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chicken thighs potatoes garlic onions and lemon in a cast iron skillet
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Cast Iron Chicken Thighs and Potatoes

This cast iron chicken thighs recipe isn't your typical boring old chicken dish! Roasted garlic, sweet onions, fresh lemon, and baby potatoes cook in rendered chicken fat in your cast iron skillet, giving this easy chicken thighs recipe LOADS of flavor!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Additional Time10 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Cast Iron Recipes
Keyword: cast iron chicken and potatoes, cast iron chicken thighs, cast iron skillet chicken and potatoes, chicken thighs with potatoes and onions
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 717kcal
Author: The Charcoal King

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion quartered
  • 1 lemon cut in 1/4 wedges.
  • 1 package 24oz baby potatoes
  • 2 whole heads of garlic cut 1/4 down from top
  • 6 chicken thighs fat trimmed
  • 1 stick rosemary
  • 2 to 3 sticks of thyme
  • 1/2 stick of butter
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Greek All Purpose seasoning to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Preheat cast iron skillet or other oven-safe pan on medium heat.
  • Trim excess skin from bottom side of chicken thighs and add to the cast iron skillet. Cook the skin until the fat is rendered out and the skin is crispy. (The goal is to cook the onions, garlic, and potatoes in this rendered chicken fat.) . Once the skin is crispy, remove it from the skillet and discard.
  • While the fat is rendering out of the excess skin, prep all remaining ingredients: Remove outer skin of a medium onion and quarter it. Wash and cut potatoes in half. Cut both heads of garlic about a 1/4 down from the top, leaving the rest of the head in tact. Cut 1/2 of a lemon into two wedges.
  • Season chicken thighs evenly with greek seasoning, salt, and pepper, and place them in the preheated skillet skin side down.
  • Brown chicken thighs until the top skin side is a nice medium brown color. Then remove from the skillet and set aside. The chicken will only be browned at this point, not fully cooked.
  • Add the 2 heads of garlic and quarters of onion cut sides down to the skillet.
  • Allow the onions and garlic to brown in the rendered chicken fat for about 3-5 minutes. Then, remove the garlic from the skillet and set aside to prevent it from burning. Flip the onions and continue to cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.
  • Remove onions from the skillet and set aside.
  • Add the potatoes to the skillet, and cook for about 5 minutes. Season potatoes with salt and pepper.
  • Add 1/2 stick of butter to the skillet with the potatoes and cook an additional 1-2 minutes.
  • Add the garlic heads, onion, lemon wedges, thyme, rosemary, and browned chicken thighs back to the skillet. Place the chicken thighs on top of the other ingredients in the skillet so that they brown nicely in the oven.
  • Transfer the cast iron skillet to the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees, or until the chicken reaches 160-165 degrees.
  • Turn your oven to broil mode, and broil for about 3-5 minutes, making the chicken skin crispy.
  • Carefully remove the skillet from then oven, and transfer chicken thighs to a clean plate to allow them to rest before serving.
  • Put the skillet back under the broiler for another 3 to 5 minutes to lightly brown the vegetables and tighten up the sauce.
  • Remove the skillet from the oven, and allow to cool before serving. Remember those potatoes and onions are extremely hot.
  • Lastly squeeze the heads of garlic to release the roasted heads out and smash them in the skillet pan sauce. Squeeze the lemon and toss or mix the potatoes in the roasted garlic and lemon sauce.

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