Easy Pan Seared Chicken Thighs (Novella’s Chicken)
Dairy free, egg free, gluten free, grain free, lactose free, nut free, peanut free, soy free, keto, low carb, paleo.
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: about 45 min
Total time: 50 min
Servings: 4
My mother Novella made me this dish a few years ago, during one of her visits to Chicago. Since then, I have prepared it for family, friends and coworkers... and it has never disappointed. This chicken is delicious and super easy to make. Before Covid, I prepared it on Sundays and brought it to the office for lunch for the following couple of days. During Covid, I started preparing it in between meetings for dinner (although it takes a bit to cook, it is really quick to prep, and you don’t have to babysit the pan too much). If there are leftovers (pretty uncommon), on the following day I chop it and add it to a salad for lunch.
This dish is also great if you are cooking dinner for friends and want to prepare something ahead of time. You can prepare it the day before, or in the morning, store it in the fridge, and heat it up in the oven at 350 F for 20 minutes (in which case you want to cover it with aluminium foil to keep it moist while it heats up). I often pair it with this cauliflower purèe with crispy shallots and mushrooms.
You can find more inspirations on pairing options by clicking on Recipes in English in the navigation bar and selecting Sides in the filter by course.
Ingredients
6 Chicken thighs, with or without skin and bone (about 18 oz of meat)
Tools you might be missing:
Non-stick frying pan
Instructions
1. Place the chicken thighs on a sheet of aluminum foil.
2. Sprinkle both sides with the meat spices.
3. Place the chicken in a non-stick frying pan, skin down (if using thighs with skin on).
4. Cook over medium heat for 4 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook for another 4 minutes. This way the outside of the chicken will begin to brown on both sides.
5. Flip the chicken so the skin is on the bottom again (it doesn’t matter if cooking with skinless thighs) and reduce the heat to low. Place a sheet of aluminum foil on the chicken (big enough to cover it all, all the way to the sides of the pan) and add a weight on top to press down on the chicken (e.g., a pot with water inside). Cook for 20 minutes.
6. Remove the weight and aluminum foil, flip the chicken, cover with aluminum foil and weight again, and cook the other side for 15 minutes.
7. When the chicken is cooked, you can either keep or remove the juice that has formed.
8. If you want to brown the chicken further on the outside, cover it again with the aluminum foil, raise the heat to medium-high and cook for 1-2 min on each side, watching it closely.
Novella’s chicken with salad and sweet potato fries
Novella’s chicken with sautéed broccoli
Nutritional Information
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database via myFitnessPal. Here we assume skinless thighs
Serving Size: 1 portion (1.5 thighs) | Calories: 310 | Total fat: 14.3 g | Total carbohydrates: 0g | Total fiber: 0g | Protein: 45.2 g | Net carbohydrates: 0 g
Storing and Reheating
This dish will last in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can heat it up in the microwave or in the oven at 350 F for 20 minutes. If you warm it up in the oven you will want to cover it with aluminium foil to keep it moist.
Substitutions
The same recipe with chicken drumsticks works great. Note that drumsticks might take longer to cook.