Sometimes simplicity is the best. Like this five-ingredient baked chicken thigh I invented the other day.
As a person who loves chicken dishes and couldn’t get tired of them, ever, even if served every single day, I’m constantly searching for easier and faster methods to cook chicken, so I can serve it even more often for our weekday dinners! My goal is always the same – juicy chicken with crispy skin.
Crispy chicken skin is my obsession. I won’t even order a chicken dish if it does not have skin on. Of course you could ignore me if you want to cook this recipe with skinless thighs. They work, too. For the best results, bone-in and skin-on is the only way to go.
Also, do use organic chicken when possible. Organic chicken typically has thinner skin that crisps up perfectly. Avoid the bone-in thighs that have a thick, duck-like skin. This way, you can enjoy a better tasting dish without worrying about your cholesterol or fat intake.
This recipe was inspired by two of my older recipes – Chicken A La Benson and Oven Baked Wings. The former recipe uses plenty of red wine and chicken stock to submerge the lower part of the thighs, to keep the chicken juicy, infuse plenty of flavor, and expose the skin so it will crisp up. The latter recipe marinates the chicken in Japanese sake (rice wine) to produce a very fragrant result with minimal seasoning.
After combining the two recipes together with a twist, I managed to:
- Eliminate the brining and marinating process.
- Use minimal ingredients.
- Get super juicy chicken – you can see the juice seeping out when you cut the chicken.
- Crisp up the skin evenly without turning on the broiler.
- Perfect skin that is even crispier than fried bacon.
- Minimal prep, no chopping.
- Shorten the baking time to barely 30 minutes.
Even better, there are many choices when it comes to serving. You can
- Serve it as a main with an Asian style side of greens. Recipes that go well with the chicken are 3-ingredient swiss chard stir-fry, broccoli with oyster sauce, baby bok choy with garlic dressing, four-ingredient okra stir fry, and vinaigrette cabbage. These sides require less than 20 minutes to get ready, so you can cook them while the chicken is baking. Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes.
- Serve it as a main with a simple salad. Believe it or not, all types of salad dressing go well with this chicken. Want something interesting? Try out this miso turmeric dressing or avocado lime dressing.
- Use the leftovers to cook chicken lasagna, chicken salad, Thai chicken soup, fried rice, or quick fried noodles.
Ready to cook some chicken?
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it #omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with. Cheers, friends!
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5-Ingredient Baked Chicken Thigh
Ingredients
- 8 pieces skin-on bone-in chicken thigh
- 1 cup Japanese sake (or rice wine)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
- Ground sea salt and black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or paprika powder for less spiciness)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220 C (425 F) convection.
- Dry chicken thighs thoroughly with paper towel.
- Combine Japanese sake and soy sauce in a large baking dish. Stir to mix well. Add chicken thighs, skin side up. Arrange them to expose more skin and avoid overlapping.
- Generously grind sea salt and black pepper onto the chicken skin. Evenly sprinkle cayenne pepper (or paprika).
- Bake until the skin is crispy and a thermometer inserted near the bone reads 165 F, about 30 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm as main.
- To reheat leftover chicken, bake the chicken with the remaining pan sauce at 180 degrees C (350 F) until warm. The chicken will stay moist.
Nutrition
Have a question or feedback? Add a Comment
Did you make this? I want to see! Tag @OmnivoresCookbook on Instagram, and rate the recipe below.
Siao
I tried this last night and it was absolutely fabulous but my skin turned out much lighter. Are you supposed to put the marinade over the skin before baking?
Maggie Zhu
The liquid (sake and soy sauce) should only touch the meat part. The skin should be exposed to the air and only seasoned with dried ingredients (salt and pepper, and chili pepper if using). Pat dry the skin with kitchen paper towel will help with crisping up as well. I think I put a layer of chili pepper (or maybe paprika) over the skin, so it turned dark brown during baking.
Gael
My kids applauded the meal!
Peter Beckles
I am beginning to receive compliments. Now I wink at people and say mysteriously: “its the fresh aromatics!”
Today was your 5-Ingredient Baked Chicken Thigh along with Cantonese broccoli with Oyster Sauce and Chinese Style Potato Salad. The salad included sweet pepper, carrot and broccoli stems.
