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This tasty and simple recipe for garlic sauce chicken thighs is made with bone-in chicken thighs, pan-seared to perfection, and served with a great garlic and wine sauce.
Pan-Seared Bone-In Chicken Thighs
As passionate food lovers, we adore a good chicken dish, but this pan seared bone in chicken holds a special place. It has rightly earned its title as our most cherished chicken recipe, now and for eternity. Indeed, it’s a culinary blessing worthy of an ‘Amen.’ 🙏
This recipe is all about juicy, bone-in chicken simmered in the most flavorful garlicky sauce, and it’s all made right on the stovetop. It’s cozy, bold, and seriously dang delicious. If you’ve been on the hunt for the perfect stovetop chicken dinner, you have to try this one.
Why do we hold such a confident promise for this recipe? Just take a glance at the glowing reviews in the comments section below. They provide a testament to the deliciousness of this recipe, filled with satisfied home cooks who’ve experienced the wonderful flavors this bone-in chicken recipe has to offer. 😉 OR, serve them this Garlic Yogurt Baked Chicken, which is also ah.may.zing!
I also served some of those Spinach and Artichoke Dip Pizza, aaaaand Lemon Cheesecake Crescent Rolls. We LOVED all of it!
How To Cook Bone-in Chicken Thighs
- Heat. Warm the vegetable oil and melt the butter in a deep, large skillet over medium heat.
- Season & Sear. While the pan heats up, season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Add them to the skillet and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes per side, until browned. Remove the chicken and set it aside.
- Sauté. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring often—just be careful not to burn it.
- Deglaze. Pour in the wine and scrape up all those golden bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. That’s where the flavor lives!
- Simmer. Stir in the rosemary and parsley, then return the chicken to the skillet. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Serve. Take the skillet off the heat, spoon that garlicky sauce over the chicken, and serve it up!
Katerina’s Recipe Tips
- No alcohol option. If you don’t have white wine on hand, you can use chicken broth with a splash of lemon juice instead. It still gives you that brightness and helps deglaze the pan.
- Garlic. Feel free to use more garlic if you want, but not less than what I’ve recommended. 🙃
- Wine options. Also, bring out the best white wine you have, as this chicken is all about the garlic and the wine; they go hand in hand. It’s like garlic-infused-wine-chicken-something. It’s delicious. I like to use Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, or Chardonnay.
- Cooking pan. Use a deep skillet large enough to fit 4 chicken thighs without crowding the pan.
- Skin on chicken. Always start by cooking the skin first, then flip it over and brown the other side.
- Patience. Please do not move the chicken around while it’s cooking; flip it when there is little to no resistance. If you feel like the chicken is stuck to the pan, don’t force it. Give it a minute or two, and then flip it over.
What To Serve With Chicken Thighs
When I serve these juicy chicken thighs, I love to pair them with my creamy garlic mashed potatoes because they soak up that garlicky sauce and taste amazing. As for veggies, you can’t go wrong with a serving of garlic parmesan roasted vegetables, but if you’re in the mood for something lighter, skillet zucchini and mushrooms is a fresh, savory side that works beautifully with the chicken. And for a cozy option, cheesy potatoes are always an option.
So, if you’re ready to try out a dish that’s got an army of food lovers behind it, give this pan seared chicken recipe a whirl. With every bite, you’ll understand why it has taken a permanent place at the top of our favorite chicken recipes list.
ENJOY!
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Garlic Sauce Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 whole bulb garlic, peeled, cloves separated
- 1 cup dry white wine, use a wine that you like
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Heat oil and butter in a large skillet.
- Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and transfer them to the skillet.
- Cooking over medium heat, brown the chicken on both sides; about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove chicken from the skillet and set aside.
- Add garlic cloves to the skillet and cook, frequently stirring, until golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not burn the garlic. Carefully add wine to the skillet.
- Stir in the parsley and add a sprig of rosemary; continue to stir and scrape all the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Add the chicken back to the skillet.
- Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, turning the chicken over halfway through cooking. Add a couple of tablespoons of wine – you can also use chicken broth – if it looks too dry when you turn over the chicken.
- Remove from heat; transfer the chicken to a serving dish, and spoon the garlic sauce over the chicken. Serve.
Notes
- Feel free to add extra garlic, but not less than suggested. This dish hinges on garlic and good white wine, a match made in culinary heaven.
- Use a skillet that comfortably holds four chicken thighs. Start by cooking the skin-side first, then flip to brown the other side. Avoid moving the chicken while cooking; flip it only when it releases easily from the pan. If it sticks, wait a minute or two, then try flipping again.
- Serve this chicken with a side of vegetables and/or pasta.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container and keep them refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Super easy and tasty. I used Chicken Broth instead of wine and only 1 clove of garlic as I made this dish for my 90 year old Auntie for her Birthday and she doesn’t like spices, but I can sneak some in.
Looking forward to making this recipe as written.
I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
This recipe was a big hit with my family. Especially the sauce, even my picky niece had a whole piece of chicken & ate all her mashed potatoes with the sauce on top (she doesn’t like potatoes!).
I made a few minor changes by adding a few more ingredients & some butter, but otherwise I made it almost exactly as the recipe calls for. LOVED it. Served with a side of mashed potatoes & green beans. Chicken was perfectly juicy & the sauce was an amazing consistency. Tasted delicious & went great with the mashed I made too. You might think the amount of garlic used would be over powering but it was perfect, my in law even said she’d enjoy it with some more but my family loves garlic.
Would definitely make this again & again, added right to my saved recipes. & I’ll be recommending it to others. Thanks for the great meal!
That’s wonderful! I’m very happy you and your family enjoyed this recipe! Thank YOU! 🙂
So strange, has very little flavor. Not sure what I did wrong. It was very easy though
Add more salt.
Delicious! I added 1/2 cup of bone broth along with the wine, added mushrooms and onions, a couple tablespoons of butter at the end and put it under the broiler for about 3 minutes. I also added steamed brussel sprouts to the sauce the last few minutes. A definite keeper!
I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
I cooked this tonight and I noticed that I did not have a lot of garlic sauce. I changed the serving size to 6 since I had 6 chicken breasts and I used 1.5 cups of white wine per the instructions. How do I get more garlic sauce next time? I would love to put the chicken over pasta and have the sauce dripping.
So delicious! Well seasoned, juicy chicken, flavorful and satisfying. Perfect in every way! Thank you for another fantastic recipe 🙂
What can I use in place of the wine?
Hi! You can use chicken broth or apple juice. 🙂
I have never cooked with wine nor do i drink wine. However, i am very interested in trying it. What wine would you recommend?
For cooking, I always go with Pinot Grigio 😀
No lie! PINOT GRIGIO is the appointed white!
After cooking how much alcohol content still remains?
Thank you Katerina !!❤️ Making it now and it smells heavenly!!
Katera Ruth
(Almost same name!!)
Thanks, Katera!! That’s a BEAUTIFUL name! 😍 Hope you enjoyed your dinner. 😊
This Garlic Sauce Chicken looks and sounds incredible! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I ran across this, plus many many more amazing recipes that you have on your Blog!! I can’t wait to try all of them 🙂 Did you use boneless skinless Thighs?
How many servings is this?
Boy, this was good. I made it with drumsticks, which were on sale today, so they took longer to cook. The sauce was terrific–so simple, just a few ingredients, but amazing! My husband, a/k/a Mr.Fussy, rated this very highly, and that is a true compliment. Definitely going on my favorites list, and I’m linking got it on my (new) blog’s FB page. A winner, Katerina!
PS–The sauce was so good I literally licked the plate. Well, not quite; I ran my fingers over the plate and licked them. Not very good manners, but no one was watching. So I suggest serving with a crusty bread or mashed potatoes or rice to soak up all that goodness.