This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Perfectly golden, tender, and juicy boneless skinless chicken thighs prepared on the stove top. These delicious pan seared chicken thighs make for a wonderful meal that’s surprisingly easy, and the pan sauce is amazing!
Quick enough for a weeknight dinner, or even a dinner party, this stove top chicken thighs recipe is all about the technique. If you’re wondering how to cook chicken thighs in a pan, this method, using olive oil and finishing with butter, garlic, and chicken broth, results in crispy yet tender, finger-licking good chicken thighs.
Pan-seared chicken often ends up dry and flavorless, but not so with this recipe! The meat is tender and juicy. Chicken thighs have a rich and hearty taste and are tastier than chicken breasts, in my opinion. The dark meat of the thigh contains more fat than the breast, which gives it a deeper flavor.
Why I Love This Boneless Chicken Thighs Recipe
- Easy. Just season your chicken then cook it up in a skillet. No complicated techniques or fancy ingredients here.
- Quick. Start-to-finish this recipe is ready in 20 minutes! How’s that for the perfect weeknight dinner?
- Flavorful. Boneless skinless chicken thigh recipes should be juicy, tender, and moist when cooked properly. This recipe delivers on all of that.
- Flexible. Both boneless and bone-in chicken thighs can be used in this recipe; however, remember that bone-in thighs will take longer to cook.
Looking for more ways to cook chicken thighs? Check out my air fryer chicken thighs or these instant pot chicken thighs.
What You’ll Need
- Olive oil: You could also use avocado oil.
- Boneless chicken thighs: We’ll need about 6 thighs. You can also use bone-in thighs but they will take a bit longer to cook.
- Seasonings: Onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper.
- Butter: You can use unsalted or salted butter, whichever you have on hand.
- Garlic: A couple cloves of garlic adds flavor to the the butter.
- Broth: I used low-sodium chicken broth, but vegetable or bone broth also works. If you want, you can also use your favorite white wine or apple juice.
How To Cook Boneless Chicken Thighs
Cooking chicken thighs in a pan is a simple and easy method. Here’s a quick look at how to do it:
- Heat the oil: Similar to my garlic sauce chicken thighs, sans bones and skin, this recipe starts with a wide, deep 12-inch skillet and well-heated olive oil.
- Season the chicken: In the meantime, we will season our chicken thighs with a mix of garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, salt, and pepper.
- Cook: Add chicken thighs, smooth side down, to the skillet and sear for about 5 minutes, or until you can easily flip it over.
- Turn over and finish cooking: Flip the chicken thighs over and cook for 6 more minutes. Add butter and garlic to the pan and cook for a minute before adding chicken broth to scrape up all the delicious bits on the bottom of the pan. This will also create the sauce to go with the chicken thighs.
Tips for Cooking Chicken Thighs
- Use a large skillet: To make the most perfect pan fried chicken thighs, use a large skillet that comfortably fits 4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- Use the right temperature: Cook the chicken thighs over medium heat so to allow the lower heat to evenly cook the meat. This helps ensure that you know exactly how long to cook chicken thighs on the stove for the best results.
- DO NOT move the chicken thighs around. Let cook for 5 minutes or until you can easily flip them over.
- Do not overcook the chicken thighs. Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness; chicken thighs are cooked through when the internal temperature registers at 165˚F.
How To Store Extras
- Store in the fridge: Refrigerate chicken thighs within two hours of cooking. Make sure that they are completely cooled. Store chicken in airtight containers, and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Freeze it: Transfer completely cooled chicken thighs to an airtight container OR freezer bags. Label the bag or container with name and date, and place it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Serving Suggestions
Wondering what to serve with your delicious chicken dinner? I have some ideas:
More Chicken Recipes
- Honey Sriracha Chicken Recipe with Cauliflower Rice
- Grilled Chicken Thighs with Brown Sugar Glaze
- Garlic Butter Chicken and Rice
- Saucy Skillet Chicken with Lemons and Olives
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Juicy Stovetop Chicken Thighs Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds (about 6 chicken thighs) boneless skinless chicken thighs
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup low sodium chicken broth, you can also use dry white wine or apple juice
- fresh chopped parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Season chicken thighs with onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, and pepper.
