Honey Sesame Baked Chicken Thighs | Swanky Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Should you cover chicken thighs when baking? ›

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. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and use kitchen shears to trim off any excess fat.

Searing is great for chicken tenders, boneless chicken breasts, and thighs (boneless, skinless, or otherwise). With skin-on cuts, you'll want to sear the chicken skin-side down until the skin is golden brown.

If you're looking for a quick, relatively easy path to crispy-skinned thighs with juicy meat, call in the skillet-only method. If you're a stickler for even cooking, the sear and high-heat roast method is the way to go. For beautifully flavored meat and a light, crisp skin, try the dry brine and slow roast.

Chicken skin needs to be dry in order for it to crisp when cooked. Whether or not you rinse the chicken before prepping, you need to make sure the skin is as dry as possible.

Chicken thighs can be baked anywhere between 350 and 425 degrees, but at 400 or 425 degrees, they have enough time to get super tender while still having the heat they need to crisp up the skin. Should you cover chicken thighs in the oven? For baking, it is not necessary to cover chicken thighs.

If you started in a warm / hot pan, the fat won't completely render out of the skin. Only flip once the skin is dark golden brown. The skin will naturally release from the pan once it is ready to be flipped, don't force it. Cook the thighs to 175*F MINIMUM.

Pan-seared chicken breast, cooked in a little oil with salt and pepper and finished with a generous knob of butter, is the first way I learned to cook chicken breast on the stove and a technique I always go back to.

Prep the Thighs

This ensures that the skin will cook up to a nice crisp. Then season as desired. Make sure to let the thighs sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before adding them to a hot pan. This helps ensure the outside of the chicken isn't done before the inside.

While the breast is very low in fat, chicken thighs are higher in fat, and in cooking, fat equals flavor. It also means the thighs are more tender and less likely to dry out than chicken breasts—in other words, they are very easy to cook and very difficult to ruin.

Does KFC fry or bake their chicken? ›

If you're a healthy eater, look away now. KFC deep fries its chicken for 15 minutes and then drains the oil off for another five minutes – 20 minutes in total. If you don't have a deep fryer, heat up plenty of oil in a large saucepan and do it that way.

Ingredient Tips

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.)

The key is to cook them slowly.

(That discovery is what led to the supple meat in our Mahogany Chicken Thighs and Grilled Spice-Rubbed Chicken Drumsticks recipes.)

Larger cuts, such as whole chickens or bone-in pieces, often benefit from covered baking to ensure thorough and even cooking. Smaller cuts, like chicken breasts or tenders, can be baked uncovered for quick results. Lastly, think about the desired texture and flavor you're trying to achieve.

Pop the baking dish into a preheated, 400 degree oven then bake for 30-40 minutes or until the thickest part of the chicken thigh reaches an internal temperature of 180-190 degrees.

The key is to cook the chicken thighs in a 400 degree F oven for 50 minutes. This will allow for the skin to get crispy and the meat to be juicy. If you are not sure the chicken is ready, just poke it wit a knife. If the juices run clear it's done.

The key is to cook them slowly.

Gentle techniques—such as braising at a relatively low heat and grilling over an indirect fire—work best. The goal is to keep the meat at an internal temp between 140 and 195 degrees—the collagen-breakdown sweet spot—for as long as possible.