With this lemon chicken thighs recipe, you get perfectly juicy, tender, and flavorful chicken every time.
We’ve been making this easy chicken recipe for years, and it’s always a hit. A simple lemon and mustard rub adds lots of flavor, while the chicken braises in a lemony broth that turns into the most delicious lemon gravy, perfect for spooning over the chicken when serving.
These are simple enough for a weeknight, but impressive enough for the holidays and celebrations. For more, see more chicken thigh recipes that are perfect for dinner.
Key Ingredients
- Chicken Thighs: I use skin on, bone in chicken thighs for this recipe. I love the golden brown crispy skin, but if you only have skinless thighs, it’s okay. I’ve also made this recipe with drumsticks and chicken breast with great results. For another recipe, see these lemon chicken breasts.
- Mustard: The base of our flavorful rub. I use whole-grain mustard, but Dijon works nicely, too.
- Lemon: I use fresh lemon zest and lemon juice in this recipe. I add the zest to my mustard rub and the juice to the skillet for our simple sauce.
- Oregano and thyme: Add classic flavor to our rub. Use fresh or dried (I use dried in the video).
- Garlic: I use garlic to make a garlic-infused oil, which I then use to sear the chicken. It’s so good!
- Chicken broth: Helps make our lemony sauce. You can use store-bought or homemade. Here’s our homemade chicken stock and our recipe for chicken broth.
- Butter and flour: To thicken our simple lemony sauce, I stir in a small amount of butter mixed with flour. The combo thickens the sauce and makes it glossy.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Lemon Chicken
Tip 1: Start on the stove, finish in the oven. Sear the chicken on the stove first to render some fat and build a golden crust. Then transfer them to the oven and bake until they are juicy and perfectly cooked through. (We use the same method for baked pork chops and chicken breasts, too!)
Tip 2: Use a flavorful rub. Our easy mustard rub, made with mustard, lemon zest, oregano, thyme, salt, and olive oil, adds incredible flavor before the chicken even hits the pan.
Tip 3: Sear skin-side down in garlic oil. For extra flavor, let a couple of garlic cloves sizzle in your oil in the skillet until golden, then remove them. Sear the chicken skin-side down in that garlicky oil until the skin is crisp and browned.
Tip 4: Deglaze for extra flavor. After searing, flip the chicken and pour in fresh lemon juice, chicken stock, and lemon zest. Scrape up any browned bits from the pan before sliding it into the oven to finish cooking (about 30 minutes).
Tip 5: Roast at high heat. Roasting at 400°F cooks the chicken quickly and keeps it tender and juicy. Since the thighs braise in the lemony broth, the steamy environment keeps them juicy in the center.
Tip 6: Finish with lemon gravy. Once baked, move the chicken to a plate and simmer the pan juices. Whisk in a quick butter-and-flour paste to thicken into a silky lemon gravy.
Serving Suggestions
These have an amazing, creamy lemon pan sauce! We love serving them with something that will help soak it up like mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, fluffy homemade biscuits, or pita bread.
I also love adding extra veggies to my plate and especially enjoy a side of quick sautéed cabbage, crispy roasted broccolini, or sautéed green beans.
More Chicken Thigh Recipes
- Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs
- Chicken Marsala
- Baked Chicken Thighs with Potatoes
- Tender Shredded Chicken
- Indian Chicken Curry
Juicy Lemon Chicken Thighs
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These chicken thighs are juicy, flavorful, and super easy! You will love the spice rub made with lemon, oregano, thyme, garlic, and mustard. We prefer bone-in, skin-on thighs for the best flavor, but chicken breasts or drumsticks work, too. For skinless chicken, add a bit of extra oil.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 ½ pounds chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in, trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon lemon zest, 1 teaspoon for rub and 2 teaspoons for sauce
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon for rub, 1 tablespoon for cooking
2 garlic cloves, smashed
¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice, from 1 large lemon
1 ¼ cups (300ml) low-sodium chicken stock, see chicken stock recipe
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Directions
- Prepare Chicken
1Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).