- Add seasoned chicken thighs to the skillet, smooth side down; cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until you can easily flip over the chicken. Flip and cook for 6 to 7 more minutes or until no longer pink.
- Add butter and minced garlic; cook for about 20 to 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add chicken broth and stir around to scrape up all the crispy bits on the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat.
- Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve.
Video
Notes
- Use a large skillet that fits 4 to 6 boneless chicken thighs.
- Do not move the chicken thighs around; let them cook for 5 minutes or until you can easily flip them over.
- Both boneless and bone-in chicken thighs can be used; however, note that bone-in thighs will take longer to cook as the bones add mass. Use a Meat Thermometer to check for doneness – chicken is cooked through when the internal temperature registers at 165˚F.
- After adding in the butter and garlic, a splash of chicken broth will help to scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan.
- You can use chicken breasts in place of chicken thighs.
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.
How can you give 5 stars to a recipe if you haven’t made it? Looks yummy….looks mouthwatering…..delicious looking, etc.
Make the damned thing….then rate it!
You just gave the recipe 1 star and didn’t say if you tried it, or what was wrong with it. Was the 1 star because you were frustrated with the “5 stars”??
Can I use bone in chicken thighs instead?
Bone-in chicken thighs take longer to cook and with this recipe it will dry them up real quick unless you keep adding in tons of butter. :-/ For that reason, it would be best to first brown them up on the stove top in a skillet (on both sides for about 5 minutes per side) and then let them finish cooking in the oven at 425F for about 12 more minutes, or until done. I hope this helps.
Fast and tasty dish! I subbed chipotle chili powder and eyeballed all the seasonings and ingredients. Also used Better than Bouillon for the broth..delish. The chipotle chili powder isn’t too spicy, just a tad (at least for my tastes) and a bit smokey. Delish..paired it with Goya yellow rice and a bag of steamed veggies. Dinner was done in 30 minutes from start to finish.
I was looking for a quick easy recipe and found this one. I had to increase my cooking time by about 10 minutes because some of my thighs were thicker. Other than that everything else was great. I will definitely make this again.
I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
This came out great .. the chicken was excellent .. probably more like 6 minutes on each side in a cast iron skillet over medium high .. don’t be afraid to use the chili powder .. the spicy ness melts away and leaves a nice rich Smokey flavor .. … I cooked it exactly like the recipe but my wife likes more sauce so I increased to a cup of broth
Not very flavorful. They were juicy for sure, but definitely needed more in the flavor department. They also took longer to cook than the recipe said.
Since when my family know about this baked chicken thighs, we stop ourselves from ordering from Mcdonald whenever we crave fast food but make these thighs which is even faster. It’s absolutely more satisfying 🙂
– Natalie
I love this recipe, After cooking for 7 minutes, i have perfectly done pink chicken.
Could I use bone-in and skin on thighs for this and increase cooking time?
I don’t understand how the chicken is supposed to cook so fast. You only have maybe 7 minutes or so of total cooking time – thighs are taking closer to 25 minutes to cook like this for me! How are the cooking times so fast? Also, do you take the chicken out of the pan before adding the butter and garlic and deglazing? Or leaving it in? I’m ending up with a ton of oil in the pan, so much that it’s almost frying. I am not sure how this is supposed to become sauce as right now it would be like pouring pure oil over top of the chicken. Please help!
Hi! I am sorry I didn’t see this earlier! I hope dinner worked out. :-/ My apologies, please.
Did you use boneless, skinless thighs? They should be done cooking after 8 to 10 minutes over medium-high heat. You can check for doneness by using a meat thermometer and inserting it in the thickest part of the meat – thighs are done at 165F.
For the second part, definitely leave the thighs in there because they are still cooking. You’ll have to work around them to scrape up all the bits and pieces after pouring in the chicken broth. If you feel that there’s too much oil, you can pour it out, but not all of it. Also, you can remove the chicken thighs to work with the butter and garlic, but you will have to add them back into the skillet and cook for a couple minutes longer, or until they are done.
Cooking time for me was about 9 plus min over medium heat. Took them out at 164 degrees internal temp. Great taste but I did add a little more seasoning before starting to cook.
Such an easy weeknight meal! I love this!!
This looks incredibly delicious! Looks like a perfect weeknight dinner! Yum!