Crispy Chicken Thighs with Roasted Garlic and Mushroom Pan Sauce
Posted: April 17, 2025
Updated: January 18, 2026
Instinct Level 4 – Advanced Technique: Patience and precision shine here: complex steps, longer time, sharper skills required.
Instinct Level 3 – Intermediate Balance: A little layering, some timing, and a dash of judgment — you’ve got this.
Instinct Level 5 – Expert Challenge: Multi‑stage, high‑skill cooking with nuanced judgment — a true kitchen adventure.
Instinct Level 2 – Easy with Guidance: Simple skills, short prep, clear steps — just follow along and you’re golden.
Instinct Level 1 – Beginner Friendly: You’ll breeze through this: quick, easy, no judgment calls, barely any cleanup.
This dish has always been a hit with guests – the crispy skin contrasts wonderfully with the rich, garlicky sauce full of umami. The method for creating a crispy skin is a different method than what I normally do (from Food52) and is worth trying - I was nervous about burning the skin but have not had any issues by monitoring the heat. Although this recipe has a lot of detail, don’t be scared by the number of steps (which is including preparation steps to assist with mise en place). Once the mise en place is completed, there is not much to do except keep an eye on the food and switch items in the oven until it is time to make the sauce.
servings - 1 chicken thigh and ¾ cup of sauce per serving
reset to default # of servings
Dry Brine Time: 1 to 10 hours
Hands-On Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 to 55 minutes
Total Time (excluding brine time): 1 hour and 20 minutes
Equipment
Switch to Metric
Ingredients
Item
Quantity
Mise en Place / Notes
Ingredient
amt #
unit
notes
Ingredient
amt #
unit
notes
Ingredient
amt #
unit
notes
Chicken Thighs
Item
Quantity
| bone-in skin-on chicken thighs | 4 |
dry brined |
|
| kosher salt (Morton) | 2 | teaspoons | |
| lemon pepper | 1 | teaspoon | |
| extra virgin olive oil | 2 | tablespoons |
Roasted Garlic
Item
Quantity
| garlic | 2 | heads |
roasted |
| extra virgin olive oil | 1 | tablespoon | |
| kosher salt (Morton) | 1 | teaspoon |
Roasted Mushrooms
Item
Quantity
| mushrooms (cremini, button, or mixed) | 16 | ounces |
quartered or halved |
| extra virgin olive oil | 2 | tablespoons | |
| Fab Four seasoning blend | 1 ½ | tablespoons |
Pan Sauce
Item
Quantity
| pan juices | ¼ | cup |
from cooking the chicken thighs. if there is not enough - use butter to make up the difference. |
| roasted garlic and mushrooms |
from above |
||
| all-purpose flour | ¼ | cup | |
| mushroom broth | 3 | cups |
more may be used if a thinner sauce is needed/desired. |
The Process
Morning (optional, but highly recommended)
#
stepContent
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
1.
To dry brine the chicken, remove the chicken from its packaging and place skin-side up on a paper towel-lined plate. Liberally sprinkle 2 tsp of kosher salt on the bottom of the chicken, under the skin, and on top of the skin, use more salt if needed/desired based on the size of the chicken pieces. Place in the refrigerator.
stepImagesContainer
Preparation
#
stepContent
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
2.
If dry brined in advance, remove the chicken from the refrigerator to get to temperature approximately 1 hour prior to cooking. If dry brining now, remove chicken (1 hour before) and salt according to the directions above.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
3.
Pre-heat oven to 425°F. Ensure that the oven rack is in the middle of the oven.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
4.
Rinse the mushrooms under running water, rubbing off any stubborn bits of dirt. Put the mushrooms in a salad spinner or colander to drain any excess water.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
5.
Cut the tops off the 2 heads of garlic, exposing the tops of at least most of the cloves. Place garlic on aluminum foil, sprinkle 1 Tbsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of kosher salt over the tops. Scrunch the aluminum foil to cover the garlic completely and place the foil pack in the oven. Allow the garlic to roast for ½ hour (remove early if garlic is starting to smell overly cooked).
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
6.