2Make the rub for the chicken thighs. Combine mustard, one teaspoon of lemon zest, oregano, thyme, salt, and one tablespoon of olive oil in a small bowl. Use your fingers or a brush to coat the chicken with the mustard rub on both sides.
3In another bowl or measuring jug, combine the remaining lemon zest (2 teaspoons), lemon juice, and the chicken stock. Set aside.
- Cook Chicken
1Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large oven-safe skillet or frying pan over medium heat.
2Add the smashed garlic, then cook for one minute or until you can smell toasted garlic and the garlic has browned around the edges. Remove and discard the garlic, but leave the garlic oil.
3Place the chicken thighs, skin-side down, into the hot garlic-infused oil and cook for two to three minutes or until the skin has turned golden brown.
4Flip the chicken, then add the lemon juice mixture from before. Stir, then slide the pan into the oven and bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 175°F.
- To Finish
1Remove the pan from the oven, transfer the chicken thighs to a plate, and loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
2There should still be liquid in the pan. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the liquid to a gentle simmer.
3Use your fingers to mix butter and flour in a small bowl, making a dry, crumbly paste.
4Whisk the flour and butter into the lemony sauce. The sauce will thicken slightly and look glossy. Nestle the chicken thighs back into the pan, then serve.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Leftover chicken thighs last, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen chicken thighs overnight in the fridge.
- Reheating: To reheat, place on a rimmed baking sheet or in an oven-safe skillet and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Should you cover chicken thighs when baking? We like crispy skin, so we rarely cover our chicken thighs. This lets them get golden brown and delicious!
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We omitted salt from the calculations since you will need to add to your tastes.
Made this recipe exactly as written, sooooo good! I made your roasted asparagus and some biscuits since the the oven was on! Perfect blend of flavors.
Tasty chicken thighs, even without skins. Tender and moist. I served these with cilantro rice and steamed broccoli. The only change would be to reduce the oven time after browning in the skillet.
This is a very tasty recipe! It is the best chicken recipe I have tasted in a long time. Thanks so much.
a nice one
Best recipe over many others!
We really liked this. I made 2 small changes: I added potatoes and carrots to the pan when it went into the oven and I skipped the flour (but used the butter). We’ll definitely make this again. I think next time I’ll add wine to the sauce.
Thank you!!! I prefer chicken thighs snd lemon is a favorite to cook/bake wirh. And, oh, BTW, your recipes are so good!!! Thank you again!!!
You are so welcome! 🙂
Worked very well. perfect cooking times.
Unbelievable how delicious this recipe is. So easy and so good! Make it and make it now!
I forgot to ask on using the thighs because our family likes skinless boneless for the juicy lemon thighs? I’m learning to cook rather than others.
I love the juicy thighs with lemon but have you did it with chicken breasts for those who want them? I prefer thighs
Hi Karen, Chicken thighs will always be more juicy/soft/tender, but this recipe definitely still works with chicken breasts or skinless chicken thighs.
Made these yesterday. OMG they are so good! And easy. I have added these to my dinner rotation.
This was tasty! I didn’t end up searing the chicken first just put in oven at 220C. Threw potatoes in after 30mins. Added sliced red onions, paprika, dijon, fresh garlic to marinade. So yum!
Wow this was delicious. It was so easy to make too. I ate it with some rice and it was divine. So flavorful.
Absolutely delicious, I also added a bit of lemon juice and dijon mustard while marinating and it was super flavourful. I used skinless boneless thighs as I needed to reheat throughout the week for meal prep lunches and that worked perfectly (just cook for a bit less time with boneless thighs).
I liked that this can be made in advance. I gave it a trial run tonight to serve to guests at the weekend. It was perfect. Your instructions are so clear and concise, plus the video was helpful. I’ll be serving it with total confidence. Best lemon chicken I’ve ever made! Thank you so much.
You are so welcome! Glad you loved it 🙂
Juicy Lemon Thighs: Flavorful, juicy . . .OH My, easy to make! We recommend that you try it first; and OH how quickly you will also add this to your “Favorite List for chicken recipes!”
Absolutely love this recipe. I also use gravy over basmati rice which is very good as a side. Followed recipe exactly and wouldn’t change a thing.
