Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
Olive oil, lemon juice/zest, garlic, Dijon, oregano, thyme. THE BEST marinade ever. Made on the grill or stovetop. SO SO GOOD.
I have never ever been so excited to eat grilled chicken.
Like really, really, really, really excited where it’s all I can think about, day or night.
Where all I want is a plate full of these perfectly juicy, garlicky, lemon chicken thighs with a side of roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli.
Well, who am I kidding? I would prefer this with some crispy french fries sans sweet potato and broccoli but hey, it’s wedding season.
No, but really, these thighs are out of this world. And with a simple marinade, you’ll also be thinking about this constantly.
Plus, with the warmer weather, you can throw these bad boys on the grill with some lemon halves for extra charred lemon juice for serving. It’s so so good.
Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine chicken stock, lemon juice, olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, Dijon, oregano, thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken and chicken stock mixture; marinate for at least 2 hours to overnight, turning the bag occasionally. Drain the chicken from the marinade.
- Heat canola oil in a cast iron grill pan over medium-high heat.* Working in batches, add chicken to the grill pan in a single layer and cook until golden brown and cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 4-5 minutes per side.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
This marinade sounds amazing. I wonder what it would be like to use this for kebabs? Marinate the chicken, they skewer the cubed chicken with veggies and some lemon wedges on the grill?
Love this recipe, have made this many times I prefer to use ground herbs and fresh Italian parsley. Love it so much!
This is amazing and actually how I first found your website! Since then I have been diving into your other recipes. this by far is a great staple!
I never leave reviews but had to for this one. Outstanding. We have been making these like once a week for the past couple months – over kale salad, with parmesan crusted squash, on a toasted bun…marinate overnight for the best flavor and now that the weather is turning I pan sear them and finish them in the oven. My favorite way to eat chicken – thank you!!
Hi, curious as to what temp and how long you cook them in the oven? I feel like this is usually the best way to get juicy chicken.
Thank you!
Hello. Did anyone ever figure out how long to cook these in the oven and at what temp?
I would suggest 200 for 20-25 mins depending on ten size of the chicken thighs used
I’d like to bake this in the oven but i dont see how 200C for 25 minutes is going to cook it properly- did you mean 425C?
I would suggest 400-425. 20-30 mins. I never rely on just a time, always watch your chicken so that it doesn’t dry out.
Simple & Delicious We all loved this great recipe! I marinated for 4 hours and used stovetop grill, it was great!
Absolutely delicious–and so easy to prepare! The marinade makes a great sauce with the addition of more chicken broth and white wine. Just be sure to bring it to a boil and cook at a high temp for at least 5 minutes. Add a bit of cream at the end. I’m saving the two leftover pieces for a picnic next week! Thank you for a great recipe.
Easy and delicious as-is with no modifications. Thanks!
Sounds good but where is nutritional values? Planning on making it tomorrow night
Fantastic recipe!! I suggest using the marinade to make a sauce. Add a little heavy whipping break cook it down a bit and then you have a nice sauce for extra flavoring or gravy over mashed potatoes. Overall, great flavors and it has become a family favorite!
In lieu of using cream – try using fat free yogurt.
OMG its a delicious looking i really hope its taste also fantastic
Didn’t have any chicken stock but the chicken thighs still came out juicy and delicious. Thanks for such a tasty and easy recipe!
Both adults and 1.5 out of 3 kids liked this, which is a record in our family for chicken. 🙂 Thank you!!
It was great! I am always looking for new chicken recipes and this one hit the mark big time!
I’m not a huge dijon fan, so I left it out. This marinade was amazing! I loved it!
Amazingly delicious and easy to make. Used the marinade to make a sauce as earlier suggested, but added additional lemon juice. Will be making this again. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this recipe!! My mom used to make a delicious lemon garlic chicken when we were kids (I used to ask for it on my birthday) but the recipe got lost and I’ve never been able to re-create the same flavours until now…so Thank you! You’ve made a kid at heart very happy!
Of note: I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and found that they stayed very moist and were super flavourful even with just the 2 hour marinade. So tasty!!
I didn’t have chicken stock on hand, but used the rest of the recipe. Cooked the chicken thighs in the air fryer at 350 degrees Celcius for 8 minutes – they were amazing!
I pan-fried these in a teflon fry pan after marinating about 3 hours, and they were delicious. Instead of discarding the awesome marinade, I combined it with 2 Tbsp corn starch and about 3/4 cups water and boiled it to make a sauce that I poured over the thighs before serving. The recipe doesn’t say how many lemons. I would plan on 3 or 4 if you want some to garnish your platter, but you could get away with 1 or 2 if you’re just making the marinade.
I would’ve grilled these outside but the temps here have been around 105-110° this weekend so I had no choice but to cook indoor in a grill pan, though not cast iron.
The marinade is definitely tasty and I wish I had read the other comments about boiling the leftover marinade to use as a drizzle. I also had trouble getting the thighs to fry evenly and in under 10 mins.
Next time I will probably pound them to equal thickness or cut slits in the thicker parts. I also read where someone used breasts, so I’ll try that as well when I don’t have any thighs. Thank you!
How long did you pan fry these chicken thighs to make sure they were cooked through? Was it on low flame?
I marinated overnite. I could’ve screamed! The meat is sooo tender and refreshing. The herbs and lemon……OOOOHHHH MY !!!
It needs a teaspoon of sugar in the marinade. Makes all the difference.