Name: Skillet Chicken Thighs with Potatoes
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ pounds chicken thighs (fat trimmed); Salt & pepper (for seasoning); 2 teaspoons Paprika; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 onion (chopped); 1 pound small red potatoes (quartered); 8 large carrots (or 1lb baby carrots); 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 2 cups chicken broth; Fresh thyme (optional)

Recipe

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You're going to love these flavorful skillet chicken thighs with crispy skin and a delicious pan sauce served with potatoes and carrots.

What I love most about this recipe, other than the chicken thighs in the skillet are *chef’s kiss* perfection, is that I can serve a full meal to my family in about 35 minutes! All my tips for making it happen are in this post.

large skillet filled with cooked potato chunks, carrot chunks and chicken thighs.

Easy Skillet Chicken Thighs

When I want the convenience of a complete sheet pan chicken dinner without turning on the oven, these skillet chicken thighs with potatoes and veggies always deliver. As long as you have one large pan and a lid, this recipe is one you’ll want to make often.

This Skillet Chicken Thighs recipe yields perfectly cooked juicy chicken meat with crisp outsides and an au jus (sauce) that's simply epic. You'll cook the potatoes and veggies at the same time in one single skillet for an irresistible meal.

Ingredients

The base of this recipe is chicken thighs, onion, potatoes, and carrots. To infuse with flavor, you’ll need salt, pepper, paprika (sweet, smoky, or Spanish paprika), butter (you can swap it for olive oil or cooking oil), and, optionally, fresh thyme. Finally, for the sauce, you’ll use cornstarch (or tapioca starch) and chicken broth or stock (vegetable broth works too).

How to Cook Chicken Thighs in a Pan

Here is the step-by-step for cooking skillet chicken thighs:

Pat the chicken dry and season both sides with salt and pepper.
Prep the veggies: chop the onions, and cut the carrots and potatoes into even pieces so they cook all at the same time.
Sear the chicken until it easily flips over, about 3 minutes per side. The chicken thighs won't be fully cooked yet, don’t worry.
Cook the veggies in the same skillet. Sprinkle cornstarch on the veggies to thicken the sauce. Gradually, pour the chicken broth over the veggies and scrape the bottoms to incorporate.
Place the chicken back in the skillet once the liquid is simmering and cook for an additional 25 minutes.

Skin Up or Skin Down first?

I prefer to brown the skin side of my chicken thighs first, so they get a golden color and crispy sear. The skin will also leave those amazing tidbits on the skillet that will be incorporated into the sauce later. Once the skin side is seared, I flip the meat and sear the underside to start cooking and seal in the meat’s juices.

How to Know if Chicken Thighs are Done

In all my chicken recipes, I suggest cooking chicken by temperature, not just time. For this skillet recipe, we're cooking the chicken thighs on a stove for about 30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 175F (80C).

If you don’t have a meat thermometer, use a sharp knife to slice the middle of the chicken thigh (at the thickest point) and check that the meat inside is white and no pink edges or veins are showing.

Tips for Juicy Chicken Thighs

With these tips, you'll get juicy skillet chicken thighs every time:

Use a large skillet with enough room for the chicken thighs, at least 12 inches.

Season generously with salt and pepper and any other seasonings the recipe calls for -don't skip!

The flavor is at the bottom. Add a liquid to make a sauce, like chicken broth, and scrape the bottom tidbits from the pan to add additional flavor.

Cover the pan with a lid to finish cooking the chicken thighs so the pan retains moisture and the chicken "steams" inside.

What to Cook with Skillet Chicken Thighs

You can cook other ingredients in the skillet with the chicken thighs at the same time. This recipe has carrots and potatoes, but other veggies you can use are Brussels sprouts, pepper strips, turnips, green beans, mushrooms, cubed butternut or acorn squash, and eggplant.

Pro tip: making sure your veggies are cut in similar sized pieces will ensure that they are all cooked evenly.

More Recipes Using Chicken Thighs

Another epic one-skillet dinner I cook often is this super tasty Spanish Chicken Thighs recipe. When I want to put the oven in charge and forget about it, I make these easy Pesto Chicken Thighs or these mouthwatering Garlic Chicken Thighs.

Skillet Chicken Thighs with Potatoes

image: large skillet filled with cooked potato chunks, carrot chunks and chicken thighs.

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 35

Total Time: 40

You're going to love these flavorful skillet chicken thighs with crispy skin and a delicious pan sauce served with potatoes and carrots.

5 from 43 votes

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Watch how it’s made:

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds chicken thighs, fat trimmed
Salt & pepper, for seasoning
2 teaspoons Paprika
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 pound small red potatoes, quartered
8 large carrots, or 1lb baby carrots
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 cups chicken broth
Fresh thyme, optional

Instructions

Prep:

Pat the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel and season both sides with salt, pepper, and paprika.
Chop the onion, cut the carrots into 1 ½-inch pieces, baby carrot-sized, and wash and quarter the potatoes.

Sear the thighs:

Heat a skillet with sides or large pan over medium-high heat. Once it's hot, melt the butter. Add the chicken, skin side down first, and cook for 2-3 minutes until it's golden and crisp on the first side and flip. Cook for another 3 minutes on the other side. Remove the chicken from the skillet onto a plate. It won't be fully cooked; you'll be putting it back in to finish cooking it, the goal is to sear it well.

Cook:

To the chicken juices and tidbits left in the pan, add the chopped onion. Cook for about a minute while stirring to let the onion absorb the flavors left behind.
Add the quartered potatoes and carrots, ½ teaspoons of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the vegetables begin to brown on all sides.
Sprinkle the cornstarch over the vegetables and toss them around the pan to coat. Gradually add the chicken broth to the pan. Bring it to a simmer and stir. Once it's simmering, return the chicken to the pan, moving the potatoes and carrots around to make room for the thighs to sit directly on the pan.
Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through, stirring and turning the chicken over occasionally, for 25 minutes. You know the thighs are ready when the internal temperature reaches 175F. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the meal, if using, and serve.