If using a salad spinner, spin to pull excess water off the mushrooms. Otherwise, shake off additional water in the colander. Cut the mushrooms into halves and/or quarters to obtain somewhat consistent sizes – keep in mind that the mushrooms will shrink during roasting.
stepImagesContainer
Chicken & Mushrooms
#
stepContent
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
7.
Heat a large, ovenproof skillet (nonstick, cast iron, or stainless steel are fine) on the stove top on medium heat. Once the pan is heated, add approximately 2 Tbsp of olive oil enough to cover the bottom of the pan.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
8.
Sprinkle approximately ¼ tsp of the lemon pepper on the skin side of each of the chicken thighs. Once the olive oil is shimmering in the pan, place the chicken thighs skin-side down into the pan (using tongs if necessary – don’t pierce or break the skin). If you hear sizzling when placing the chicken then the pan is hot enough. Ensure that the chicken is not touching and that the pan is not overcrowded.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
9.
Sprinkle each of the underside of the thighs with ¼ tsp of lemon pepper.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
10.
Cook the chicken, skin-side down for 5 minutes. Stay close by and ensure that the pan is not too hot and burning the skin.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
11.
Turn the heat to medium-low as needed to ensure that the skin will not burn. Allow the chicken to cook skin-side down for 15-30 minutes – adjust to a lower temperature if the chicken is starting to smell like it could be burning.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
12.
As the chicken is cooking (skin-side down), put all of the cut mushrooms into a cluster in a single layer on a baking sheet. Over the top of the mushrooms, drizzle 2 Tbsp of olive oil then sprinkle 1 tsp of each of the following: kosher salt, lemon pepper, and smoked paprika. Shake the pan to coat the mushrooms and spread throughout the pan with all of the mushrooms cut-side down. Roast the mushrooms in the oven for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
13.
Once the skin is crispy and golden brown, flip the chicken (using tongs to not pierce the skin) and place the skillet in the oven (after removing the roasted mushrooms) for approximately 15 minutes until the internal temperature of the thighs are 185-190° F.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
14.
Once removed from the oven (don’t forget that the handle is HOT), remove from the pan and place the thighs on a plate to rest (do not cover the thighs).
stepImagesContainer
Pan Sauce
#
stepContent
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
15.
After removing the chicken from the skillet, place on the stovetop and turn the burner to medium-low (again…don’t forget that skillet handle is HOT!!!). Add the mushrooms and squeeze out the roasted garlic to the chicken drippings in the pan and stir until both are warmed again (approximately 2 minutes).
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
16.
Sprinkle ¼ cup of flour over the top of the mushrooms and garlic and stir to moisten and incorporate the flour into the garlic/mushroom mixture.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
17.
Add 1 cup of mushroom broth while stirring with a spatula or a spoon and deglaze the pan (scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan). Once the liquid is somewhat incorporated, use side-to-side motions with a whisk while slowly incorporating the remaining 2 cups of broth.
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
18.
Adjust the stove top to low and allow the broth to reduce to about ½ for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally and add more broth, if desired, to thin the sauce. The sauce will be done once it is shiny and thick. Taste and add additional salt, pepper, garlic powder, or smoked paprika as desired – keep in mind that as the sauce reduces, the flavor and saltiness will become more concentrated.
stepImagesContainer
Serving
#
stepContent
stepImagesContainer
sectionHeader
19.
Serve chicken skin-side up with the sauce on the side or underneath the chicken. Serving sauce on top of the chicken is not recommended as it will cause the skin to lose some crispiness.
stepImagesContainer
Notes
Suggested Sides
Since this dish is pretty heavy and rich, I like to prepare lighter sides to go with the "hero" of the meal:
Roasted green beans – Place 1 pound of fresh green beans washed with the ends trimmed (an easy method is to stack on one end, slice and then stack on the other end and slice) on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt over the beans. Mix to incorporate the oil and spices and spread the green beans in an even layer on the baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes at 425°F until the beans are crisp tender.
Wild rice – cook according to the package directions. Instead of water, use mushroom broth and sprinkle 1 tsp of chicken stock powder over the broth once warmed. When the rice is almost completely cooked, taste and add more salt as needed.
Storage & Leftovers
Store leftover sauce and chicken (if you have any!) together by scraping remaining sauce into a container and place the chicken skin-side up on top. Refrigerate. To reheat, cook chicken on a baking sheet in the oven at 350°F until warmed through. Meanwhile, heat the sauce on the stove top, stirring and adding additional broth if needed to thin.
