Pan Seared Chicken Thighs

Herb-crusted pan-seared chicken thighs make a quick, flavorful dinner that the entire family will enjoy! Made with a quick homemade dry rub of seasonings like thyme, rosemary and garlic powder, pan-seared chicken thighs have a crisp outer skin and tender meat inside. The secret is in the seasoning and the pan you use. These chicken thighs are a favorite weeknight dinner for any time of year.

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Pan Seared Chicken Thighs Recipe

When my husband and I first got married, we started out with a pretty boring rotation of dinner recipes that we made all the time.

Growing up, my family ate a lot of chicken, but everyone in my family preferred white meat to dark meat. So when we first got married we made a lot of baked chicken breasts that were okay but never all that exciting to me.

Luckily all these years of marriage, blogging and experimenting with cooking have helped me try all kinds of new dishes. I've really come to love cooking chicken thighs, despite them being dark meat!

I first published this recipe in 2017 and I still make them at least twice a month. I'm so happy these chicken thighs have become a part of your weekly routine (and even camping trips!) ever since. In 2026, I updated this post with new tips and tricks to help you make these the best ever chicken thighs with crispy skin.

What You Need

Making bone-in chicken thighs used to intimidate me because I wasn't sure I'd cook them fully or that I wouldn't like them, but now I know they are one of the juiciest, most tender cuts of chicken. I even love to grill chicken thighs!

But as it turns out, when you have the right tools, like good tongs and a meat thermometer, cooking bone-in chicken really isn't that difficult at all. (We have gone through an embarrassing amount of meat thermometers and this one has held up the best!)

Baking bone-in chicken is a fine solution, but I've found that pan-searing allows for a lovely crisp skin on the outside with perfectly tender meat inside. Pan searing also cooks the chicken more quickly, without drying it out. You need a quality pan for this, like this stainless steel frying pan. A cast iron skillet will work too.

A pan with a lid will help you to trap the heat and get the juiciest chicken ever. I also suggest a spatter guard or, at the very least, an apron - this chicken splatters!

Ingredients

This recipe calls for a pretty simple ingredient list, and you might already have everything on hand to make them. Start with skin-on bone-in chicken thighs. Bone-in thighs are very difficult to dry out when cooking, which makes these thighs crispy and juicy! And the skin creates a crispy crust, which traps the juiciness inside.

The technique on these pan-seared chicken thighs may be new for me, but the seasonings I used to help create that crispy outer skin are not new at all. You'll need the essentials: salt, pepper and olive oil. Simple and delicious.

I have a bit of a thing for using thyme (also used on my favorite recipe for apple pan-seared pork tenderloin) and adding rosemary and garlic powder to the mix seemed like a natural choice.

How to Pan Sear Chicken Thighs

Making pan-seared chicken thighs on the stove is easy. You can use bone-in or boneless thighs, but boneless ones won't take as long to cook.

1. Trim any excess fat from bone-in chicken thighs and pat dry with a towel. Keep most of the skin on as this helps these chicken thighs get crispy! If there is extra skin hanging off the meat of the chicken, you can trim that with a sharp knife or pair of kitchen shears.
2. Combine spices in a small bowl, then liberally coat each piece of chicken with the spices on each side.
3. Heat your olive oil in a skillet over medium heat (make sure you're using one with a lid). Once the oil is hot (but before it smokes), add the chicken thighs skin side down. You should be able to cook 3-4 at once, without overfilling the pan.
4. Let this side sear for about 3-5 minutes, until it easily can be removed from the pan to flip. If the skin is sticking, it needs another minute or two.
5. Brown the other side for 3-5 minutes, then cover and continue cooking for about 15 minutes.
6. Carefully remove the lid from the skillet (the fat from the chicken will be popping) and use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. You want to insert the thermometer all the way into the meat towards the bone. The internal temperature should be at least 165ºF.

Always check the temperature!
Use an instant-read meat thermometer to verify the meat is cooked all the way. The thermometer should read 165°F (74°C) when the chicken is done.

FAQ

What to serve with chicken thighs

These pan-seared chicken thighs go perfectly with so many sides! In fact, we love all of the sides below with other chicken dishes like these lemon pepper chicken thighs.

For veggies, we like to make garlic brown butter green beans or slow cooker creamed corn. This easy oven-roasted broccoli is great because it can cook in the oven while I hang out over the stove. Air fryer asparagus is another easy one with minimal cleanup!

If you need a carb, try pasta salad without mayo. We also often make this recipe for sheet pan potatoes. For a yummy bread, these goat cheese drop biscuits are divine.

More chicken recipes

• Creamy Lemon Chicken
• Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken
• Pan Seared Chicken Thighs