Whenever I wonder what to have for supper, I am always reminded about this simple cast iron chicken recipe. Crispy, salty, almost like fried chicken- it’s become a bit of a crave-worthy meal idea around here.
My friend Leah happened to come up with this tasty way of baking chicken thighs. When we get together, Leah and I often discuss our recent meal ideas, and one day, maybe two or three years ago, she told me how to make chicken in a cast iron pan. It completely revolutionized my chicken making game.
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See, we live near a Costco. At Costco you can buy a bulk pack of chicken thighs for a reasonable price. So, we start off with chicken thighs for this delectable dish. Thigh meat won’t dry out like breast meat, so there’s two reasons for using the thigh.
Next. Get ahold of a cast iron pan. I love my pre-seasoned 12″ Lodge. It cooks anything from eggs, potatoes, cornbread, or chicken. Cast iron makes everything taste a little better- it also makes things super crispy. If you’ve never tried cooking with cast iron, I highly recommend it.
You’re going to need oil. I usually use olive oil, but you can use vegetable oil or coconut oil, too.
Salt is an important ingredient in this chicken dish. I have been using Himalayan pink salt for a few months now, and really like it. I do have to be a bit careful, though, because it tends to taste saltier than other salts.
Now we get the good part. The instructions. Set your oven to 350 degrees F. While it’s warming up, drizzle oil in your cast iron pan, swirling it around to make sure it covers the whole bottom of the pan. Lay your chicken thighs in the pan- no need to heat the pan or even to make sure the thighs are fully thawed!
Fit as many pieces of chicken in the pan as you can. It doesn’t matter if they touch.
Place the pan of chicken in the hot oven. Let bake for 2 hours. Yes. You heard me right. 2 hours. These 2 hours will give you a crispy skin, and almost a fried chicken flavour and texture. Yay! You can flip the chicken thighs over half way through baking if you prefer, but I often don’t.
This chicken always turns out delicious, and goes well with some sort of potatoes, like my potato salad, and a vegetable.
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