Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs Recipe - The Kitchen Girl (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to getting crispy chicken? ›

Fry it twice.

Try Fontana's method for “blanching” fried chicken: Heat oil to 250 degrees and cook chicken breasts for about five minutes, or bone-in chicken for about 12 minutes. Let them rest for 15 to 20 minutes, then fry again, two to three minutes for breasts or five minutes for bone-in.

The simple answer is, no. We don't cover our skin-on chicken thighs because we want that skin to get nice and crispy! To achieve this just follow these 4 simple steps! Place your chicken on top of a metal rack set inside a large rimmed baking sheet.

The lesson here: for crispy skin, stick with a high-temp roast. Coating the chicken in baking powder and salt before cooking produced an intensely crispy skin—at first.

Use a rack: One easy way to ensure crispy chicken skin? Bake your chicken on top of an oven-safe wire rack. This allows heat to fully circulate around the chicken, functioning like an oversized roasting rack. Plus, excess fat and moisture will drip down rather than making your chicken soggy.

To reap those benefits, simply combine one part baking powder with three to four parts kosher salt (about a teaspoon of baking powder per tablespoon of kosher salt will work), add some black pepper to taste, then sprinkle it evenly over the surface of the skin.

My not-so-secret tip to the best fried chicken is a combination of FLOUR, CORNSTARCH, and BAKING POWDER. When mixed with the flour, the cornstarch makes the flour coating crispier and gives it that golden brown color! (It has to do with prevention of gluten development.)

Is it better to bake chicken thighs at 350 or 400? It is recommended to bake chicken thighs at 400ºF. This medium-high heat ensures the juiciest results! Chicken thighs should be roasted in the oven at 400ºF for 40-45 minutes, then broiled for 2 more minutes to get juicy meat and crispy skin!

Baking Temperature and Timing

While chicken thighs only need to be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees as read by a meat thermometer, I recommend you bake them until they reach 180 – 190 degrees. This takes 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees.

Allow the chicken thighs to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Cold meat in a hot oven or hot pan will cook unevenly and be tough. Make sure to pat the skin dry with paper towels, moisture will prevent the skin from getting crispy.

Keep Fried Chicken Crispy 2+ Hours

The oven should be set to 200 degrees F (100 degrees C). Set a wire rack on top of the baking pan or roasting tray. Once you've cooked an entire batch or piece of chicken, take it from the fryer and then place it on the rack. Make sure that the pieces don't touch.

Is oil or butter better for crispy chicken skin? ›

Ideally, pan-fried chicken will come off the heat tender and juicy on the inside, and golden and crispy on the outside -- but the perfect crunchy skin won't happen in just any cooking fat. If you want a tasty flavor, go with butter, but if you want your ideal texture, opt for a cooking oil instead.

Baking soda works similarly to salt, in that it helps draw moisture to the surface of the chicken. This then quickly evaporates, leading to a drier- thinner skin ― that's much more likely to crisp up. Baking soda and salt go great together in a dry brine because of the drying and crispifying (yep) effects they combine.

The broil setting on your oven cooks food quickly with direct heat—typically at 550°F (289°C)—and produces a seared finish that's similar to grilling. Smaller or countertop ovens usually preheat to the broiling temp faster, so you can quickly finish baked or slow-roasted dishes with crisp browned edges.

If you find the chicken thigh skin isn't as crispy as you would like, it could mean the skin may not have been dry before you added it to the oil.

I like to cool any leftover chicken completely and then store in a paper towel-lined airtight container in the fridge. The paper towel absorbs condensation and keeps that chicken crisp for midnight snacking.

The chicken is then air-dried for 10 to 12 hours before being flash-fried, then oil-poached. The skin gets its signature crispiness from 10 to 12 minutes of basting with scalding hot oil right before serving.

Use the Right Batter: Using a light batter or tempura mix will help keep your fried foods extra crispy while still sealing in moisture and flavor. Monitor Oil Temperature: Maintaining a consistent temperature when deep-frying is key to achieving a perfect crunch.

It may sounds unappealing, but coating chicken wings in seasoned baking powder is what makes the skin super crispy. You won't taste it in the end results, so long as you use aluminium-free. To be clear, make sure you use baking powder, NOT baking soda, because there is a big difference!