Oven Roasted Chicken Thighs with Herbs & Blistered Tomatoes
Oven roasted chicken thighs is an easy weeknight dinner recipe cooked together in one skillet in about 35 minutes. Serve this with potatoes, rice, or bread to soak up the pan sauce it creates while cooking.
1largeshallotpeeled, cut in half, and sliced thinly
3cloves garlicsmashed
2anchoviespacked in oil and chopped finely; see note
1lemonzested
2stems fresh oregano
2stemsfresh thyme
2stemsrosemary
½cupdry white wine
1pintgrape or small cherry tomatoes
1cupchicken broth or stock
parsleychopped for garnish
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 400F degrees.
Remove the chicken thighs from their package and dry them well with paper towels. Season both sides of all of the chicken thighs evenly with 1 tsp of kosher salt and 1 tsp of black pepper.Place a 12-inch cast iron skillet or other heavy, oven-proof high sided skillet over a burner. Place the chicken thighs in the skillet, skin-side down in an even layer.Turn the heat onto medium heat. Brown the chicken thighs on the skin-side until they are deeply golden brown. This will take 10-15 minutes. If you have hot spots (i.e., some thighs are browning quicker than others) move the chicken around to evenly brown. Or move your pan around the burner to distribute the heat more evenly. Once browned, remove from the pan and rest on a plate, skin-side up (we want to keep that skin crispy!)
Add the shallot to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes until it's softened and translucent. Stir in the anchovies and garlic. Cook 1 minute longer. Add the lemon zest and herbs (stems and all.) Deglaze with the white wine. Increase the heat to medium-high and allow the wine to reduce by about half. Stir a bit during this process to combine everything well.Add the grape tomatoes, chicken stock, and remaining tsp of salt and pepper. Give the mixture a stir.
Nestle the chicken thighs back in the pan amongst the tomatoes skin-side up. Place the pan in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes or until the chicken thighs read at least 175F degrees using an instant read thermometer. Remove from the oven. Serve the chicken thighs with a bit of jus and a scoop of tomatoes. You'll definitely want crusty bread for dipping!
Notes
About the anchovies: they don't taste fishy in this dish. They just provide a bit of background umami. If you'd rather, replace the anchovies with 1/2 tsp of anchovy paste. If you'd like to remove them altogether, you can, but you'll be missing out!