One Pan Crispy Chicken with Creamy Pan Sauce

Meals that require just one pan to make, especially dinners, are just the best aren’t they? There’s minimal cleaning up, the effort to make the dish is minimal, and when done right, the flavors you can create by building flavors in that pan are amazing. Our One Pan Crispy Chicken is exactly that. This dish is so easy to make and takes very little time at all. The Chicken Skin is super-crispy, pairing perfectly with the juicy Chicken Thighs. A simple creamy sauce using the pan juices compliments the Chicken well, making for a tasty meal perfect to feed the family on a busy weeknight

How to make our One Pan Crispy Chicken

The first step in this dish is preparing the Chicken for ultimate crispiness. Chicken Thighs are a pretty easy protein to get the skin crispy and only require a minimal amount of prep before cooking. Season the Chicken Thighs well with Salt and Pepper, ensuring that the skin side gets a generous seasoning. Then, allow the Chicken to sit at room temperature for 15 – 20 minutes

What happens during this time is the Salt will begin to extract all the moisture from the skin. You’ll visibly be able to see it, with tiny droplets of moisture appearing on the surface of the skin. Pat all that dry and then re-season it with a bit more Salt

This technique removes moisture from the skin. Less moisture in Chicken skin means it’ll be crispier when cooked, so this step is important. You can prepare your remaining ingredients for the dish while the Chicken is doing its thing

Choosing the right pan for this dish

This recipe requires the entire pan to be placed into the Oven after it’s spent a bit of time on the stovetop. So, you’ll need an oven safe pan to complete this dish. If you don’t have one, you can still make the dish. You will just need to transfer the dish into a roasting pan when its time to go in the oven

A Cast Iron skillet is always a good choice for these types of recipes because of their versatility and ability to retain heat. You will want a large pan to make this recipe with enough surface space to easily hold all of the Chicken Pieces without having to stack them or overlap

Cooking the dish!

Heat a little bit of Neutral Oil in the pan on the stovetop over a medium high heat. Once hot, carefully place the Chicken skin-side down onto the pan. Press down on the Chicken to ensure all the skin gets good contact with the pan

Now we just let it sit and allow the Chicken to fry up nicely. This step will get the skin crispy and is the only direct contact to the pan the skin will have. After about 6 minutes the skin should be a golden-brown color and crispy. You can check its doneness and when crispy, flip the Chicken over, drop the heat to medium, and cook for about 2 more minutes on the flesh side

We’re not completely cooking the Chicken through at this point. The important part is getting the skin crispy and browning on the flesh side. The Chicken will be fully cooked through when it returns to the pan and goes into the oven

So, once browned and with a crispy skin, remove the Chicken and set it aside. In the same pan, add your Shallots and Butter and sauté for 5 minutes. Add some Garlic and then Chicken Stock. Bring the whole thing to a boil then add Heavy Cream. Bring this back to a boil and then drop the heat to a simmer

Returning the Chicken to the pan to complete the dish

After about 5 minutes of simmering the sauce you can return the Chicken to the pan. Ensure that the Chicken is placed in the sauce skin-side facing up. We don’t want the sauce to get on the skin so we can keep it nice and crispy

Add any residual Chicken juices from the pan into the sauce too and mix it through. Then, place the whole pan in the oven at 375 and cook for 10 – 15 minutes. This step is primarily about getting the Chicken completely cooked through. So, check the internal temperature of the Chicken after 10 minutes. Once it reaches 160F it’s done!

Remove the Pan from the oven and place it back on the stovetop. Just like Steak, Chicken needs some time to rest to allow the juices to resettle after cooking. Remove the Chicken from the pan and set it aside on a cutting board to rest. Now we can finish our pan sauce

Finishing the Pan sauce so it’s ready to serve!

