Garlic Roast Chicken Thighs
This is the supper you cook almost by accident: salt it, put it in the oven, go and do something else. Crisp skin comes down to two small things — a dry surface and salt half an hour before roasting. The garlic goes in unpeeled: in its skin it never burns, turning instead into a sweet cream you spread on bread.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Rest
- 30 min
- Total
- 1 h 30 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 420 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
Rosemary or dried mixed herbs stand in for thyme with a similar effect.
Makes: 4 thighs
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Method
Oven
200 °C · top and bottom heat, no fan
With a fan: 180 °C
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Step 1: Dry and salt
Pat the thighs dry, salt both sides and leave them at room temperature for 30 minutes. Dry, salted skin is the one condition for crackling.
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Step 2: Prepare the garlic
Break the head into cloves but leave them unpeeled. In their skins they roast slowly and turn sweet rather than bitter.
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Step 3: Oil them
Before roasting, rub the thighs with oil and add the pepper. Lay them skin side up in a dish, not touching.
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Step 4: Add the garlic
Scatter the cloves between the thighs, add the thyme and dot the butter straight into the dish.
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Step 5: Roast
200°C for 35 minutes, by which time the skin should be golden and the fat rendered into the dish.
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Step 6: Baste
Spoon the pan juices over the thighs and return them for 10 minutes — this is the step that gives the glossy crust.
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Step 7: Check
Pierce a thigh near the bone: the juices should run clear. With a thermometer, 75°C at the thickest point.
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Step 8: Serve
Squeeze over the lemon and serve straight from the dish, garlic and pan juices included.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Never cover the dish with foil: the skin steams underneath and you lose the crispness entirely.
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Variation
Add halved potatoes to the dish — they roast in the chicken fat in the same time.
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Swap
Rosemary or dried mixed herbs stand in for thyme with a similar effect.
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Storage
Keeps 2 days; reheat at 180°C so the skin crisps up again.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 4 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 420 kcal | 1,680 kcal |
| Protein | 34 g | 136 g |
| Fat | 30 g | 120 g |
| Carbohydrates | 3 g | 12 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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