These crispy roasted bone-in chicken thighs are slow-roasted over a bed of Yukon gold potatoes. They come out of the oven with a crispy, garlic and herb-crusted skin and moist, falling-off-the-bone tender chicken.
I love that these crispy chicken thighs are slow-roasted atop golden sliced potatoes. All of the flavors infuse together with the Mediterranean herb seasoning, crispy, moist chicken, and the buttery soft potatoes.
Another version of this recipe is roasted spatchcock lemon chicken. This dish is great by itself, but it also goes with vermicelli rice pilaf or a chopped shirazi salad.
How to Make Crispy Roasted Chicken Thighs
Heat the oven to 325℉ (162℃) or 300℉ (150℃) convection baking with a fan.
Gather the ingredients.
Crush the garlic with a mortar and pestle or garlic press. The garlic should be like a paste.
Make the Mediterranean marinade. Squeeze the lemon. Chop the fresh herbs. Add crushed garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, butter, and chopped fresh herbs into a large bowl.
Marinate the chicken. Mix the marinade with the chicken thighs in a large bowl. Marinate the chicken thighs while preparing the potatoes.
Prepare the potatoes. Peel and chop the potatoes into thin circles. Assemble the pan. Layer the potatoes on the bottom. Add some salt and pepper. Place the chicken thighs on top of the potatoes (skin up). Add salt, pepper, and dried herbs.
Cook the chicken covered with foil for 1.5 hours at 325℉ (162℃). Remove the foil and continue cooking for another hour at 325℉ (162℃). The total cooking time is close to 2.5 hours.
Pro tip: Every oven and baking setup is slightly different, so adjust the cooking time as needed. The chicken is finished when the skin is crispy, and the potatoes are easy to pierce with a fork.
Tips and Tricks
- Buy bone-in with skin chicken thighs. The best part of this recipe is the flavor-infused herb-crusted crispy skin.
- Cook low and slow. This recipe takes about 2.5 hours of baking at a low temperature. The low temperature lets the thighs and marinade infuse together.
- Cooking time may vary. Depending on your oven, the cooking time may vary slightly.
- When marinating the chicken thighs, rub the marinade under the chicken thigh skin.
- Place the chicken thighs on the potatoes with the skin up, allowing the skin to crisp up over baking.
Substitutions and Variations
Vary this recipe by changing up the cooking oil and herbs. Mix the olive oil and butter with some ghee or coconut oil to get a different flavor.
Another way to vary this recipe is by adding a variety of chopped fresh herbs. If you have some fresh oregano and thyme, you can substitute those herbs for fresh rosemary. Or you can add a mixture of herbs altogether. I recommend not exceeding 2 tablespoons of fresh herbs or 1 tablespoon of dried herbs. Otherwise, the herbs will be too overpowering.
📋 Recipe
Slow Roasted Crispy Chicken Thighs and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chicken thighs bone-in, skin-on
- 4 potatoes golden, medium sized
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 6 garlic cloves mashed or pressed using a garlic press
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped substitute dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped substitute dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 large lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 325℉ (162℃). If using a convection oven, heat the oven to 300℉ (150℃) convection baking with a fan.
- Chop fresh rosemary into small pieces. Juice the lemon. Add melted butter, olive oil, lemon juice, chopped rosemary, and crushed (or mashed) garlic to a large bowl. Add chicken thighs and mix well.
- Peel and slice potatoes into thin circles.
- Place parchment paper in the baking pan. Layer sliced potatoes into 2 layers. Add some salt and pepper on top of the potatoes.
- Put the marinated chicken thighs directly on the potatoes with the skin facing up.
- Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove the foil. Continue baking for another hour at 325℉ (162℃) uncovered. The total cooking time is about 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Ovens are different!
- These chicken thighs bake covered for 1.5 hours at 325℉ (162℃), then bake for 1 hour uncovered at 325℉ (162℃). Total cooking time is 2 hours and 30 minutes (roughly).
- Place the baking pan in the middle of the oven.
- Ingredient Notes:
- Chicken thighs: Use chicken thighs with the bone-in and skin-on. My favorite is the organic air-chilled chicken thighs.
- Potatoes and/or Carrots: I made this recipe with just potatoes, but it goes really well with carrots as well. Peel and slice the potatoes into thin circles. If using carrots, I recommend baby carrots that are sliced in half.
- Fat: This recipe uses olive oil and butter; however, you can mix things up a bit and use coconut oil and/or ghee.
- Herbs: If you have access to fresh herbs, then go for fresh! Dried herbs are optional if fresh herbs are not available. For this specific recipe, I use a mixture of fresh and dried herbs.
- Other Seasonings: I crush my garlic with salt using a mortar and pestle. I recommend using a whole large juicy lemon for this recipe. My favorite salt is flaked sea salt. Also, I crush my pepper fresh.
May says
Can I make this with boneless skinless chicken thighs? What would you recommend the cooking time?
Lily says
I’ve never made it with boneless chicken thighs, but it should be an appropriate swap. I’d maybe cut the cooking time down by 30 minutes without bone, and check the thighs halfway to make sure they aren’t drying out.
