Oven Baked Creamy Chicken Thighs
Crispy Baked Chicken thighs in a creamy parmesan sauce can be made in the oven from start to finish. Perfectly seasoned chicken thighs are juicy with crispy skin and with plenty of sauce to serve over mashed potatoes or toss some pasta.
Look no further, this is going to be your favorite oven-baked Chicken Thigh recipe from here on. Perfectly seasoned chicken thighs, crispy skin, and a rich creamy sauce. Isn’t this what a perfect dinner is made up of? There is enough sauce to serve it over pasta, rice, or creamy mashed potatoes.
This is a one-pan recipe and completely hands-off. Start to finish happens right in the baking dish. Bone-in, with skin chicken thighs, are first seasoned with a basic spice mixture, then baked until nice and crispy. The flavourful cream sauce has the juice from the baked chicken, heavy whipping cream, and parmesan cheese.
What ingredients do you need?
I do not go with fancy ingredients. Most of the time my recipes call for easily available pantry ingredients. This is no different. This is also a very versatile recipe when it comes to seasoning, so don’t panic if you don’t have an ingredient or two.
- Chicken Thighs– Bone-in and with Skin. Boneless Chicken thighs would work but the cooking time will vary. And no one wants to miss the Crispy Chicken skin, so please, try to use thighs with skin.
- Seasoning– Dried herbs like Thyme, Oregano, Basil, and Parsley will work here. I have used thyme, rosemary, and parsley. You can also use mixed herbs or poultry seasoning instead.
- Paprika, pepper, and salt– Paprika is optional, I like to use it for color and also for a smoky flavor. Season the thighs well with salt and pepper.
- Chicken Stock
- Dijon Mustard
- Heavy Cream and Parmesan: for a creamy rich sauce.
- Flour – to thicken the sauce. It also prevents the sauce from splitting.
Steps to make
Self-saucing baked chicken thighs is one of those effortless dinner recipes, that you will keep coming back to. Chicken thighs are baked slowly along with the sauce, keeping the chicken super moist and tender.
- The recipe begins with seasoning the chicken thighs with a simple spice mix made up of dried herbs, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Season chicken thighs on both sides.
- Place the seasoned chicken thighs along with some chicken stock and bake covered. It ensures the thighs are cooked and moist. All the pan juices from the chicken in the baking dish will be the base of the sauce.
- Making the parmesan cream sauce – Mix flour and heavy cream well before adding to the pan juice in the casserole. Avoid adding flour directly to the hot pan juices, as the flour will turn into small lumps and the sauce will no longer be smooth.
- Bake again uncovered until the chicken thighs are nicely brown and the sauce is creamy and thick.
The Most Important Question, How long to bake the Chicken Thighs?
Thigh meat is very forgiving to cook. Unlike Chicken Breast, it doesn’t dry out if you cook it a little longer. It stays perfectly juicy and tender. Here are a few tips for perfectly baked Chicken thighs.
- Size matters – Make sure the chicken thighs are more or less of similar size for even cooking time.
- Bring thighs to room temperature before baking, for it to cook evenly.
- For crispy skin – Pat them dry with a kitchen towel to soak as much moisture as possible. Moisture prevents the skin from crisping.
- How long and at what temperature to bake the chicken thighs? It takes around 40-45 minutes to cook with crispy skin for the thighs. The internal temperature should reach 165 degrees on a kitchen thermometer.
Baked Creamy Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 6-7 Chicken thighs bone-in and with skin
- ⅓ cup Chicken stock
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
- 1 tablespoon Flour
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese
- 1.5 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
For seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper (adjust per taste)
- 1 teaspoon salt (adjust per taste)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees Celcius)
- Pat dry chicken thighs with a kitchen towel.
- In a bowl add all the ingredients mentioned under seasoning. Sprinkle chicken thighs on both sides with the seasoning.
- In a 9X13 baking dish, pour in the stock. Arrange the seasoned chicken thighs in a single layer.
- Loosely cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and carefully remove the foil(mind the steam). Bast chicken thighs with the pan juice. (spoon some of the pan juices on the chicken). Remove chicken thighs from the baking pan to a plate.
- Whisk together flour and heavy cream until smooth and no dry flour patch in there. Add it to the baking dish along with dijon mustard and grated parmesan. Mix well. ( The sauce will look thin but it will thicken up once done).
- Place chicken thighs back into the baking dish. Bake uncovered for another 25-30 minutes or until the chicken thighs are cooked through.
- Before serving give the sauce a good stir. Serve with mashed potatoes or pasta.
Video
Notes
- Make sure you use full-fat heavy whipping cream for a creamy sauce. . Low fat cream might curdle when heated.
- Avoid adding flour directly to the hot pan juice in the baking dish. The flour might form lumps and you will not get a smooth cream sauce.
Nutrition
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Can I use buttermilk instead of heavy cream?
buttermilk is lower in fat so the overall taste and consistency will differ.
This chicken is fabulous. But don’t understand how there is over 60 gram of fat and 25 grams of saturated fat per serving
I wanted to love this, but it was so watery even though I followed the directions exactly.
