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One-Skillet Roasted Sesame Chicken Thighs

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Photo by Alex Lau

Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are the dinner gods’ gift to home cooks everywhere. Each one is its own perfect portion of crispy skin and juicy meat that’s pretty impossible to overcook. Just make sure you cook them thoroughly on the skin side first to render out as much of the fat as possible and ensure maximum crispiness.

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What you’ll need

Ingredients

4 servings

6

skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (about 2 pounds total)

Kosher salt

2

tablespoons sesame oil, preferably toasted, divided

1

pound medium carrots, scrubbed

2

tablespoons soy sauce

2

tablespoons Sriracha

2

tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar

1

tablespoon honey

1

1-inch piece ginger

3

scallions

Toasted sesame seeds (for serving)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 425°. Heat a large dry skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-low.

    Step 2

    Pat 6 chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season all over with salt. Rub only skin side of thighs with 1 Tbsp. oil.

    Step 3

    Transfer thighs skin side down to skillet and cook until enough fat is rendered to cover bottom of skillet, about 5 minutes. Once skin starts to brown, increase heat to medium. Rotate skillet to encourage even browning. Carefully lift up thighs to allow hot fat to run underneath. If thighs are stubborn and don’t want to release, let them go a bit longer.

    Step 4

    While thighs are cooking, cut 1 lb. carrots into 4" segments.

    Step 5

    Cook thighs until meat is opaque all around the edges and skin is deep golden brown, 10–12 minutes total. Transfer skin side up to a plate.

    Step 6

    Pour off all but about 2 Tbsp. fat from skillet (you just want enough left to form a thin layer) and heat over medium-high. Add carrots and try to arrange so all are side by side in a single layer in direct contact with skillet. Cook, undisturbed, until lightly charred on first side, about 5 minutes. Turn carrots so charred side is facing up, then season lightly with salt.

    Step 7

    Cook carrots on opposite side until lightly charred, about 2 minutes. Turn off stove and transfer skillet to oven. Roast until a toothpick, skewer, or cake tester easily pierces surface of carrot but encounters resistance in the center, 8–10 minutes.

    Step 8

    While carrots are roasting, stir 2 Tbsp. soy sauce, 2 Tbsp. Sriracha, 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. honey, and remaining 1 Tbsp. oil in a small bowl. Scrape peel off of ginger root with a spoon; discard peel. Grate ginger into bowl with microplane, then stir to combine.

    Step 9

    Carefully remove skillet from oven (the handle will be hot!) and place on stove. Arrange thighs over carrots and drizzle sauce over. Return to oven and roast until chicken thighs are cooked through (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part near the bone will register 165°), juices run clear, sauce is caramelized on chicken skin, and carrots are tender all the way through, 12–18 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes.

    Step 10

    While skillet is resting, thinly slice 3 scallions.

    Step 11

    Transfer chicken and carrots to a platter and drizzle pan juices over. Top with scallions and sesame seeds.

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Reviews (144)

Back to TopTriangle
  • Everyone said it was spicy and then I wasn't! Next time I would double the sauce!

    • LKK

    • LA,CA

    • 3/20/2024

  • Absolutely love this recipe. Easy and delicious, especially the carrots. HOWEVER why does a site I pay for make it so difficult to find recipes?! There's no way to save recipes, there's no way to look at recently viewed recipes. And if I type in "sesame chicken" in their search box, this recipe doesn't come up. It's truly enraging.

    • Barb M

    • NY

    • 2/13/2024

  • Made this tonight for a dinner for two. I used what I had on hand since I was mostly looking for a technique to cook the thighs that would be tasty--it was! Things I substituted: - parsnips for carrots - a blend of hot sauces, but half gochujang (for the sugar content*) for Sriracha - Low Sodium soy sauce for soy sauce Juicy**, crispy skin, sauce was good (though modified). It hit all the notes. I rendered off a fair amount of chicken fat (mmm schmaltz), which really set off the parsnips, arguably the star of the dish. Paired well with a bit of rice, steamed sweet potatoes (which made up for not having sweet roasted carrots), and green beans. *be careful about the sugar/honey. I didn't add the whole amount, esp. after adding gochujang, because I was worried about burning the sauce, as a comment below warns is possible. **I will add that I temped the chicken after 12 minutes in the oven and my thickest thigh was well over 165. Thank goodness there was enough fat; thighs can really take a beating before they dry out.