The final step in our One Pan Crispy Chicken dish is finalizing the pan sauce. It’s already going to be packed full of flavor, but to concentrate the flavors even more we put it back over the stovetop for about 5 minutes. To the sauce we add Dijon Mustard, which is a classic finishing ingredient for pan sauces such as this one

Once your Sauce is a smooth and velvety consistency it’s ready to serve. I recommend tasting the Sauce at this stage and adjusting any seasoning you may need. There will already be a load of salt in the sauce from the Chicken, but it may need a touch more

To finish the dish, remove it from the heat and add a squeeze of Lemon Juice and some freshly chopped up Herbs. You can use Parsley, Thyme, Tarragon, or Sage. Basically, we’re brightening up the richness of the dish by adding Lemon and Herbs. Give it one final taste and it’s ready to be served!

What to pair as a side dish with your One Pan Crispy Chicken dish

While it’s not necessary to whip up a side dish for this dish, it does help fill out a more rounded meal. Especially if you’re cooking this recipe for a family dinner There’s loads of great sides to prepare for this dish. What you want is a side dish that’s going to compliment that wonderful Creamy Sauce, and soak it all up

Naturally, I think Mashed Potatoes are a great pairing for this dish. However, I’m also the kind of person that will pair Mashed Potatoes with just about anything! I’d even suggest pairing a side of Mashed Potatoes for a bowl of Mashed Potatoes is a great idea! Seriously though, we’ve got a ridiculously decadent Mashed Potato recipe here which will work well with our One Pan Crispy Chicken

Just think of some other starchy or bready sides for this dish and you can’t go wrong. Some thick-cut toasted Sourdough bread is going to taste awesome with this dish. So will Roast Potatoes, or any other kind of Potato preparation for that matter

You can even get some Veggies going to make this a more balanced, healthy dinner. Some lightly steamed Broccolini or Roast Broccoli will taste great! Just add a squeeze of Lemon Juice to it at the end right before serving. You can check out our delicious Side Dishes here and check out our full range of recipes

One Pan Crispy Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. Chicken Thighs (skin on)
• 1 large Shallot, finely diced
• 25g Unsalted Butter
• 3 Garlic Cloves, finely diced
• 1 ½ cups of Chicken Stock
• ½ cup Heavy Cream
• 2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
• Juice of ½ a Lemon
• ½ cup Freshly Chopped Herbs (eg: Sage, Tarragon, or Parsley)
• Salt and Pepper
  
  

Instructions

1. Season the Chicken Thighs well with Salt and Pepper and allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Pat the excess moisture from the skin and re-season with a little more Salt
2. Heat a little Vegetable Oil in a large oven safe pan over medium high heat. Once hot, carefully place the Chicken Pieces onto the pan, skin-side down
3. Fry the Chicken for about 6 minutes until the skin is golden-brown and crispy. Just check the skin for doneness and crispiness (you can scrape it with a knife to see if its crispy). Once crispy, flip over and drop the heat to medium
4. Fry the Chicken for 2 minutes to sear the flesh-side then remove it from the pan. In the same pan, add Shallots (or Onions), and cook for 5 minutes, scraping up any pieces of Chicken stuck to the pan
5. Add Garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant, then add Chicken Stock and bring to a boil, stirring. Add the Heavy Cream and bring the sauce to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes while stirring
6. Return the Chicken to the pan (skin side facing up) and then place the pan in the oven that’s been preheated to 375F and bake for 10 – 15 minutes until the internal temperature of the Chicken reaches 160F
7. Remove the pan from the oven and set the Chicken aside to rest. Place the pan back on the stovetop over medium heat. Stir in Dijon Mustard and simmer for 5 minutes to thicken
8. Taste the sauce for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Remove pan from heat and finish with Lemon Juice and Chopped Herbs before serving
   
   

Recipe Notes

• You can replace the Shallots with ½ a Brown Onion
• The roasting time of the Chicken will vary based on its size. Frequently check the internal temperature of the Chicken for doneness
  
  

Using pan juices to make a beautiful sauce is a classic cooking technique, and this One Pan Crispy Chicken with a Creamy Pan Sauce is a great showcasing of this. Making this dish is a load of fun and we’re sure you will love it

For more simple recipes you can make using just one pot, check out these favorites of ours:

• Filet Steak with Bordelaise Sauce
• Cast Iron Tarragon Chicken
• Deep Pan Pepperoni Pizza
• The Perfect Porterhouse Steak
  
  

Happy Cooking!