This recipe is so good! I was reluctant to making it, because I normally do not buy chicken thighs. So glad I decided to give it a try.
Can I use ricotta instead of cream
Hi Jane, I have not tried it. I am not sure if ricotta will give the creamy consistency like cream does even if it is warmed. Please do let us know how it comes up.
I love this recipe as a base!
I never have chicken broth (so I use water) and I don’t want to put mustard in.. cuz I’m annoying…
I go for a lower fat option with 5% cream. I add fresh garlic to the cream with spinach, cherry tomatoes, and red peppers, this is a go-to for my family!
Thanks Subha! This is a Staple in my house because of your bomb recipe.
(Hope you don’t feel disrespected cuz I changed it
Absolutely not. When it comes to a recipe, one should always modify it as per his/her own taste, preference and availability of ingredients.I do that all the time. I am glad that even after these changes, it came out great and everyone liked it. If you don’t mind, can you please rate the recipe?
Is the sauce suppose to be thick or watery?
It should be a bit thick, more like creamy consistency. Not watery definitely.
I was very disappointed because the sauce completely curdled after I added the heavy cream, parmesan and dijon. And the skin was not even a little bit crispy. I followed the recipe exactly so I don’t know what happened.
As long as it is heavy cream, It should work. Heavy cream has at least 35-36% fat content. It may have curdled because of low fat content.
May I use fat free chicken broth in this recipe?
I had the thin-ish sauce issue too. So what I did was take the chicken out after the 2nd bake. Then poured the remaining sauce into a bowl, added in a little corn starch and and used an immersion blender to even out the sauce. Worked well and gave me a chance to tweak the seasoning just a bit for our family’s taste
I followed the recipe for the sauce exactly and served it with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. I did marinate my chicken in the spices for about 3 hours before making the dish. It was very rich and decadent for a one pan dish. We absolutely loved it. Thank you for sharing it with us
Glad you loved it 🙂
I used this as a guide really…love the baking idea. I used boneless, skinless thighs (added a few other spices), cooked in the broth (increased to 1c) for 10 min, removed thighs, whisked in cream (increased amt slightly), added fresh spinach (about 1.5c & diced tomato 1 med roma & cooked THAT for ~8 min in oven, then added thighs back in and cooked/heated back up for another 10-12 min. The spinach/tomatoes surely made it pretty, but the taste based on your spicing & sauce, fantastic! Thank you 🙂
Thank you for sharing your variation and the feedback. Happy you love this 🙂
I didn’t have Dijon mustard or chicken broth handy so I used water instead and skipped the mustard. I added a few things like a few garlic pieces, added almost a package of mushrooms, some peppers, half a onion, 3 potatoes, and at the end some spinach. I served it with garlic bread. Very good!!! Will make again.
trying tonight with skinless/boneless…will cut cooking time just a bit. Will serve over pasta & side of broiled asparagus, I think.
So how did it turn out using chicken breast?
My family, especially the chicken lovers, absolutely adored this dish! I added about 4 cloves of garlic, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I initially wasn’t sure about the amount of chicken broth, but the sauce came together very nicely. It’s a lot of sauce – plan to serve with rice or cauliflower rice for the low-carb folks. There is nothing I love more than to throw stuff into a pan and bake it for a great gourmet meal, so this was a win-win all around!
What type of Parmesan cheese do you use , grated or shredded
grated parmesan.
Is it ok to broil the chicken to get a crispy top? Also how would I do this on the stove top? I suck at baking?
You can do on the stove top. Towards the end broil it for 2-3 minutes to get crispy skin
Can I use regular mustard?
Yes, you may use regular mustard. Dijon has a complex flavor and stronger taste. The flavor of the sauce will change but not by much. Go with a 1:1 ratio of dijon to regular mustard.
Simple to make and spices can be adjusted to suit your own taste preferences. It came together quickly. Sauce looks rich and delicious!!!
Thank you for trying. It is one of our favourites too.
Great recipe. My family loved it. I cooked with chicken and pork chops. Yummy.
Very easy to follow recipe. I followed instructions as is, and put it over noodles since we were out of rice. The sauce was delicious! my husband said it was the best chicken I had made in awhile! Lol needless to say, will be adding this to the rotation. Thank you so much for sharing!
I used butter and milk because I had no heavy cream. I also used white cheddar cheese because I had no parmesan. Yummmm. We ate it over white rice.
I used evaporated milk and it curdled.
Evaporated milk, unlike heavy cream, has a low percentage of fat. So it would have curdled.
I made it with 18% cream and it still curdled.
I don’t want to use cream in this recipe. How about coconut milk?
Have you tried a dairy-free option? What would be your suggestions?
Coconut milk and chicken should work in this recipe. But I haven’t tried it by myself.
Delicious. Served ours over pasta. The only issue is that the recipe doesn’t say when or where to add the chicken broth. I added it when I added the cream, mustard and cheese. Should it be added in the beginning instead?
Thank you for trying. It is mentioned in the recipe that the stock needs to be added in the beginning.