These breaded oven fried chicken thighs are superlatively easy to toss together in a jiffy. And while chances are you’re not going to turn to them at your next fancy schmancy dinner party, whenever that may be, these will more than please everyone at your table at every other dinner situation.–Angie Zoobkoff
Breaded Chicken Thighs FAQs
We suspect you’ll be much more pleased with the results of this recipe when you use skinless chicken thighs. Save the skin-on chicken thighs for someplace where it hits the hot skillet unimpeded and has a chance to turn crazy crisp, like this crispy chicken with lemon and capers.
If you want to glam up your chicken thighs with a little more bling (or simply need to adapt them to whatever you happen to have on hand!), you can easily add a generous pinch of dried or fresh herbs. Or maybe plenty of black pepper. Maybe even a handful of very finely grated Parmesan.
No bread crumbs? No worries. Instead, crush some potato or tortilla chips into fine crumbs or simply use the crumbs found at the bottom of your bag of chips. If you have some of those trendy gluten-free Inca-style corn nuts, you can crush them into a powder and they’ll work just dandy, too.
Yes. You can make this with whole boneless chicken breast, or smaller chicken breast cutlets. If using whole boneless breasts, you will likely need to increase the cook time to fully cook the chicken to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C).
You can keep this a true comfort meal by serving with classic sides, like creamy mashed potato gratin, or mac and cheese, or you can glam up the meal a bit and serve it alongside an elegant salad, like this roasted beet and feta number.
Breaded Oven Fried Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (heaped 1/2 cup)
- Pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup dried store-bought or homemade bread crumbs (either plain or seasoned), plus more if needed
- 1 pound 5 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs, fat trimmed
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Lemon wedges, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C).
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Into a second medium bowl, crack the eggs and whisk to blend. Scatter the bread crumbs on a plate.
☞ TESTER TIP: If you’re using unseasoned bread crumbs, you may care to add an extra pinch of salt to the flour mixture.
- Season each piece of chicken with salt and pepper and then dip it first in the flour, shaking off any excess, then in the egg wash (allowing any excess egg to drip off), and then coat the thighs on both sides with the breadcrumbs and place on the lined baking sheet. Add extra bread crumbs to the plate, if needed.
- Drizzle the coated thighs with the olive oil, turning to coat both sides as evenly as you can.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Then turn and bake until the bread crumbs are golden and crips and the chicken is cooked through with an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C), 10 to 15 minutes more.
☞ TESTER TIP: If you're using a thermometer to check the temperature of the chicken, hold it parallel to the baking sheet and insert it through the side and into the center of the thigh. Do not try to do this while the baking sheet is still in the oven! First take it out and rest it on the stove.
- Serve the chicken thighs immediately with lemon wedges on the side for squeezing.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This breaded chicken thigh recipe is the perfect quick, easy, and delicious dinner. It has simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.
The only prep work for the chicken thighs is opening the package. It takes at the most 10 minutes to prepare this dish and then only 20 minutes to bake it. The result renders delicious and juicy breaded oven-fried chicken thighs.
Although I did use thighs, I am sure this would be fantastic with breasts, too. I will do a combination the next time I make it.
I used seasoned bread crumbs on some of the thighs and plain on the others as I wanted to compare the two. I preferred the seasoned over the plain but my husband preferred the plain. Bottom line, they are both great and it is just a matter of personal preference.
This easy recipe for breaded and oven-fried chicken thighs did produce very moist and tender chicken with a golden crispy crust. And we loved the fresh squeeze of lemon when serving!
The bread crumbs adhered with no problems to the chicken. I didn’t lose any bread crumbs as I drizzled both sides of the chicken with olive oil.
As instructed, I flipped the chicken after 10 minutes in the oven, and it took 15 minutes on the second side for the chicken to develop its golden crust for a total of 25 minutes. The drizzle of olive oil did create an even crispy coating on the chicken.
This was a very quick and easy recipe to make! These lemon-spritzed oven-fried thighs were served with roasted zucchini, since I had the oven on already, and steamed fresh broccoli.
This is a great recipe to keep in your back pocket for those days when you don’t know what to make for dinner and have very little time to do so. It takes about 15 minutes of prep time and then, depending on the size of your breaded chicken pieces and your particular oven, the dish will be fully cooked with a nice, crispy coating in 20 to 25 minutes. The fresh lemon juice adds a nice touch to the dish at the end.
I kept it simple and served the dish with pan-fried green beans and French fries.
The recipe was very easy to make—not time-consuming at all—and resulted in moist and simple breaded oven-fried chicken thighs.
I used seasoned bread crumbs with Parmesan.
It’s always great to come across a “no frills” recipe that delivers. With no time or effort invested you can have a delicious dinner on the table in less than an hour. I used skin-on chicken drumsticks and seasoned them with a dry rub a few hours ahead. They were perfectly crisp and moist in 25 minutes.
Those look great, Sadie. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment.
Wonderful, Sadie! We’re delighted that it turned out so well. Please let us know what you try next.
Great method for preparing boneless skinless thighs! I added a bit of smoked paprika and celery salt to the breadcrumbs for some extra flavour. This was easy and I was so pleased with how crispy these turned out – I may never pan-fry chicken again!
Thanks, Joanne! We’re so pleased that these were a hit!