This chimichurri chicken recipe is so flavorful. Crisp, golden chicken thighs are topped with our bright, herby chimichurri sauce for an easy, delicious dinner.
It’s no secret that we love chimichurri sauce! We spoon it over all sorts of things, from steak to seafood and even cauliflower steaks! In this chicken recipe, we generously spoon it over perfectly cooked chicken thighs.
The contrast between the crispy skin and the fresh, herby, and slightly vinegary sauce is simply irresistible. This is one of Adam’s favorites! The chimichurri cuts through the richness of the chicken, leaving you craving bite after bite!
Key Ingredients
- Chicken: I use skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe. With our cooking method below, the skin becomes golden and crisp, which pairs beautifully with the fresh chimichurri spooned over the top. The vinegar in the sauce helps cut through the richness of the chicken skin in the best way. You can use skinless thighs or chicken breasts instead. If you do, see the tips below for adjusted cooking times and methods.
- Chimichurri Sauce: This bright, fresh sauce is made with parsley, garlic, shallot, dried oregano, salt, red pepper flakes (or fresh chilies), red wine vinegar, and olive oil. The recipe below includes instructions for making it, but if you’d like to dive deeper into this zesty green sauce, see our full chimichurri recipe.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Chimichurri Chicken
Tip 1: Make the sauce by hand or in a food processor. I usually chop chimichurri by hand because I like the rustic texture and seeing the herbs, garlic, and shallots in the sauce. But you can absolutely use a food processor to save time. Just pulse so everything stays textured, not pureed. If you’re short on time, the processor is your answer (watch our video to see how quickly it comes together).
This sauce is meant to taste fresh (just like when you make other fresh sauces, like pesto). That said, it will keep in the fridge for a few days in an airtight container.
Tip 2: Start the chicken thighs in a cold skillet. Usually, I tell you to heat a skillet, then add whatever you are cooking, but with skin-on chicken thighs, you get a much crispier result if you start them in a cold skillet.
Season your chicken with salt, then place the thighs skin-side down. Turn on the burner to medium heat, and then watch as the fat in the chicken skin slowly renders and the skin turns golden. It takes around 20 minutes. You can see me do this the video, too!
Tip 3: Don’t panic if the chicken sticks. As the skin and fat render in the pan, the chicken will start to brown and eventually release from the pan. At first, the chicken will stick and won’t want to move. Give it time. As the skin crisps, it will naturally lift and be easy to flip.
Tip 4: Finish in the oven. Once you flip the chicken, transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Serving Suggestions
These chicken thighs are wonderful over rice, like this cilantro lime rice, coconut rice, or something creamy like mashed potatoes, grits, or polenta.
They also work well next to roasted veggies. I especially love cauliflower steaks, roasted cabbage, and these roasted potatoes, all of which work wonderfully with that chimichurri sauce!
More Chicken Recipes
Easy Chimichurri Chicken
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This chimichurri chicken is simple and delicious. I make my chimichurri while the chicken cooks, but you can also make it beforehand. Chimichurri sauce is best made the day you plan to serve it, although you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. As it sits, the color will become less vibrant.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
Chicken Thighs6 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, about 2 pounds
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
Chimichurri Sauce2 cups packed parsley leaves and tender stems (50g)
3 to 4 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon minced
1 medium shallot, minced
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ to ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or 1 jalapeño or Fresno chili pepper, finely chopped
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (120ml)
¼ cup to ⅓ cup red wine vinegar, adjusted to taste (60-80ml)
Directions
- Cook Chicken Thighs
1Prep: Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Set aside a wide oven-safe skillet. Stainless steel or cast iron both work well.
2Season the chicken: Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Sprinkle salt evenly over both sides.
3Brown the skin: Place the chicken thighs skin-side down in a cold oven-safe skillet. It’s okay if they touch. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the skin is deep golden and the thighs release easily from the pan, about 20 minutes. Rotate the skillet occasionally so the chicken browns evenly. If the skin darkens too quickly, lower the heat. If oil splatters, loosely cover the pan with a lid. If any pieces are still sticking, give them a little more time and use tongs to gently wiggle the thighs free. As the fat renders, the skin will naturally release.
