Simple Roasted Chicken with a little rosemary and garlic is the best comforting dinner when you are feeling lazy and don’t want to do a lot of work but still want to have good food for dinner. You really don’t need to buy it from a store or oder from a fast food restaurant. The only thing you need is some time. This is a recipe that requires a 50-minute baking in oven; 30 minutes at high heat and 20 minutes at medium heat. I’m not talking about any cooking skills here because you almost do nothing to roast chicken. This is a put in the oven and forget about it for some time kind of recipe. Unlike our sweet-savory Sticky Chicken Wings, you don’t have to watch them close in the kitchen. You can lie down and dream about the most succulent golden brown chicken you will have in the end.
Simple Roasted Chicken is definitely a crowd pleaser. I used chicken thighs but you can use a whole chicken and bake it with exactly the same method, which is the simplest thing on earth. This is a recipe every mom should know. Believe me your family will adore you even more when they see these amazing chicken thighs at dinner table. You can proudly watch them gobbling down the thighs and licking their fingers. Visualize this in your mind. This is what every mom wants in their homes, isn’t it? With no hard work at all!
As a working mom, Simple Roasted Chicken is one of my life savers and I make it several times a month. I can say that this is the ultimate chicken recipe in our home. I just don’t know why I didn’t share it with you earlier. Shame on me!
The recipe is very straightforward. Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towel. Sprinkle salt on each piece and rub them with olive oil and black pepper. Place them in a baking pan skin-side up. Toss some rosemary and garlic in the pan. And bake it at hight heat (400F) for about 30 minutes to brown the chicken well and then reduce the heat to 375F for another 20-minute baking. The chicken pieces will be wonderfull moist inside with a crispy golden brown outside.
I suggest you not to remove the skin even if you don’t like eating that part since it prevents the chicken pieces from drying while they are in oven. Also it gives a nice flavor. Fat is not always bad.
If you don’t have rosemary or garlic in hand, just leave them out. I love them baked in chicken fat, that’s why I add a lot. But the chicken pieces are still tasty without these. Garlic is something I just can’t live without, so I always tend to add when baking chicken, lamb or vegetables. Garlic is good. Add it to these Simple Roasted Chicken Thighs.
More chicken thigh recipes I’d love to try:
Baked Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Potatoes in Wine Cream Sauce on From Calculus to Cupcakes
Ottolenghi’s Chicken with Caramelized Onions and Cinnamon-Cardamom Rice on The Brook Cook
Chicken Bake with Apples, Onions and Horseradish on Kitchen Frau
Pan Roasted Crispy Chicken Thighs with Figs on The Suburban Soapbox
Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Skillet on Laughing Spatula
Simple Roasted Chicken
Just as the name suggests, chicken thighs simply roasted in oven.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 15 cloves garlic
- Rosemary leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 410F (210C).
- Pat the chicken thighs with a paper towel.
- Sprinkle salt and black pepper over each.
- Drizzle olive oil over them and rub well.
- Place thighs in a baking pan. Toss rosemary leaves and garlic in the pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375F (190C) and bake for 20 minutes more until tender when poked with a knife.
- Remove from oven and cover with aluminum foil until serving time.
- Garnish with fresh rosemary leaves when serving.
Thank you so much for the shout out!! Your dish looks delicious 🙂
you absolutely can’t beat a good roast chicken.
looks yummy and now I’m ready to eat lunch!
This roast chicken looks SO delicious. I cannot remember the last time I had roast chicken so thanks for inspiring me to make some soon. I bet your kitchen smelt amazing too when cooking this!
I was wondering if you could throw some veggies in there as well? I was thinking along the lines of onions and small potatoes. Either way I cannot wait to try this, this week !
Of course you can. Potatoes, for example, would be great with these chicken thighs. And onions would definitely make these even tastier. And maybe some carrots. I just wanted to keep things simple in this recipe, that’s why I didn’t add many things.
So I ended up using onions,carrots and potatoes and it came out amazing! I think i will broil the chicken next time or sear it before putting in the pan to get the color like yours has. it was great my picky husband loved it!! thank you!!!
★★★★★
Are these bone-in thighs?
This is EXACTLY the kind of easy, delicious dish I’ve been looking for with chicken thighs. It was wonderful. crispy skin was a plus!!
my family are white meat eaters. Would skinless breasts dry out too much?
Have ??? Are the garlics whole and peeled?
Hi Tina, I don’t peel or slice garlic cloves. Just use them as they are. It is very easy to peel when they are cooked.
Perfection!!! I now cook all my chicken with these cook temps and times. Sometimes I add wine or olive oil infused with lime. Every time it comes out perfect!!! Thank you!!
★★★★★
Simple is always great, isn’t it? Happy to hear that you love the recipe!
I loved this recipe. I altered it a bit by adding smoked paprika, sliced onions (rings scattered one the pieces of chicken) and a little bit of red wine to the bottom of the baking dish. The store didn’t have bone in chicken thighs, so I substituted four leg quarters.
I was delicious and my husband loved, loved, loved it.
Thank you for posting it.
Do you have cooking time suggestions for if I use whole chicken legs? This is my family’s favorite chicken dish! Sometimes we add potatoes and carrots, sometimes just as the recipe says. All of your recipes are fantastic.
★★★★★
How do leftovers fare? I would like to make the night before.
I think it’s fine as long as you cover it well.
Oh wow this sounds like the most perfect roasted-chicken– if only I would pop a crisp through the screen and take a piece now!
Do you bake the chicken uncovered??
Yes Sue, I bake it uncovered.