Seared Chicken Thighs in Garlic & Herb Sauce
These seared chicken thighs in garlic & herb sauce are perfect for weeknight dinner, not only is this a one pan dish but it also takes less than 20 minutes to make! The chicken thighs are pan seared until crisp and golden in colour and then smothered in a garlic and herb sauce that is loaded with flavour. This chicken is Whole30, Paleo, Keto, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Specific Carbohydrate Diet legal.
This is one of those super simple recipes that is great to have in your weeknight dinner rotation. All you need is one pan, plus basic ingredients that you likely already have in your kitchen, and 20 minutes later, dinner is ready! The chicken thighs are first pan seared to create a golden crust and give them some good crisp texture, before being smothered in a pan sauce which is packed with fresh garlic and herbs.
Why you are going to love these easy seared chicken thighs:
- So fast! With a start to finish time of under 20 minutes, this is a fantastic dish to make when you are short on time and looking for something quick and easy to make.
- All you need is basic pantry staples: There are no fancy ingredients needed to make this chicken, in fact you more than likely already have everything in your pantry!
- Great for leftovers: Make extra of this chicken because it’s great to have ready in the fridge to add into salads, wraps or have as a quick meal.
- A super versatile recipe: you can use this recipe as a guide and really modify it depending on what you have. Swap the chicken thighs for breasts and simply cook them for 8 minutes longer.
- It’s Whole30, Paleo, Keto, Dairy Free, Grain Free, Gluten Free and Specific Carbohydrate Diet Legal too!
Can I use dried herbs?
I prefer using fresh herbs in this recipe but I recognize that sometimes fresh just isn’t an option. Dried herbs have a stronger concentration of flavour due to containing less moisture, because of this you should always adjust the quantity when substituting one for the other in a recipe. If a recipe calls for fresh and you are using dried, reduce the quantity by 1/3, and if a recipe calls for dried and you are using fresh then increase the amount by 3 times.
What to serve with these Chicken Thighs:
- Mash! I highly recommend serving these chicken thighs with a side of mash to sop up all of the delicious sauce. You could serve them with Cauliflower Mash or for a bit more flavour, try my Butternut Squash & Carrot Mash.
- Cauliflower Rice! Cauliflower rice is another great side dish to serve with this chicken. You could keep things simple by sautéing the cauliflower rice in avocado oil, or add some garlic and lemon juice for a bit of added flavour.
- Brighten things up with some vibrant veggies! Green beans, asparagus, broccoli or carrots are all easy veggies that you could serve with this chicken.
Here are a few other one pan chicken recipes you will love:
- Garlic Mushroom & Bacon Chicken Thighs
- Honey Mustard Chicken
- Balsamic Chicken with Figs
- Citrus & Herb Chicken
- Coq No Vin
- Szechuan Chicken Thighs
- Creamy Mushroom Chicken
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Seared Chicken Thighs in a Garlic & Herb Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp ghee or butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2/3 cup chicken stock
- 1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tsp chopped fresh oregano
- 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
Instructions
- Lay the chicken thighs out on a plate and sprinkle them evenly on both sides with the salt, pepper and paprika.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Once hot, add in the chicken thighs and sear them for 5 minutes until a golden crust forms. Flip the chicken over and cook them for another 2 minutes on the other side and then remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the ghee to the skillet along with the garlic and cook for 20 seconds until fragrant before adding in the chicken stock and white wine vinegar, use a wooden spoon to scrape any bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Leave the sauce to simmer for 2 minutes before adding in the parsley, oregano and thyme. Give it a stir and then return the seared chicken thighs to the pan. Leave the sauce to simmer for another 3 minutes until it has begun to thicken. Serve garnished with additional parsley.
Nutrition
I made this last night. Soooo sooo good!!! Family loved it too. Will be making this again.
We had it with black rice and pan cooked sweet potatoes. I know..double starch..but whoowee.
Easy to make and delicious! We make this weekly!
There is no way chicken thighs with bone in will be cooked to an internal temp of 145 degrees in 10-13 minutes. I’m going to sear the 8 minutes, simmer in chicken broth for 10 more then remove and make the garlic sauce with onions and more garlic, adding more chicken broth. Then simmer again for 5-10 minutes with garbanzo beans and serve with delicata squash over rice or noodles.
Great flavor! But I agree with the comments about cooking time for the chicken. Need to double it
I tried this recipe and found that my chicken need 2-3 more minutes cooking time as noted in step 3. I used cilantro instead of parsley since cilantro was on hand. For me, the prep time was more like 15 minutes rather than the 5 minute time advised.
The chicken and sauce were very good. I will make this dish again and add it to my monthly choices for dinner. I think this recipe will work for for pork chops and I will try this in the future. Thank you for this great recipe.
Cooking time for chicken needs to be at least doubled. Great flavour tho’
This is now, one of my favorite tasting and quickest chicken recipes I have ever made. Husband loved it also. Will be making this dish for get togethers.
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! Omg this recipe was delicious! I made it for my husband & me tonight & he loved it! Me too! He said to put it in the rotation so I’ll be making this often. It’s easy & so flavorful! It’s so good I just had to leave this comment. So happy I found this recipe. We loved it!
Delicious recipe, full of flavour and taste. Definitely recommended!
I just used this recipe as a baseline to make dinner. To season the chicken I used garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika, and poultry seasoning. I seared the chicken longer about 10 minutes each side. When I melted the butter in the pan I cooked in chopped onion and when that was tender I added 10 cloves of garlic and added salt and pepper to taste. I then added two more tablespoons of butter, melted it, then added three tablespoons of flour and stirred then cooked until thick and bubbly. I then added about 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock and half a bottle of white wine. Then added seasoning salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, chicken seasoning and garlic powder. Once stirred I added the chicken to the sauce and simmered and slow cooked the chicken for about 1 1/2 hours. I also added in cherry tomatoes and spinach and cooked that into the sauce as well. And served over pasta. Came out pretty good…. If you followed this recipe to a T I don’t see how the chicken could be completely cooked and wouldn’t be tender. Also the recipe didn’t have much garlic or seasoning. I recommend following the way I cooked this. It will be a lot more flavorful, chicken will be fully cooked and tender, and will be a complete dinner.
You’re absolutely right, I wish I had seen your comment! You absolutely have to cook this longer and hotter, maybe because my chicken was cold out of the fridge? Not sure but because it took so long the garlic and herbs were mostly burnt but to be honest I didn’t mind because it still tasted very good over a baked potato and some green beans.
Sara, your version sounds delicious, I will have to try this next time.
These were delicious. I didn’t have fresh oregano but dried tasted perfectly fine. I did have to simmer my chicken thighs for quite a bit longer at then next because the sear didn’t cook them as much as I thought it would. Also squeezed some lemon over it at the end! Will definitely make again.
This was very tasty and easy to make! I used chicken breast (cut in two sideways to make thinner) instead of thighs, water instead of chicken stock and liberally sprinkled the meat with paprika, salt and pepper on both sides before sautéing.
Turned out great and will add to weekly rotation. Thank you, Carmen!
I think the recipes is fantastic I add a little more ingredients too but as everyone been mentioning the chicken part.
Idk about anyone else but no matter what dish I make I clean my chicken by boiling it first.
So as a tip maybe you should to!
It’s quick it’s clean and it gives the chicken taste.
I thought people usually do that though but I guess it’s a Hispanic thing! Give it a try before any dish.
Chicken cooking time is way quicker too.
Than try the recipe.
Super easy, super tasty! This was a favorite of ours.
Wow! The recipe takes no time to cook up and the sauce was super flavorful!! I will definitely be making these chicken thighs in the near future!