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Quick-cooking, budget-friendly, and pretty hard to screw up (that dark meat is automatically juicier), chicken thighs are our default weeknight dinner—and this is our simplest recipe yet. It's made in single pan in less than 45 minutes—and you don't even have to chop a vegetable. What's the shortcut? Harissa, a North African pepper-based hot sauce that's spicy, fruity, bright, and smoky—it brings the flavor so that you don't have to. While you can always make your own harissa, buying a jar at the grocery store is always a good option. Look for brands that list peppers as the first ingredient (sometimes they can be cut with tomato product, and that's not what you want) and taste it before you add it to the skillet: Different brands vary in spiciness, so you may have to go up or down in quantity depending. We love the version made by NY SHUK.
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What you’ll need
Rimmed Baking Sheet
$32 At Amazon
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Measuring Cups
$28 At Bon Appétit Market
Paper Towels
$13.45 At Amazon
Cast Iron Skillet
$30 At Amazon
Tongs
$21 At Amazon
Wooden Spoon
$7 At Amazon
Chef's Knife
$34.53 At Amazon
Cutting Board
$10 At IKEA
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
6
3
1½
¼
3
3
4
Preparation
Step 1
Pat 6 chicken thighs dry with paper towels. This will help the skin get nice and brown. Season all over with 2½ tsp. salt. (When you're seasoning meat, a good rule of thumb is 1 tsp. salt per pound.)
Step 2
Place chicken (skin side down) in a dry large cast-iron skillet with the heat off. Heat over medium and cook chicken, undisturbed, until skin is very crisp and deeply golden brown and releases from pan (an indication that the skin is brown and crackly), 13–16 minutes. You have permission to rotate the pan (but not the chicken) from time to time to encourage all thighs to get equal love from the burner. And just like starting fish skin side down in a room temp pan guarantees crackly, bronzed skin, doing the same with chicken renders the fat slowly—and that means even browning and the crispiest skin imaginable.
Step 3
Using tongs, transfer chicken to a plate. Make sure to keep it skin side up: Placing that crispy skin against the plate will cause it to steam and sog, negating all of your hard work.
Step 4
Add 1½ lb. cherry tomatoes, ¼ cup harissa paste, 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, 1 oregano sprig and remaining ½ tsp. salt to pan. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes have burst and released all of their juices, and the juices have started to thicken, 8–10 minutes.
Step 5
Nestle chicken thighs back into skillet (keep the skin side up) over tomatoes.
Step 6
Reduce heat to medium-low, bring to a simmer, and cook until chicken is just cooked through and flesh is no longer pink (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part near the bone will register 165°), and tomato sauce has thickened and a wooden spoon leaves a trail when dragged through, 6–8 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes—this gives the meat an opportunity to reabsorb the moisture that moved to the surface while it cooked. Sounds technical, but it means your chicken will be tender and juicy.
Step 7
While chicken cooks, cut 4 oz. feta into ¼"-thick planks.
Step 8
Once chicken has rested for 5 minutes, break feta planks into large pieces, scattering over skillet. Some pieces will stay intact while others will soften into the sauce a little—and that's exactly what you want.
Step 9
Pick leaves off remaining 2 oregano sprigs and scatter over chicken and tomatoes.
Step 10
Serve with torn crusty bread for sopping up any extra tomato sauce.
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Reviews (84)
Back to TopThis is a great showcase dish: the crispy skin the tomatoes and feta are a great color combination. And it tastes great. But like others I find it takes longer to cook the thighs so I put the chicken skin side up in an air fryer for 8 mins at 400. Also rather than put all that acid in my seasoned skillet I pour the rendered fat into a nonstick pan add a little olive oil and cook the tomatoes in that.
Martin
New York
12/11/2023
Very tasty with a delicious tomato sauce. Because it made a lot of grease, I might try skinless thighs the next time.
Anonymous
Fort Wayne, IN
12/11/2023
I make this quite a bit and we enjoy it every time. When I started making it I used powdered harissa to make the paste and it was very flavorful and on the spicy side which we like. I found jarred harissa at Trader Joe's and have used that the last two times, it was good but not the same- we like it better with the added spice. I also have made this with all different cuts if chicken and never had an issue, just adjust the cooking times.
C. Epstein
Atlanta, GA
6/25/2023
Well that was a fabulous meal. I served it on a bed of rice, using a homemade harissa paste made as per the associated recipe. It had a perfect piquancy and was appreciated by my kids. The cooking times were a little extended over the guide times, but thats not unusual. I cooked it in a non cast-iron pan so will pick up a decent skillet for next time around. Nice one ;)
Justin Daley
Whitsundays, Queensland
2/28/2023
Sounds wonderful. Thanks for the tip on crisping the chicken thighs
Anonymous
British Columbia
2/14/2023
Easy recipe. Just follow the directions, like the cold skillet....Great quick dish!
G. Harvey
Long Beach, CA
10/27/2022
This was out of this world. We made it using tomatoes and a side of steamed swiss chard out of our garden.
Roscoe
Qualicum Beach, BC
10/25/2022