these lemon-y chicken thighs are fried until perfectly brown, resulting in the most crispy skin and the most delicious flavour. serve with an easy homemade greek salad.
I’ve been working at making more lunch or dinner appropriate recipes for the site, so lo and behold, a full-ass meal!! Please insert shock-face emojis!!
I promise I’ll be sharing more salad recipes in the near future too, but I decided it’s about time to do what a hypothetical-full-meal looks like for me. Often times, it relies on both these things: chicken and salad. Sometimes there will be a thing thrown in, like plantains (baked or fried) or sweet potatoes or cauliflower. Nonetheless you can guarantee my meal is always accompanied by some sort of salad. And I can’t lie, I do love my chicken. It’s easy too, which I also love. Cause less work and cook time = better.
So on that note, I actually find pan-frying chicken thighs among the fastest way and also, among the most delicious ways, to cook your chicken thighs. It doesn’t work for every type of chicken (i.e. chicken legs or drumsticks tend to be a bit finicky when it comes to pan-frying), but of course breasts and chicken thighs are easy, mostly-flat cuts that fry perfectly. Extra points if you keep the skin on and eat the skin (!!) For this recipe, I definitely recommend skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs for the best flavour.
Also, this is a recipe you can slightly prep ahead and thus make your life easier day-of. Definitely prepare your chicken the night prior and allow it to marinade, the longer the better! As far as the greek salad goes, I recommend preparing that the day-of, either right before you fry your chicken or as your frying it up, depending on your ability to multi-task.
Of course, you can definitely serve this with another salad or side entirely. These chicken thighs would be delightful with a side of asparagus or green beans or broccoli (something greeeen, I don’t know why!). Also, serving these on a bed of cauliflower rice, while keeping some dripping from the pan to drizzle across said makeshift-rice, would be amazing as well!
Find the full recipe and instructions below. Follow me on IG for my daily grain free shares @grainfreee! Please leave a comment or review below if you try this recipe, I’d love to hear from you!
A few more recipes if you’re looking for some dinner things:
- PARMESAN & SUN-DRIED TOMATO-CRUSTED CHICKEN THIGHS
- FIGGY PAN-FRIED CHICKEN & PROSCIUTTO WITH PARMESAN-AVOCADO SALAD
- SLOW COOKED & TENDER FLANK STEAK
- SWEET POTATO PARMESAN CRISPS WITH GARLIC BUTTER
lemon garlic butter pan-fried chicken thighs with greek salad: ingredients
lemon garlic butter marinade
- 5-6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (and extra for frying)
- 1/2 tsp salt
dry rub
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- dash black pepper
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp oregano
greek salad
- 2-3 cups romaine lettuce
- 1 cup chopped tomato
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 1/2 cup chopped cucumber
- 1/2-3/4 cup feta
- 1/2 lemon, squeezed for juice
- oregano, basil, salt and pepper to taste
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
lemon garlic butter pan-fried chicken thighs with greek salad: how to
chicken thighs
- start by preparing your marinade. mix the lemon juice, melted butter, parmesan, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and salt together in a medium-sized bowl.
- proceed to mix your spices together for the dry rub in a small bowl.
- prepare your chicken by patting them with dry paper towel, and then rub the spice mix on the top and bottom. place the chicken in a tupperware container to marinade, or else in a large ziploc bag.
- add the lemon garlic butter marinade to the chicken, covering it. cover and return to the fridge. allow to marinate for 3 hours at minimum, 24 hours is if you have the time!
- once you’re ready to cook the chicken, remove from the fridge and set aside.
- prepare your salad while your chicken comes to room temperature.
greek salad
- to prepare your salad, grab a large salad bowl, and throw in your chopped lettuce to start. add your other veggies, and end with the chopped feta.
- squeeze the 1/2 lemon across the salad. sprinkle with basil, oregano, salt and pepper – I’ll mix 1/2 tsp or so of each together in a shallow dish and sprinkle as much as I like.
- finally, drizzle extra virgin olive oil across the salad. at least 1-2 tbsp.
- cover your salad and set aside in fridge while you fry up your chicken.
fry the chicken thighs
- in a large skillet, heat up 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat.
- once pan is hot, place your chicken thighs, skin-side down, in the pan and ensure you scrape out any of the excess marinade from the tupperware, throwing it in the pan.
- allow the thighs to cook for ten minutes without flipping or moving.
- flip the thighs, they should have developed a brown skin on top.
- allow the thighs to cook for another 15 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through and thoroughly crispy on both sides. feel free to keep these warm in the oven on low (300 or so) until you are ready to serve them as well. alternatively, you can roast these chicken thighs in the oven entirely, spreading them across a parchment paper-lined baking tray and roasting at 375 for 50 mins – an hour.
- serve with greek salad.
lemon garlic butter pan-fried chicken thighs with greek salad
Ingredients
lemon garlic butter marinade
- 5-6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and extra for frying
- 1/2 tsp salt
dry rub
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- dash black pepper
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp oregano
greek salad
- 2-3 cups romaine lettuce
- 1 cup chopped tomato
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 1/2 cup chopped cucumber
- 1/2-3/4 cup feta
- 1/2 lemon, squeezed for juice
- oregano, basil, salt and pepper to taste
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
Instructions
chicken thighs
- start by preparing your marinade. mix the lemon juice, melted butter, parmesan, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and salt together in a medium-sized bowl.
- proceed to mix your spices together for the dry rub in a small bowl.
- prepare your chicken by patting them with dry paper towel, and then rub the spice mix on the top and bottom. place the chicken in a tupperware container to marinade, or else in a large ziploc bag.
- add the lemon garlic butter marinade to the chicken, covering it. cover and return to the fridge. allow to marinate for 3 hours at minimum, 24 hours is if you have the time!
- once you're ready to cook the chicken, remove from the fridge and set aside.
- prepare your salad while your chicken comes to room temperature.
greek salad
- to prepare your salad, grab a large salad bowl, and throw in your chopped lettuce to start. add your other veggies, and end with the chopped feta.
- squeeze the 1/2 lemon across the salad. sprinkle with basil, oregano, salt and pepper – I'll mix 1/2 tsp or so of each together in a shallow dish and sprinkle as much as I like.
- finally, drizzle extra virgin olive oil across the salad. at least 1-2 tbsp.
- cover your salad and set aside in fridge while you fry up your chicken.
fry the chicken thighs
- in a large skillet, heat up 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat.
- once pan is hot, place your chicken thighs, skin-side down, in the pan and ensure you scrape out any of the excess marinade from the tupperware, throwing it in the pan.
- allow the thighs to cook for ten minutes without flipping or moving.
- flip the thighs, they should have developed a brown skin on top.
- allow the thighs to cook for another 15 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through and thoroughly crispy on both sides. feel free to keep these warm in the oven on low (300 or so) until you are ready to serve them as well. alternatively, you can roast these chicken thighs in the oven entirely, spreading them across a parchment paper-lined baking tray and roasting at 375 for 50 mins – an hour.
- serve with greek salad.