done when the juices run clear and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken thigh registers at least 165 degrees F. I use a digital probe thermometer with a remote so that I can monitor the progress of the chicken while it’s in the oven.
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Baked Chicken Thigh Flavor Variations
You can add other ingredients to your baked chicken thighs to create flavor variations that suit your tastes.
- Vegetables: During the last 15 minutes of the baking time, you can add vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower or zucchini. You can also include potatoes at the start of the cooking time for a one pan meal.
- Cheese: Sprinkle 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese or 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese over the finished dish.
- Herbs: Instead of garnishing your chicken with fresh parsley, you can use green onions, chives, dill or basil.
This is a must-try chicken recipe; it’s simple, yet totally satisfying! I hope your family enjoys this chicken as much as mine does.
More Chicken Recipes To Try
Chicken Francese
40 mins
Baked Chicken Breast
25 mins
Chicken Florentine
35 mins
Chicken Stroganoff
45 mins
Chicken Fried Rice
30 mins
Baked Chicken Thighs Video
Baked Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika I prefer to use smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- lemon wedges for garnish
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, garlic, oregano and paprika in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add the chicken the bowl; toss to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours.
- Coat a sheet pan with cooking spray. Arrange the chicken thighs on the pan in a single layer.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through.
- Sprinkle with parsley. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve.
Notes
- I prefer to use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe because they are super flavorful and they don’t dry out in the oven. Boneless chicken thighs will work too, but you’ll need to cook them for less time.
- If you’d like, you can reserve a tablespoon or two of the marinade before you add the chicken, then drizzle that reserved marinade over the cooked dish for added flavor.
- If you like your chicken skin especially crispy, feel free to broil the chicken for a few minutes before you serve it.
Amazing flavors! I’ve made this before, but your recipe with the smoked paprika takes it to another level! Only marinaded for about 3 hours, which was fine, but more would def bring out more flavor. Will def make again…great dish!
Very simple and delicious recipe. I used boneless chicken thighs sometimes.
A delicious marinade that works! let my chicken marinate over night, and usually double the amount of marinade. Simple enough.
Easy. I had everything I needed and I wasn’t exhausted after cooking. Also it looks beautiful on the plate and it’s delicious. My mom says she wants to eat like this everyday. I’ll be trying more of your recipes. Thank you.
This is such an amazing baseline recipe!! It’s in our weekly rotation now. I double the lemon zest and add whatever fresh herbs I have on hand. Tonight it’s fresh thyme. Super easy and absolutely delicious! Thank you!!
This was fabulous! I had thawed chicken thighs and nothing special on hand, so I googled “lemon garlic chicken thighs” and I’m so glad I ended up here. It’s going to be first on the “oh man i thawed chicken thighs and have nothing special on hand” rotation
This looks delicious. My husband & daughter love chicken thighs but I prefer breasts. If I add some bone-in chicken breasts, how much longer than the thighs will they need to cook?
Since I’m not a fan of oregano I used a small sprig of fresh rosemary and only 1 t. of regular salt.
Utterly delicious and so easy!
Made this dish tonight & all I have to say is 2 words…..absolutely amazing!
Chicken was crispy, flavorful, and delicious!