Helena says
Hi Lily. Your recipe for slow roasted chicken thighs sounds perfect for our Sunday roast this evening. I'm going to try your recipe but make slight changes (I always do) to the butter by adding fresh garlic, fresh parsley and rosemary, cracked black pepper and sea salt. The chicken will roast slow and low on top of thinly sliced fennel. I'm not sure if I should place your slices potatoes under the fennel or roast them separately. But I'll try your method. It sounds delicious and less prep (which is always a bonus 🙂 Sides will be kale and carrots. The gravey will be made from the roasted trimmings and juices from the roast chicken. Mmmm non nom. I'm looking forward to tea time already and I haven't even had lunch! Thank you for your delicious recipe suggestion Lily 💖
Lily says
Hi Helena, your recipe modifications sound delightful- you've got me drooling over here! Fennel- that will be such a nice flavor. Let us know how it turns out, and any suggestions you found... really appreciate the comments!
Dannii says
We love chicken thighs and this looks like an amazing way to cook them. So much flavour!
Lily says
They are really delicious and full of flavor- thanks for the comment!
Tara says
Oh yum! The chicken sounds absolutely amazing with that garlic and herb-crusted skin. Such a wonderful meal.
Lily says
Thank you!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
I love how easy this dish is and all I need to do is a side dish of vegetables. Perfect and delicious too.
Lily says
Thank you so much for the comment!
Colette says
Amazing. This was exactly what I was looking for. Its so easy. Pop it in the oven and you have time to do other things. Fall off the bone and flavorful. A whole meal in one pan. Just added carrots but kept everything else the same. Convection bake is a game changer. Definitely worthy of company. Thank you Lily. I can't wait to make this again.
Lily says
Thanks for the comment Colette! Carrots sound delicious- I’ll have to try those next time!
Tayler says
I made these chicken thighs for dinner last night and my whole family enjoyed them. Adding to our regular rotation!
Lily says
This is on my regular rotation too!
Sandi Smith says
Recipe says 1/2 hour uncovered but notes say 1 hour uncovered? Which is correct?
Lily says
Hey Sandi! Bake the chicken thighs covered for 1.5 hours covered, then remove the foil and continue baking another hour. Check the skin to make sure they are crispy. If not, turn the oven up to 400 F and bake uncovered for 15 to 25 minutes for the final crisp. The end result is the most tender yet crispy chicken thighs ever!
debbie says
oh one more question do we pour marinade on top of chicken or throw away?
Lily says
I pour the marinade over the chicken, but there isn’t really a lot of it.
debbie says
delicious recipe making for second time but not sure if chicken skin up or down on potatoes.
Lily says
Skin is up so the skins get crispy!
Tash says
Absolutely amazing!
I made this with chicken legs (skinless) and reduced baking time by 1 hour, covered with foil and then another hour uncovered, at 150 fan oven!
My husband says that this is the best chicken dish I ever made him. Defo one of my FAVOURITES!
Thank you for the recipe!
Lily says
Yay! I need to try it with chicken drumsticks, that sounds delish. Thanks so much for the comment!
Nikki says
This was amazing! Thank you for this! My dog was pacing the house for the last hour this cooked, and then continued to pace for an hour after she got an entire thigh because she wanted more. It is so hard to stop eating so I don't blame her. Haha! The cat who doesn't eat any human foods even ate a big pile of chicken! We all really loved this. The chicken falls off the bones! Perfect baking temperature and time. The only thing I changed was that I cut off all of the skin because here in Italy they leave a lot of the feathers still in the skin. There was still plenty of fat in the meat and attached in a few places so it didn't affect the taste at all. Still so rich in flavor! Not dry at all. Just absolutely perfect! Just a small suggestion is that it would be helpful to mention the oven temperature is with a fan (convection) or without because I've screwed up quite a few recipes in the past so I'm cautious now and try to always ask if it isn't stated. This recipe I don't think would be bothered much by it, but some recipes are finicky. Still, this was written really well. I'm glad I found your page. I'll definitely try more recipes. Ciao!
Lily says
Thank you so so much for the feedback! That’s a great point about the convection bake and I’ll add it to the recipe. Actually, when I first made this recipe, I was using a tiny oven that only heated from the top and it had a fan. It was so hard trying to find the temperature for the recipes! I had to buy an oven thermometer to test and then ask family members to retry the recipes lol. Thank you again for the really detailed feedback… it helps so much!
Nikki says
Hi from Italy! Is this recipe cooked at 150°c with a fan or without a fan? Thanks so much!
Nikki
Lily says
Hi Nikki,
So the short answer is without a fan if your oven heats from the top and bottom. If your oven only heats from the top or the bottom, then I recommend baking with a fan (a convection bake). Enjoy!
Nikki says
Thanks for answering my question so quickly! I still have 1 hour and 50 minutes left for it to cook, and I had it on 150°c with fan. My oven has all of the different settings so I turned off the fan and put the top and bottom heating elements on just to see what happens. 🙂 I'll let you know how it turns out. Grazie mille!
Lily says
Yes, please let us know how it turns out! The recipes benefit so much from honest feedback.
Renee says
What do you do with the lemon?
Lily says
Great question! Squeeze the lemon on top of the marinated thighs and potatoes right before popping it in the oven.
Mary says
This is an excellent recipe... the potatoes taste amazing after being slow cooked under the chicken.
Lily says
So glad you liked it!
C. Brooks says
Thanks for sharing this