It was surprising that as simple a recipe as the baked thighs could be as tasty.
I could never have done this with a Creole style menu. Creole cooking takes a lot of time and usually many ingredients.
HJere’s to you, Maggie Zhu
Cheers
Mickey Berman
Dear Maggie,
I enjoy your blog with your recipes very much. Thank you.
I wonder if I can ask a question which has nothing to do with today’s recipe?
I often visit China town in London’s Soho, and frequently eat at the Golden Dragon restaurant. They do a wonderful Cantonese roast duck, and serve a fantastic sauce to go with it. The sauce is similar to Hoi-Sin sauce, but is a bit sweeter and a tiny bit more piquant. I tried using Hoi sin at home when I make Cantonese roast duck, but the duck is no where near as tasty with it as with the restaurant sauce. Could you help me with a recipe? I would also appreciate a good authentic recipe for the Cantonese roast duck itself. Thanking you in advance, I will wait for your next recipes.
Maggie
Hi Mickey, I believe you’re talking about plum sauce. I’m trying to develop a nice plum sauce. I’ve tried store bought ones and they’re not nearly as good.
I do agree with you about Cantonese roast duck. They are SO GOOD! It’s one of my favorite Cantonese dishes. I’d be more than happy to develop a recipe for it. The cooking process includes air dry the duck and roast. Quite straight forward but a bit time consuming. I have a Cantonese roast chicken recipe (https://omnivorescookbook.com/cantonese-roast-chicken) if you want to try out. And I also have a very nice duck recipe: https://omnivorescookbook.com/slow-roast-duck OK now I sounds like self-promo. But believe me, it’s one of the best homemade duck recipe I’ve ever tried.
I’m so happy to hear you care about duck too Mickey! I’ve been wanting to share more duck recipes, but unfortunately it’s not a big thing here. Can you get fresh duck in London? Is it expensive there too?
Please bear me if I need to take some time to test recipes. But I promise I’ll do a post about Cantonese duck some day. Too delicious not to share 🙂
helen @ Scrummy Lane
I love this sort of simple chicken recipe, Maggie. And we always buy skin-on thighs. I pick the skin off and leave it (!!) but the husband not only eats his own, but mine too! I think if I got the thin-skinned chicken that you’re describing, though, I might try eating the skin – that’s where a lot of the flavour is, after all!
Julie Young
I tried this last night and it was absolutely delicious! I used Hungarian hot paprika instead of the cayenne pepper just to tame it down a little and they turned out spicy, juicy and flavorful. I will definitely be making this again. So easy, and so delicious!
So far, every recipe of yours I’ve tried as been amazing… the sichuan chicken, hot and sour soup, cantonese broccoli with oyster sauce, and now this! Thank-you!
Maggie
Hi Julie, thanks so much for sharing your cooking experience! Hungarian hot paprika sounds delicious! Sometimes I use Spanish smoked paprika, and the dish turned out great too.
I’m so glad to hear you tried out many of my dishes! You just made my day 🙂
sue | theviewfromgreatisland
My husband is a thigh man, Maggie, so I’ll be making these soon, they look amazing!
Chris Scheuer
Yummy! A new chicken recipe is always welcomed. Love the simplicity of this recipe and that it produced crispy chicken.
Tony
Love the recipe, better than frying.
Fat is good for you and nothing wrong with cholesterol.
Kathleen | Hapa Nom Nom
Crispy chicken skin is the BEST! If I could just buy that, I would! This looks so incredible, Maggie – and I love that I can have my crispy skin and not all the added fat that frying gets you. Delicious!
Robyn @ Simply Fresh Dinners
I’ve actually switched back to cooking with the skin because of the juiciness. This looks so good, Maggie, and love how quick and easy it is. Thanks so much for including my dressing in your suggestions! Sharng 🙂
Tricia @ Saving room for dessert
This method sounds wonderful Maggie. I must admit we cook more skinless boneless thighs ourselves but I will have to give this a try. We love simple and easy!
Elizabeth @ Bowl of Delicious!
I will never understand people that don’t like crispy chicken skin. It’s the best part! It’s like saying you don’t like bacon… I DON’T BELIEVE IT! 🙂 This looks super delicious, really simple, and the photos are gorgeous!