Substitutions & Variations
If you don’t have lemon pepper or smoked paprika – it won’t hurt the dish to replace the lemon pepper with plain black pepper. Smoked paprika can be replaced with sweet paprika (or omit the paprika altogether).
The olive oil, mushroom broth, and AP flour may be interchangeable with other oils, broths, and flours. Most neutral oils and flours will have minimal impact on the overall flavor. If using a different broth or stock – keep in mind that the salt content may vary and need to be adjusted accordingly.
Kosher salt and other salts are not interchangeable at a 1:1 ratio (this can be a tough lesson to learn). If you do not have kosher salt on hand, no worries…I typically reduce the salt content by half if using table salt and then adjust to taste. You can always add more! Just use your tastebuds as you go to see what you like.
If you forget or don’t want to roast the garlic in foil there is another way. Peel the garlic cloves and place on the baking sheet with the mushrooms when roasting. I have done this with great results; however, this method is less “klutz-proof” because the smaller cloves might burn. Just check for burned cloves before adding them to the sauce.
In almost every savory dish that I make, I normally like to add herbs and/or an acid (lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, etc.). This is one of the few recipes in which I do not find them necessary; however, I don’t think that adding thyme or rosemary to the mushrooms or the sauce would be a bad idea. If you feel like you are missing something in the sauce, a teaspoon or so of balsamic might elevate the flavor.
FAQs
Cost
4 servings
| Ingredient | Per Serving | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chicken (thighs) | $ | 2.49 | $ | 9.96 | |
| salt | 0.02 | 0.08 | |||
| lemon pepper | 0.04 | 0.14 | |||
| oil | 0.09 | 0.36 | |||
| garlic | 0.49 | 1.98 | |||
| oil | 0.04 | 0.18 | |||
| salt | 0.01 | 0.04 | |||
| mushrooms | 1.80 | 7.20 | |||
| oil | 0.09 | 0.36 | |||
| Fab Four Blend | 0.08 | 0.30 | |||
| flour (all-purpose) | 0.00 | 0.01 | |||
| broth (mushroom) | 0.49 | 1.95 | |||
| Total | $ | 5.64 | $ | 22.56 |
costDescriptionText
Nutrition Facts
serving size: 1 chicken thigh and ¾ cup of sauce
| calories | 449 |
% daily value*
| total fat | 33.2 g | 43% |
| saturated fat | 7.0 g | 35% |
| trans fat | 0.0 g | 0% |
| polyunsaturated fat | 2.0 g | 0% |
| monounsaturated fat | 5.2 g | 0% |
| cholesterol | 81.0 mg | 27% |
| sodium | 1592.2 mg | 69% |
| total carbohydrates | 18.3 g | 7% |
| dietary fiber | 2.4 g | 8% |
| sugars | 0.0 g | 0% |
| protein | 27.9 g | 56% |
micronutrients
| vitamin a | 20.3 mcg | 2% |
| vitamin c | 8.8 mg | 10% |
| calcium | 56.8 mg | 4% |
| iron | 3.3 mg | 18% |
| vitamin d | 60.8 mcg | 304% |
| magnesium | 45.6 mg | 11% |
| potassium | 743.2 mg | 16% |
| zinc | 3.5 mg | 32% |
| phosphorus | 318.4 mg | 25% |
| thiamin (b1) | 0.3 mg | 22% |
| riboflavin (b2) | 0.7 mg | 52% |
| niacin (b3) | 10.6 mg | 66% |
| vitamin b6 | 1.2 mg | 70% |
| folic acid (b9) | 47.3 mcg | 12% |
| vitamin b12 | 0.3 mcg | 14% |
| vitamin e | 3.0 mg | 20% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet; your needs may differ.
Nutrition information is estimated using USDA databases and may vary based on ingredient brands and preparation methods.
The 2,000-calorie reference is used as a general guide. Individual calorie needs typically range from 1,600-2,400 calories per day for adult women and 2,000-3,000 calories per day for adult men, depending on age, activity level, and other factors.
If this recipe is just so good that you have to share
...please use one of the links!