Southwest Buttermilk Baked Chicken
The most flavorful chicken you will ever make, baked to absolute crisp-tender, juicy perfection! 207 calories each.
So with all these Thanksgiving recipes I’ve been posting lately, I figured a little break might be a nice refresher. After all, weeknight meals are still needed in the midst of this holiday mayhem, right?
That’s where this chicken comes in. Crisp-tender chicken thighs, baked to absolute perfection.
And with just a few spices, these chicken thighs are packed with tons of flavor, baked in its own juices with that creamy buttermilk.
You’d be amazed as to how such simple ingredients can transform a chicken dish like this.
I honestly didn’t expect much out of it but boy was I wrong. Jason had to beg me for days to make it again the very next week!
Southwest Buttermilk Baked Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, combine cumin, paprika, chili powder, oregano, garlic powder and onion powder; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Season chicken thighs with spice mixture, rubbing in thoroughly on all sides.
- Melt butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and stir in buttermilk.
- Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes.
- Serve chicken immediately, garnished with cilantro, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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It was a good recipe to build off of. I marinated my meat in the buttermilk and spices for an hr and added mushroom and celery also. Turned out really nice
Could I substitute yogurt for the buttermilk in this recipe?
This was delicious! I didn’t have a big enough oven-proof frying pan, so I fried the chicken in batches and then transferred to a sheet pan to bake. I made the buttermilk sauce in the frying pan; the only change was that I added some flour to the pan drippings to thicken it up a bit before I added the buttermilk. My husband and I both loved it – another keeper! Thank you!
Excellent. Moist and very tasty. Made it exactly as suggested. Served with mashed potatoes an green salad.
TL:DR – Great seasoning & instructions for cooking crispy, tender chicken thighs. Skip the buttermilk – that part of this recipe needs to go back to Chungah’s R&D department.
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Pros: Delicious spice blend; the chicken comes out beautifully crispy and tender.
Cons: Buttermilk “sauce” separated after 8 minutes in the oven.
I began by removing as much excess fat from my thighs as possible. Once browned on all sides, I removed the thighs from the pan, let the pan cool for several (about 10) minutes, and removed all but a small amount of seasoned butter. I then slowly, constantly whisked in room temperature buttermilk until it combined nicely with the remaining seasonings. Finally, placed the thighs back into the pan and placed in the oven. At this stage, it looked fabulous.
Given the numerous mentions of “curdled buttermilk”, I decided to check on it after 8 minutes. Sure enough, the sauce had broken (solids/liquids split) and it was on it’s way to being.. unpleasant.
At this time I transferred the chicken to a fresh sheet pan and let them finish cooking. Once finished, they were as advertised – crispy skin and tender meat.
As written, the recipe does not really work and I would suggest approaching with caution and listening to the other comments. Barring the buttermilk fail, it does produce some great tasting chicken and the drippings would make a great pan sauce.
If you really want the buttermilk flavor, just brine them the night before. Otherwise, just skip that part of this recipe entirely and you’ll still have delicious chicken.
I love this recipe, but having tried it 2x now, the buttermilk cooks kind of a like a sheet of egg white (whereas I think it is supposed to make kind of a sauce?) Then, it gets to be a really unappetizing congealed mess if I try to mix it with the drippings at that point. So, I think better instructions are needed about the buttermilk. Also, I think a recoommended amount of salt (e.g. 1/2 t. of salt or to taste) would be helpful.
Other than that, really delicious spice mixture and the chicken itself tastes great.
So easy and delicious. I used boneless skinless thighs and baked for 25 mins. My husband likes most everything I cook, but he particularly said this was probably the best chicken I’ve ever made. Excellent recipe!
Amazeballz. Buttermilk makes the best chicken and this is an easy way to make it without a day of marinading the chicken in buttermilk. Spice mix was spot on with the buttermilk flavor. Made this with corn bread and butternut squash for sides which went perfectly with this chicken.
Omg so good, I marinated the chicken in the buttermilk the night before with some oil, salt and dry rosemary then followed your directions exactly I wanted to eat the whole pan.
Wow – great spice combination. I had no trouble with the buttermilk element as I just pulled the pan from the heat per directions, heated up the buttermilk a little to help me with tempering it. I added it slowly with a wire whisk. And it came out fine, I intend to use this spice combination for other projects as well. Thank you.
This was absolutely delicious! Very easy to make, and everybody in my family loved it. The flavor is fantastic, meat is juicy, I know the leftovers will be even better.
What a superb recipe. Thank you. Now I want to buy the brazier pan in your photos. What make and model is the pan? A brazier that will fit 8 chicken thighs?
This here is a Calphalon Stainless-Steel Sauté Pan. Unfortunately, I do not recall the exact size – it’s been a few years since I’ve purchased this!
Really like the recipe, just cant figure out what to do with rice is an option but is there anything else that goes well with the chicken??
My absolute favorite side dish is the garlic parmesan roasted potatoes. But please feel free to check out all of my side dish recipes here.
Delicious! My husband said we can definitely have this again.
It’s a crowd pleaser! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it!
This didn’t even last 2 minutes on my son’s plate! I parboiled some baby potatoes and set them on top of the chicken to bake with them . Paired it with collard greens. Definitely going into the favorite dinner rotation, thanks!
That sounds so yummy!
Made this with 6 Pcs chicken. Didn’t have an oven safe skillet so transferred the chicken to a pan in the oven. Poured the finished product over a bed of fettuccini. Delish
Great modification! Happy you liked it 🙂
Unfortunately, mine also curdled. I removed the pan from heat and let it sit several minutes before adding. It seems to have curdled while baking. Spices were good, but even after trying to remove the curdled buttermilk it left a grainy film on the thighs.
If I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs should I still brown both sides of the meat?
I believe it’s worth the extra effort for the depth and complexity of flavor we gain in searing but ultimately, it’s up to you!
What can you subtitute buttermilk?
You can actually create a buttermilk substitute from plain milk with lemon juice or vinegar! Here’s how:
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-a-quick-easy-buttermilk-substitute-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-185757.
Same for me. The buttermilk curdled and I did as you said and removed it from the heat before adding, I also left buttermilk at room temp before adding. I am making it again because the chicken and spices were awesome but this time am going to cook the chicken then remove it and cool down the pan and add the buttermilk to the cooled skillet and let simmer for a sauce and see if that works. I will then pour the sauce over the chicken if it works. I did use the powdered buttermilk.