Can you make in advance and reheat next day?
Hi there, Yes! I’ve updated the article with reheating instructions. I like to reheat in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
I have shared this recipe with so many people. I need it for a group of ladies and everyone loved it. Just made it last night and he might’ve myself how good it was. No changes to it at all-love it!
This is quite literally one of the best chicken dishes I have ever made and that says a lot because I’ve made probably thousands of chicken dishes in my life and I’m 54 and love to cook. It’s juicy flavorful deliciousness. The gravy is amazing.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
It is truly a wonderful dish! Loved it. My only problem was getting the rub to spread. Any suggestions? By far the best chicken dish yet!
Really delicious!
Thank you for coming back to let us know you enjoyed it 🙂
This was absolutely delicious!!!!! It’s easy enough for a weeknight family dinner but could also be perfect for a dinner party. I had to resist the urge to lick my plate… that sauce is perfection!
I made this recipe this evening and it was absolutely wonderful! Tasty, nice bright taste to the sauce, not to lemony (just enough). I’ve tried other lemony chicken recipes before and this one is the winner-winner chicken dinner!
What a nice review. So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
here from australia best chicken lemon ever also do you do air fryer recipes as i am a single old guy
Hi Alan, We are thrilled you enjoy the recipe! We do not have any air fryer recipes. Sorry!
This dish is wonderful and so easy.For the marinade I replaced dried oregano with finely chopped fresh lemon myrtle leaves – a fragrant tree used in cooking here in Australia. I also added fresh oregano, parsley, and thyme and green olives to the braising liquid. As I used chicken Maryland’s the cooking time was 35 minutes in the oven. When reducing the jus I used cornflour paste to obtain the right consistency and adjusted the sauce to taste with a little sugar to balance the tangyness of the lemon. Absolutely delicious, thank you.
This chicken dish is simply thee best! Super easy to prepare and my family absolutely loved it. Chicken has amazing flavor and come out oh so tender! Thanks for all of your easy to make and enjoy recipes! Keep on cooking😀
First things first. Great chicken, so easy and so flavorful! A few notes: 1. my chicken took a lot longer than 2-3 minutes to get to that beautiful brown. Consequently the longer browning time meant that the chicken was closer to being fully cooked and needed much less oven time. I used a thermometer to check for done-ness. 2. Lots and lots of fat rendered, so I poured almost all of out it, leaving just a slick in the pan. I poured the broth/lemon into the pan before I put the chicken back in, which made it easier to get all that fond into the sauce. 3. I did not put any salt into the rub. Mustard is salty and even a low-salt broth, homemade or store-bought, has salt. 4. I used only flour to thicken for a few reasons. (Kosher; too much fat). The sauce was perfect. Thanks for this genius recipe!! 5 stars
This was an easy and great recipe easy to follow steps and wonderful taste. Just loved it, thank you guys!
This chicken was great! I mixed all of the spices, olive oil and lemon juice and rubbed it under the skin of the chicken and then over the top of the skin and poured the remainder in the cavity. I put about 3/4 cup water in the bottom of the pan and baked the chicken upside down with the breasts in the juices. I covered the whole thing in foil and in 2 hours the flavorful meat was falling off the bones. My company raved and everyone ate way too much. Served with baked apples, green beans and fresh bread. Delicious!
Great recipe a sure keeper thank you it was yummy ?
I used boneless skinless chicken breasts and it was wonderful! I cooked it completely on the stove. The breasts were juicy and tender. Served over rice pilaf. So,so, so good!
After the rub should the chicken be left to marinate for a period of time?
Hi Eleanor, You can definitely let the chicken marinate for a while, but we usually go straight to cooking.
I got compliments on this chicken, it was sooo delicious. I give it 5 Stars.
I’d love to make this but don’t have a pan large enough that is oven safe. Would it be ok to let simmer cover on stove after searing both sides? Thanks
Hi Heather, Absolutely, although baking in the oven will keep the skin a bit more crisp. You can also transfer the chicken to a baking dish to finish it in the oven.
Found this on the off chance as struggling what to make. Everyone enjoyed it so just to say thanks.