My Herb & Orange Roasted Chicken Thighs are an easy, sophisticated meal that gives you beautiful, savory flavor in this one gorgeous dish. The chicken thighs come out tender, moist and with a stunning crispy skin while the sweetness of the orange helps to very lightly flavor the whole meal. It is a restaurant quality eating experience at home. Save my recipe for Hern & Orange Roasted Chicken Thighs so you can always find it.
I love a dinner that feels like it took a lot of effort because it is so stunning in its flavor profile, but actually takes almost no effort at all to make. My Herb & Orange Roasted Chicken Thighs are one of those meals that is almost made completely in one pan and gives you crispy skinned chicken that still retains all of its moisture. The chicken is roasted on a bed of oranges and herbs that lightly flavors a lovely sauce in the bottom of the pan without there being an overwhelming orange flavor.
Prepping the pan
The first step in making this meal is to prep the pan. You need to use a ceramic, 9×13 baking dish that is at least 3 inches deep. In the pan, I lay two sliced oranges, then top that with fresh rosemary and a lot of fresh thyme. In the corners and around the edges of the pan I scatter fresh cloves of sliced garlic and sliced shallots. This is all going to be discarded so it is really only used to flavor but I promise you will love the flavor it creates.
Beginning the sauce
The sauce that is served at the end of the recipe for the Herb & Orange Roasted Chicken Thighs is a savory butter sauce that has a very minimal orange flavor. It is created in the pan as you are roasting the chicken and included chicken stock, white wine, champagne vinegar and fresh squeezed orange juice. This is poured into the pan at the edges and sits on the bottom throughout the cooking process.
Getting the chicken ready
You want to remove the chicken from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking this. Then make sure to pat it dry well. Patting it dry will help to give you a crispier skin. Then the chicken is laid on top of all the herbs in that pan and brushed with extra virgin olive oil. I liberally salt and pepper the chicken and the add on some dry herbs including thyme and oregano to make sure the skin has a really nice flavor. This whole pan is than placed in the oven and roasted.
Oven rack placement
Before preheating the oven you need to move your oven rack. I have an oven that has 5 rack placements. I move the rack to the second placement from the top. If you do not have 5 placements, you can move the rack to the top of the oven. Just make sure your baking dish will fit up there and check the note in the recipe below because your cooking time may be altered.
Cooking time
This recipe does take a little longer to cook than a sheet pan chicken thigh recipe because the depth of the pan does not allow the sides of the chicken to cook as fast. The total time will be about 40 to maybe 45 minutes unless you are using the very top rack. If you are, I have included instructions for that in the recipe notes below.
Making a beurre manié
A Beurre manié is a French term for a mixture of butter and flour. It is used to help thicken sauces from drippings. It included equal parts flour and butter mashed together into a kind of dough. I make this while the chicken is cooking. If your butter is too hard, you can place it in the microwave for 10 seconds and then combine everything with a fork. It will be a nice and thick mixture and really look like a soft dough when you are done. Set this aside until you need it.
Resting the chicken
When the chicken is done for the Herb and Orange Roasted Chicken Thighs recipe, you want to set it aside and lightly tent it with tin foil. Resting it will allow the juices to redistribute through the thigh giving you moist chicken and also increase the temperature to slightly.
Making the orange beurre blanc sauce
While the chicken rests, make the sauce by placing the pan liquid in a sauce pan. Discard the oranges and other ingredients that were in the baking pan. Then add in more stock, white wine, butter, the beurre manié, a little bit of fresh squeezed orange juice (from an orange not the orange juice container) and some orange slices. Once the beurre manié has been stirred in, let the whole mix simmer for 5 minutes and get the plates ready.
What do I serve with Herb & Orange Chicken Thighs?
Since the Herb & Orange Chicken Thighs recipe comes with a gorgeous sauce, I like to serve the Herb & Orange Chicken Thighs with spinach and a roasted potato. The sauce would be delicious with a mashed potato too but I do think the potatoes can absorb a little too much of that sauce. You can find my Roasted Garlic Fingerling Potatoes and my Roasted Red Potatoes {HERE}. I have a double oven so making these is simple for me while the chicken cooks but if you do not have a double oven then steamed potatoes on the stove would also be lovely.
