The Key to Achieving Chicken with Crispy Skin – Every time

I will be honest, we eat a lot of chicken in our house. It is a healthy alternative to the red meat binge we were on a few years ago. I love cooking chicken in a variety of ways, as seen in the many Chicken Recipes I have featured. There is nothing like a piece of juicy perfectly flavored chicken with crispy skin. The problem is this can be difficult to accomplish without frying your chicken in a pot of oil. I want to share with you my technique for achieving crispy skin nirvana with only 1 tablespoon of oil.

The key to getting chicken skin to crisp up does not involve oil, but starting with a hot cast iron pan. You want  it at its hottest point (before it starts to smoke) so the crisping process starts the moment the chicken hits the pan. 

Pan Roasted Chicken with Crispy Skin

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Season the skin of your  bone -in thighs generously with salt and pepper.

2. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a cast iron skillet and heat on medium high until is it almost smoking, at that point add your chicken -skin side down- to the pan. At this time I season the other side of the chicken. DO NOT TOUCH the chicken for at least 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium. The skin will turn golden brown and after about 7 mins flip the chicken.

3. Let the chicken cook for 2-3 minutes before moving the entire skillet into the oven to cook for additional 12-15 minutes. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and you will have deliciously juicy crispy skin chicken.

Let me know how you like to enjoy your chicken? Skinless or Skin-on?