    • M. Song

    • Uptown, NYC

    • 1/24/2023

  • An amazing meal! One of my favs from Bon Appetit (and I've made a lot of their recipes). I only do about 3/4 of the amount of sriracha called for because it is SPICY with the full tablespoon. Still delish, but something to keep in mind if you don't like heat. I also double the sauce if I'm serving with potatoes, rice, or other starches. Cook this recipe!!

    • Joanie

    • boston, ma

    • 10/18/2022

  • I make this at least once a month Add different veggies too Cut down on the sriracha by adding in some ketchup….yes ketchup…my family cant handle too much heat This is a very versatile dish

    • Momdocindc

    • DC

    • 4/18/2022

  • nice recipe. 2 tablespoons of siracho was flavorful but not hot at all. challenge was keeping the skin from sticking to the frying pan.

    • Anonymous

    • indaianpolis

    • 1/29/2022

  • This dish has become a staple in our house. Perfectly delicious every time, quick and one pot, great for a week night dinner.

    • Jessica C.

    • NC

    • 1/18/2022

  • This is one of our standby recipes. We save a bit of time by using baby cut carrots and not roasting them separately from the thighs. Also we add a bit of orange zest for added flavor.

    • JLB

    • Washington, DC

    • 1/7/2022

  • I followed this recipe exactly but when it was done and I took it out of the oven, the sauce had burned, the carrots too. It’s been my experience that sweet/ spicy sauces burn quickly. I don’t know if we can cook the chicken without the sauce first and add sauce 5 minutes before it’s done. Has anyone tried that?

    • Nahid

    • Los Angeles

    • 12/2/2021

  • Would be nice of offer more PRINTING options, like fitting to one page, deleting nutrition info, etc.

    • LarrytheComputerGuy

    • Orlando, FL

    • 9/1/2021

  • The review below is mine. I’m dumb and reviewed the wrong recipe. While I’m sure this is delicious my review was for the Panko-Crusted Roast Chicken Thighs with Mustard and Thyme recipe. I don’t see any way to delete it.

    • Anonymous

    • Atlanta, Georgia

    • 8/26/2021

  • Super easy, quick and delicious. Obligatory changes: Based on reviews here I crisped up the skin in a cast iron skillet before applying the mustard/butter/thyme paste and panko. Also tossed the carrots in harissa. Crispy skin, juicy chicken and tender carrots. Will definitely make again.

    • Anonymous

    • Atlanta, Georgia

    • 8/26/2021

  • The directions are a little precious and don't need to be followed exactly. For example, it's fine to heat the oil and lay the chicken skin side down in the pan. You don't have to rub the oil on the chicken and then do it. Much more likely that your skin will sear too quickly and peel back from the thigh that way. Overall, the flavor is great and other vegetables can and should be used to take advantage of the excess sauce. I suggest making a side of rice mixed with red miso and butter.

    • AB

    • NYC

    • 6/4/2021

  • Made this recipe exactly as written. For us, this was incredibly spicy. We are tolerant to some heat but it had us sweating/coughing from the heat. The crispiness of the chicken, texture of the sauce was great though. Next time we will make it with less Sriracha.

    • Meagan

    • New Brunswick, Canada

    • 3/4/2021

  • Yum! So good that the next night, still having some chicken in the fridge, my wife made the recipe again! No reason to stop at carrots. A few spears of broccoli and some brussel sprouts soak up the sauce nicely. Used gochujang instead of siracha. Second time around we doubled the sauce so there was plenty to sop up with rice.

    • Vermontah

    • Vermont

    • 2/5/2021