Pan-Seared Chicken Thighs With Parsley and Lemon

By Eric Kim

Pan-Seared Chicken Thighs With Parsley and Lemon
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
30 minutes, plus 30 minutes’ marinating
Rating
4(320)
Notes
Read community notes

This recipe will make you think, “Oh, that’s what parsley tastes like.” Bright and herbaceous, one bunch of flat-leaf parsley does a lot of work in this relaxed chicken dinner. First, the tough stems are puréed in a bold and garlicky buttermilk marinade that tenderizes boneless, skinless thighs, then the leaves and their tender stems are sautéed like spinach and spritzed with fresh lemon. Serve these juicy chicken thighs with rice, beans, bread or generously buttered noodles.

Featured in: A Better Boneless Chicken Dinner

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 1bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley (3 to 4 ounces)
  • 10garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1jalapeño, stemmed
  • 2tablespoons capers
  • 2tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus wedges for serving
  • 2teaspoons granulated sugar
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • ½cup buttermilk
  • 1½pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • Olive oil, as needed
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

283 calories; 11 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 36 grams protein; 596 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Separate the tough parsley stems from the leaves and tender stems. Coarsely chop the tough stems.

  2. Step 2

    In a food processor, add the chopped parsley stems, garlic, jalapeño, capers, lemon juice, sugar, 1½ teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon pepper and the buttermilk; blitz until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl and add the chicken; turn to evenly coat. Cover and refrigerate to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

  3. Step 3

    Heat a large, preferably nonstick skillet over medium-high and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the reserved parsley leaves and tender stems and cook, stirring occasionally, until considerably wilted and bright green but charred in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; transfer to a platter.

  4. Step 4

    In the same skillet over medium-high, add enough oil to coat the bottom. Add the marinated chicken; discard the marinade. Cook the chicken until browned and caramelized in spots, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Transfer to the platter with the parsley and serve with lemon wedges, for spritzing.

Ratings

4 out of 5
320 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Sue Fisher

I wound up using Greek yogurt instead of buttermilk and it was delicious. This got rave reviews.

Leah Marx

wondering if this would work in a 450 oven in a cast iron skillet.? I'd flip thighs half way through. Sounds delish.

Fay

Delicious flavors, but it took forever to cook the chicken. It felt like there was a LOT of marinade in the pan considering we were supposed to get browning/caramelization. Next time I would drain the chicken and use a much bigger pan.

Christine

I sauteed the parsley with artichoke hearts and cherry tomatoes and tossed it all on top - wonderful flavor.

MKathryn

Use a bigger pan. No need to drain the marinade just let it drip off for a few seconds before you cook the chicken. Browning/Caramelization will happen closer to the 7 minute mark

Steven

The original version of this recipe had us add the chicken with the marinade. The current version discards the marinade.

Sara Schoenwetter

I made a half recipe of marinade for 9 ounces of chicken. The chicken did not require quite so much cooking time. The marinade liquid evaporated completely, and I missed when it started to burn. The finished dish was quite tasty but almost too salty, which was probably due to my substitution of table salt for kosher salt.

Tim

I’d definitely advise lower than Med High. Burned one side and lowered burner for the second. Bummer.

Louise

This recipe is so delicious. I will cook it often.

emilyBship

Had anyone tried dredging in panko and baking?

Rick T

Pretty good. But after you saute the parsley, you're going to want to keep it warm while the chicken cooks, otherwise it's just cold, limp, oily parsley.

Marianna

I stopped cooking chicken on the stove a long time ago. It always splatters even on medium-low and leaves way too much clean-up afterwards, aside from the time it takes to cook chicken through. I only use the oven these days where the self-clean option takes care of all the grime and grease.

Jen

Made this last night and everyone loved it. I did not have buttermilk on hand, so followed a tip here and used plain greek yogurt, which worked well. I had closer to three pounds of chicken thighs and there was plenty of marinade for them. I did not follow the recipe tip to use a nonstick pan, and instead used my cast iron pan -- I have never seen so much carbonization and I actually had to soak it and scour off a full layer of seasoning. I'll use nonstick next time.

Karen

I used bone in thighs and I would make this again. I should roast the thighs and then broil to get the crust. This was a great recipe!

David

A lot of prep for just a ho-hum dish. The prominent flavor was the lemon wedge we squeezed on the chicken before eating. My favorite part of this meal were the buttered noodles.

haldanish

So now that I know "what parsley tastes like", I don't need to taste it again. BUT the chicken was absolutely delicious with just a mild note of heat from the jalapeno, well balanced by the garlic and capers. Drained the chicken briefly in a colander and found that it browned and caramelized well in 5-7 minutes as per the recipe. Lemon juice a must to add a final balance. Will make the chicken again and serve with a different green veggie

Scott

I baked this at 400 degrees and finished with a quick broil. It was super delicious!

elly cohen

Excellent

Tina V

Big fan of Eric Kim here (thanks to Morning Brew for recommending his fish sauce butter recipe!). I appreciated the simple prep and combination of flavors in this dish, as always. I want to second the comment that says the recipe is Almost too salty - and I actually used kosher salt! It's great when you consume the dish with vegetables and rice, but in the future, I would recommend try adding 1 tsp of Kosher salt rather than 1.5. (I suspect the capers had something to do with this!)

Wendy Wolf

I made this and it was delicious. I did not use the jalepeno. Will that make it very spicy as I want to avoid hot spicy food?

Faith

This was truly delicious! The way the marinade caramelized on the chicken was insane. We basically licked our plates. I ended up finishing the chicken for 5 mins in a 425 degree oven to make sure it cooked through without getting too charred. I also did a half and half mix of parsley and spinach for the sauté-so good!

Susan Pratt

Wow, that was a lot of marinade! It seemed a waste to discard it. If I make it again I think I would include the marinate when cooking the chicken. The chicken was tasty, but not as good as I expected.

Jeffrey Mendelssohn

Best to cook on medium low heat as medium high heat will blacken the thighs before they have a chance to cook through.

Lovestoeat

It was ok. There are much better ways to use chicken thighs imo.

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