Garlic Lemon Baked Chicken Thighs
Chicken thighs roasted with whole garlic cloves and lemon until the skin is golden and the garlic turns soft and sweet. A simple one-tray dinner with a bright pan sauce.
- Total
- 50 min
- Prep 10 · Cook 35 · Rest 5
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Roasting · Resting meat
- Savory
- Oven
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan). Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towel and set them skin-side up in a small roasting tray.
~3 min
Drying the skin removes surface moisture so it can crisp and brown instead of steaming.
-
Rub the chicken all over with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Tuck 4 of the garlic cloves, unpeeled, around the chicken. Cut the lemon in half, squeeze the juice of one half over the chicken, and add the squeezed half to the tray.
~5 min
Squeezing lemon now lets its acid and sugars mingle with the chicken juices during roasting.
-
Roast on the middle shelf for 25 minutes, until the skin is golden and the garlic cloves are soft.
~25 min
If the pan juices dry out before the chicken is done, add 1 tbsp water to the tray so the garlic and lemon do not scorch.
Roasting Roast on a middle shelf at high heat so the skin renders and browns evenly. Avoid crowding the tray, which traps steam and prevents crisping.
-
While step 3 cooks
While the chicken roasts, finely grate or crush the remaining garlic clove and mix it with the juice of the second lemon half and 2 tbsp water in a small bowl to make a loose sauce.
~4 min
Raw garlic is sharp and pungent; adding it late keeps the sauce fresh rather than bitter.
-
Spoon the garlic lemon sauce over the chicken and roast for 10 more minutes, until the chicken reaches 74°C (165°F) in the thickest part and the edges are caramelized.
~10 min
The second roast caramelizes the sauce and ensures the meat reaches a safe internal temperature.
Roasting Roast on a middle shelf at high heat so the skin renders and browns evenly. Avoid crowding the tray, which traps steam and prevents crisping.
-
Rest the chicken in the tray for 5 minutes. Squeeze the soft roasted garlic from its skins over the chicken and spoon the pan juices on top before serving.
~5 min
Resting lets juices redistribute so they stay in the meat instead of running out when cut.
Resting meat Let the chicken rest 5 minutes before cutting so juices redistribute. Cutting immediately lets them run out and leaves the meat dry.