4Flip and bake: Flip the chicken thighs and transfer the skillet to the preheated oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 165ºF (73ºC).
5Rest: Transfer the chicken to a plate and let it rest for 5 minutes. Serve with chimichurri spooned over the top.
- Make Chimichurri Sauce
1Make by hand: Mince the garlic and shallot and add them to a medium bowl. Finely chop the parsley and add them to the bowl along with the salt, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Stir, then taste and season with more salt or red pepper flakes if needed.
2Make in a food processor: Add garlic and shallots to the bowl of a food processor (or blender) and pulse until minced. Add the parsley, salt, and red pepper flakes. Pulse until the parsley is chopped small. Scrape the sides, and then pour in the olive oil and red wine vinegar. Pulse a few more times until the sauce comes together. Taste and season with more salt or red pepper flakes, if needed.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts: The cooking method will be different. Quickly sear the chicken thighs in a bit of oil in the skillet, and then finish them in the oven. For chicken breasts, I recommend using this skillet chicken recipe.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We included all of the sauce, but you may have some leftovers, in which case, the nutrition facts will be less.
I’m excited to try this method of cooking the chicken thighs tonight…thank you! 😀
This sauce is, an you said, magical. I don’t love vinegar, so I used roughly half vinegar and half fresh lemon juice. I’m so happy I decided to make this. The chicken thighs look somewhat sad and naked. The sauce completely transformed them into a winner!
This was a fabulous chimichurri recipe. I took a note from one of the other commenters to soak dried oregano in red wine vinegar for a bit and add it in; it was fabulous! I ended up throwing everything into a blender, amping up the garlic, and used a heaping tablespoon of oregano. I also doubled the recipe and used the leftover chimichurri for a dipping sauce the rest of the week. I smelled like garlic for a while but it was worth it! I had less luck with the chicken (it got stuck to the pan) but it still tasted fabulous.
Excellent recipe! finishing the cooking in the oven is a time honored technique, at it cooks in the juices, preventing the meat from drying.
I lived 6 years in Argentina, traveling a lot and to ALL provincias, and I discovered that a sauce called Chimichurri is prepared everywhere, but there are a few, sometimes a lot of, differences between each state (Provincias). For a quick example, in Provincia de Bs.As., they use some dried oregano and a local dried ground pepper, called AJì Molido, which has great taste, but NO heat… and in Patagonia they use a mixture of a lot of lightly salted water with a few crushed cloves of garlic and some crushed hot chili peppers, and they continually drizzle it on the sheep carcasses they roast whole on the side of a bed of coals… and they also call it Chimichurri!
So try 1/2 a spoonful of dried oregano leaves steeped in 1 spoonful of Wine vinegar and 2 of water for at least 1/2 hour in a cup or similar small container, but remove all twigs and stems which remain.
¡Y Buen Provecho!
How do you suggest we make the pan cold before cooking?
Hi Gianina, By a cold pan, we just mean there is no need to preheat the pan or place it on the burner to heat up before adding the chicken.
Hi!
Do you recommend covering skillet w/ a lid at all while cooking the chicken?
Hi Joyce, For thighs we usually don’t use a lid — we just slide the pan into the oven to finish cooking the chicken.
I love chimmichurri! I like to use cilantro instead of parsley. I like your method of cooking the chicken thighs tho and will try this soon.
Yumm!These look amazing I love the idea of using chicken thighs. Can’t wait to try!
Thanks! We buy chicken thighs way more often than chicken breasts — they are a little cheaper and taste better 🙂
How do you recommend cooking the chicken thoughts if they are skinless?
Hi Lina, you could cook them over medium heat in a little olive oil until lightly browned on both sides then finish them in the oven. You could also toss them with a little chimichurri sauce and bake them in the oven (around 400 degrees) until done.
just retired – love food – looking for inspiration & your recipes look just right !