These Cast Iron Crispy Chicken Thighs are insanely simple, plus ready in under 30 minutes this super crispy, crackly and epically tasty chicken is a great weeknight dinner option.

In my continued efforts to bring you more of the simple, easy dishes that I cook on the weekly here in our house, along with solid fuss-free options for those of you transitioning to a more whole food focused, real food lifestyle – today, I give you a personal favorite of ours: Cast Iron Crispy Chicken Thighs.

These crispy, crackly-skinned chicken thighs are a staple around here and with varying spices and flavors, along with your desired sides, these are a simple weeknight option that you will never tire of. Plus it’s ready in under 30 minutes.

Tips:

• Make sure to adequately pat the chicken dry, this is crucial to the crispy skin.
• Don’t add the spices and herbs till end to avoid burning, add sauces, lemon juice and any thing that will affect the crispy skin at the end, as well.
• Leave the chicken alone, don’t keep fussing with it and flipping it, let it do it’s thing and it’ll get super crispy.
• Don’t crowd the pan, give these babies room to do their thing.
• Try a splatter screen to save massive cleanup on your stovetop (these can be a bit messy).
• With a few extra steps, you can remove the bones and go even more hardcore with your crispy chicken situation and make Nom Nom Paleo’s Cracklin’ Chicken

Cast Iron Crispy Chicken Thighs

gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, whole30, nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, keto, AIP and FODMAP friendly

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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

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Ingredients 

• 1 tablespoon ghee, coconut oil, bacon grease, lard or tallow
• 4-6 skin-on, bone-in organic chicken thighs (about 1½ to 2 pounds total)
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  
  

Optional seasoning(s) and flavoring of your choice*:

• fresh or dried herbs, like sage, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, poultry blend, Italian blends, chili powder, taco seasoning, garlic powder. Additional ingredients like olives, artichokes, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, honey dijon mustard, greens, bacon, etc

Instructions

• Pat the chicken thighs dry on both sides, with a paper towel. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium.
• Place chicken thighs, skin side down, in the cast iron skillet and cook, until skin is browned and crisp, 10–12 minutes. The chicken is ready to flip when it releases easily from the pan, you are looking for the skin to be rendered, golden brown and crispy. Turn the chicken over, skin side is now up and cook over medium heat until cooked through, 8–10 minutes longer. Transfer thighs to a cutting board or large plate, let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
• Oven Option: Prepare and cook the same way for the first 10-12 minutes, then rather than flipping and leaving on the stove top, leave the skin side down, place the skillet in a preheated 475ºF oven and roast for another 12-15 minutes, then flip the chicken from the skin side down to skin side up and cook another 5 minutes or until skin crisps and the chicken is cooked through. Transfer thighs to a cutting board or large plate, let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

Outside of a adding ingredients to the pan, like veggies, artichokes, etc after the skin side is crispy, I recommend seasoning only the underside of the chicken thighs, before cooking, as most herbs and spices will burn and not taste so hot.