American
Pan-Roasted Garlic-Thyme Chicken
Golden bone-in chicken thighs finish in a savory pan sauce of mellow whole garlic, thyme, lemon, and concentrated chicken juices, with crisp skin kept above the sauce.
4 servings · 15 minutes prep · 38 minutes cook
Ingredients
Chicken
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
Garlic-Thyme Pan Sauce
- 12 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
- 6 thyme sprigs
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Directions
Render the Skin
- Heat the oven to 425°F / 220°C. Pat the chicken thighs very dry and season with the salt and pepper.
- Coat a cold 14-inch cast-iron skillet with the oil. Set thighs skin-side down without touching; if they do not fit, divide them between two smaller ovenproof skillets for both rendering and roasting, and designate the skillet with more browned fond as the sauce skillet. Cook over medium heat 10 to 14 minutes until deep gold and enough fat has rendered for them to release cleanly. Do not force stuck skin.
Roast the Chicken and Garlic
- Turn the thighs skin-side up. Tuck the whole garlic cloves and thyme beneath and between them, dividing both evenly if using two skillets and keeping the skin exposed. Roast 15 to 20 minutes until the thickest thigh registers 175°F / 80°C.
- Transfer chicken to a platter, skin-side up, and rest 10 minutes. Remove the thyme stems. If using one skillet, mash four softened garlic cloves in it. If using two skillets, transfer all roasted garlic and pourable drippings from the second skillet into the designated sauce skillet; set the emptied second skillet over medium heat, add the wine, scrape up its fond, and pour that wine into the sauce skillet. Mash four softened garlic cloves there.
Reduce the Pan Sauce
- Set the sauce skillet over medium heat. If using one skillet, add the wine and scrape the browned fond; with two skillets, the wine and second skillet's fond are already consolidated. Boil 2 to 3 minutes until the raw wine aroma disappears and the liquid halves.
- Add the stock and reduce 3 to 5 minutes until lightly syrupy. Stir in the grated garlic for 30 seconds for a rounded garlic finish, then remove from heat and add the lemon zest and lemon juice. For a sharper garlic bite, add the grated clove off heat instead. Spoon sauce around, not over, the crisp skin. Within 2 hours, refrigerate leftovers in shallow covered containers for up to 4 days. Reheat chicken and sauce to 165°F / 74°C, keeping sauce off the skin and re-crisping the skin separately in a hot skillet or oven if desired.
