Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs and Rice
Try this Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs and Rice recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs and Rice recipe, or contribute your own.
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 lemon
- cooked white rice for serving
- 1 large shallot or small onion chopped
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (2lbs) excess skin and fat trimmed away
- 1/3 cup gluten-free flour (i used brown rice flour)
- homemade gluten-free seasoned salt and pepper
- 1-1/2 cups gluten-free chicken broth
- Carbohydrate 2.4363 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 3.2805 g
- Fiber 0.69749997138977 g
- Protein 0.3528 g
- Saturated Fat 0.453243 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (20g)
- Sodium 0.9795 mg
- Sugar 1.73880002861023 g
- Trans Fat 0.113598 g
- Calories 36 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season both sides of chicken thighs with seasoned salt and pepper. Add flour to a shallow dish then season liberally with seasoned salt and pepper. Dunk each thicken thigh into the seasoned flour, tapping off any excess, then place onto a plate.
- Heat extra virgin olive oil in a large, oven-proof skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat. Add chicken thighs skin side down then saute until the skin has browned, rotating if necessary to keep skin from burning - a splatter screen is helpful as the fat will spit a bit. Flip then saute until the second side has browned then transfer thighs back to the plate (thighs do not need to be cooked through at this point.)
- Pour out all but 2 Tablespoons fat from the skillet (just eyeball it) then turn heat down to medium. Add shallots, season with seasoned salt and pepper, then saute until tender, 2-3 minutes. Add garlic then saute for 30 more seconds. Add chicken broth and lemon juice then turn heat up to bring to a boil. Turn heat back down and simmer until sauce has reduced and would come halfway up the chicken thighs, 4-5 minutes, then nestle chicken thighs into the sauce and carefully cover the skillet with foil.
- Bake covered for 15 minutes then remove foil and scoop a spoonful of the onions and sauce onto the tops of the chicken thighs. Turn heat up to 425 then return the skillet to the oven uncovered and continue to bake until chicken is cooked through and skin is crispy, 12-15 more minutes (oven does not need to have come all the way up to temperature before returning skillet to oven.)
- Meanwhile, cook the rice. When chicken is done, scoop rice onto plates then top with thighs, drizzle with pan sauce, and serve.
Operating under the thermal constraint of a single oven-proof skillet requires managing distinct cooking zones simultaneously. Cast iron absorbs high heat and distributes it evenly across the contact surface, which is critical when rendering poultry fat at medium-high temperatures. Placing bone-in pieces skin-side down forces moisture out of the adipose layer while the protein solidifies against the metal. This initial sear kick-starts the Maillard reaction, developing complex savory molecules before the pan enters the 375 degree oven.
Coating meat in a fine powder serves two distinct functions in pan sauces. Brown rice flour contains no gluten, meaning it will not develop a stretchy network when hydrated. Instead, the suspended starch granules swell as chicken broth reaches a boil, gelatinizing the liquid into a clinging glaze. Tapping off excess powder prevents a pasty barrier from forming between the rendered fat and the searing skin, ensuring crispness rather than soggy batter.
Managing residual rendered fat demands careful volume control before aromatics hit the skillet. Pouring out all but two tablespoons leaves enough lipids to sweat shallots without drowning them, while the garlic requires a brief thirty-second exposure to release volatile sulfur compounds without scorching. Deglazing with lemon juice dissolves caramelized fond from the bottom of the pan, incorporating those concentrated amino acids directly into the simmering broth reduction.
Finishing the dish uncovered at 425 degrees drives off remaining surface moisture trapped by the initial foil cover. Removing that barrier allows dry oven heat to crisp the skin back up while internal meat fibers reach safe doneness. Serving the resulting pan sauce over cooked white rice absorbs the remaining broth, utilizing every drop of flavor extracted during the reduction phase.