Looking for more easy but sophisticated meals?
If you love meals that are simple to make like my Herb & Orange Chicken Thighs recipe, try these too.
- French Onion Chicken {HERE}
- Crispy Chicken Thighs with Spring Herbs {HERE}
- Parmesan Mushroom Orzo recipe with Chicken {HERE}
- Red Wine Braised Short Ribs {HERE}
- Gouda & Apple Baked Stuffed Chicken {HERE}
- Italian Stuffed Flank Steak {HERE}
- Slow Cooker Creamy French Mustard Chicken {HERE}
- Lemon Chicken Kabobs {HERE}
- Maple & Plum Skillet Pork Chops {HERE}
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Thank you so much for stopping by, friends. I hope you come back again. You can find the full instructions for my Herb & Orange Roasted Chicken Thighs recipe below. Happy eating.
Herb & Orange Roasted Chicken Thighs
Equipment
- 9x13 ceramic baking dish that is 3 inches deep
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Herb & Orange Roasted Chicken Thighs pan
- 2 naval oranges, sliced
- 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
- 10-12 fresh thyme springs This is about 1.5 oz
- 1-2 shallots, sliced in quarters
- 7 cloves garlic, sliced in half
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/8 cup champagne vinegar
- 2-3 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice Squeeze it from the orange. Do not use the orange juice drink.
- 6 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 -2 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- Zest of 1 orange
- A twist of fresh cracked pepper over each chicken thigh
Ingredients for the sauce
- 2.5 tbsp butter, softened
- 2.5 tbsp flour
- Drippings from the chicken pan
- 1/3 cup chicken stock
- 2 tbsp butter (separate from the butter above, which is for the beurre manie)
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 2-3 naval orange slices
Additional ingredients
- Orange wedges, fresh thyme and fresh parsley for garnishing
- Fresh spinach - about 1/2 cup per bowl
- Potatoes of your choice
Instructions
Instructions for making the chicken
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking, remove it from the packaging and pat it dry. This will help to create crispy skin.
- Move your oven rack from the center of the oven to the second position from the top. If you only have three oven rack options, place it on the top but make sure the baking dish will have enough room. Then preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- In the ceramic baking dish, add the sliced oranges to the bottom of the dish. Add the rosemary sprigs on top of that. Then add on the fresh thyme sprigs on top of those.
- Place the sliced cloves of garlic and shallots around the edge on the bottom of the pan. Then pour the chicken stock, white wine and champagne vinegar into the pan.
- Place the chicken in the pan on top of all the herbs with the skin side up. Then liberally brush on the extra virgin olive oil. Discard any you do not use.
- Sprinkle the coarse sea salt, oregano and thyme over each of the chicken thighs. There is a salt range because you want to liberally salt each chicken breast. The twist a fresh crack black pepper mill once over each thigh.
- Place the chicken in the oven uncovered for 40 minutes. The skin should be golden brown and crispy looking when it is done and it should be 162- 165 degrees. If it is not done give it another 5 minutes. * See note on cooking time if you only have three oven rack positions.
Instructions for making the beurre manié
- While the chicken cooks, combine the butter and the flour for the sauce. If the butter is not soft enough, place it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Then mash the flour into it until it makes a paste. This is a beurre manié and will thicken the sauce.
Instructions for making the sauce
- When the chicken is done, immediately remove the chicken from the pan and lightly cover it with foil. This will bring it up another few degrees to reach the proper temperature for chicken of 165 degrees F and allow the juices to distribute themselves after the cooking process.
- Strain out the chicken pan drippings and add them to a sauce pan over low heat. Discard everything else that cooked in the pan.
- In the sauce pan, add in the chicken stock, butter, and white wine. Stir until the butter dissolves. Then add the beurre manie mixture and stir until that dissolves. Add the orange slices and let the mix simmer for 5 minutes.
- Serve with fresh spinach and spoon the sauce over it. Add on the potatoes of your choice. Then place the chicken on top of that and garnish with parsley, additional thyme and an orange wedge.
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