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Home » Recipes » Poultry

Easy Baked Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs

Published: Dec 28, 2021 · Modified: Oct 15, 2024 by Marisa Franca

Jump to Recipe
Lemon garlic chicken thighs browned with lemon wedges.

Baked Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs Recipe is a quick and easy one-dish oven meal. It consists of three main ingredients: thighs, lemon, garlic. That's all it takes to make this easy low-calorie memorable weeknight dinner with amazing flavors the whole family will insist on having often.

A white baking dish with baked boneless chicken thighs with lemon and garlic sprinkled with smoked paprika.
A delicious low calorie dinner of baked boneless skinless lemon and garlic chicken thighs.
Jump to:
  • ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
  • 🛒 Ingredient list
  • 🗒 Instructions
  • 🔪 Equipment
  • 👩🏻‍🍳 Chef tips
  • 🤔 FAQs
  • 📖 Related Recipes
  • 📞 Chiacchierata
  • 📝 Lemon Garlic Chicken Dinner Recipe
  • 📖 Recipe
  • ⏰ How this quick and easy dinner was born
  • 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

  • satisfying
  • appealing
  • easy and quick
  • little preparation

Your oven does all of the work. How easy can that be?! The oven-baked chicken comes out flavorful and juicy every time. Pollo All'Aglio is what the Italians call this squisito (delicious) dinner.

🛒 Ingredient list

Image of the ingredients for the Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs.

Note: The full list of Easy Baked Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Garlic recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are in the recipe card below.

These are the main ingredients you’ll need for this delicious weeknight chicken dinner. The exact amounts are listed in the recipe card below.

  • chicken thighs -- main component of the recipe and the dark meat is easy to cook and keep moist. You may also use skinless chicken breasts with a tablespoon of olive oil drizzled on top.
  • fresh lemons -- adds a nice acidity to the dish plus it helps to tenderize the meat.
  • fresh garlic -- flavors the thighs without overpowering the taste.
  • Smoked paprika (optional)-- enhances the flavor plus lends a smoky layer to flavor combinations to the dish that we really like.
  • Italian seasoning -- (optional) we wanted an additional layer of Italian flavor in the juices.

How many times have you come across a recipe and all it asks for are three main ingredients?

For me? Practically never! We always have lemons on hand -- and garlic??

Hello?!! I'm Italian! Our pantry would not be supplied without garlic. . . .it's a staple.

🗒 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions for The Italian Christmas Cookies are in the recipe card below.

Image of the first four steps of baking the lemon garlic chicken thighs.
  1. Place chicken thighs in a large bowl. Slice the lemons in half and squeeze the fresh lemon juice over the thighs and add the lemon rinds to the bowl along with the garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and Tuscany seasoning. Mix well.
  2. Put everything in a large baking dish spreading everything out evenly. Sprinkle smoked paprika over the chicken.
  3. Put the casserole dish in a 375℉ oven and roast the chicken for 30 minutes, basting every 10 minutes.
  4. The internal temperature should reach 165℉. Remove the casserole dish out of the oven, cover it with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Juicy lemon garlic roasted chicken thighs are baked and ready to serve with the garlic and natural juices.
The pan is full of garlic lemon flavored natural juices to serve with the roasted chicken thighs.

Serve the chicken thighs with the natural juices and several cloves of the buttery garlic.

Do you know the saying "If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is?" Well it's not the case here. The ingredients are simple and the instructions are easy. This is a recipe you'll want to keep handy.

🔪 Equipment

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  • Large cutting board -- a non-skid one is an absolute necessity for trimming the chicken, cutting the lemons, and peeling the garlic. We hate when our boards slide all over the counter.
  • Sharp knife -- we like to use our Santoku just like this one although a good boning knife will work well for the lemon and this type of work.
  • Large glass bowl -- used for marinating and easy cleaning. We have a set of 3 from small bowl to large that we use all the time.
  • Oven proof casserole dish -- We love our braiser. It holds the entire meal to make an easy chicken dinner plus clean-up. You can cook on top of the stove or stick it in the oven. A glass pyrex dish will also work well, also a large skillet that's oven proof.

👩🏻‍🍳 Chef tips

If you want to make your own Tuscan Seasoning Blend here are the ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons ground rosemary
  • 2 tablespoons dried basil
  • 2 tablespoons dried parsley
  • 2 tablespoons dried marjoram
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon red chili pepper flake
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme
  • 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons dried ground lemon

Combine all of the spices in a bowl and mix well. If you want them finer put them in a spice grinder. We actually use our coffee grinder. Store in a mason jar with a tight lid. We have a jar with holes to shake out the Tuscan seasoning blend.

If you use boneless, skinless chicken thighs, in this recipe, sprinkle a bit of extra-virgin olive oil over the chicken before roasting for fat and flavor.

Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs Casserole with a serving on a white plate.
A weeknight lemon and garlic roasted chicken dinner so good that it's company worthy.

🤔 FAQs

These are the questions we are most often asked about this Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Thighs Recipe.

How long does it take to cook chicken thighs at 400 degrees?

Chicken thighs should be baked in preheated 400 degrees until skin is browned and the thighs register 165 degrees in thickest portion, about 35 – 45 minutes. If you like a crispy
skin, broil during last 1 – 3 minutes but keep keep a close eye on it.

How long does it take to cook thigh in the oven?

Baking chicken thighs with bone-in and skin-on will take longer than boneless skinless thighs. These times and temperatures are for bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs.
350°F (175°C)50 to 55 minutes
375°F (190°C)45 to 50 minutes
400°F (205°C)40 to 45 minutes
425°F (218°C)35 to 45 minutes
The chicken thigh should reach the temperature of 165 degrees and the thickest part.

How do you keep chicken thighs from drying out in the oven?

Keeping the skin on the chicken helps the meat from drying as well as rubbing the thighs with a bit of olive oil. Also, using an instant read thermometer is a huge help to in preventing overcooking the meat. At 165℉ the chicken is done.

How long does it take to bake boneless chicken thighs at 400 degrees?

It will take 25 - 30 minutes to bake boneless chicken thighs at 400F/200C.
It will take 30 - 35 minutes to cook boneless chicken thighs at 350F/175C.
Whenever in doubt, use an instant read meat thermometer.

📖 Related Recipes

If your family likes one pan chicken recipes, the Chicken Vesuvio one is that you're going to love. The side and vegetable cooks along with the chicken.

This Hunter's Style chicken is very famous in Italy. Every nonna has her secret ingredients she adds to the Chicken Cacciatore to make it special.

📞 Chiacchierata

We can honestly say that this tangy chicken recipe with the smoky garlic flavor is now a favorite.

This lemon garlic chicken is juicy and aromatic with just the right amount of Italian seasoning. We can honestly say that this tangy chicken recipe with the smoky garlic flavor is now a favorite.

The secret is all about the lemon garlic marinade that forms and cooks into the meat. We're certain that this basic chicken thigh recipe will become a favorite of yours too.

And if you want to try an Italian Herb Marinade with your chicken, you've got to make the Oven Baked Chicken Breast Recipe, it's out of this world good!

Next time you want to make thighs on the grill, try our spicy Grilled Asian Chicken Thigh recipe. The flavors are so good you will be licking your fingers.

Tutti a tavolo è pronto!

Un caro saluto e alla prossima.

Boneless skinless chicken thighs roasted in a lemon and garlic marinade.
Golden brown Italian seasoned roasted chicken thighs smothered in a delicious garlic lemon sauce.

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What's new? check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We'll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make cooking fun and easy. 

Thank you for being part of All Our Way!

📝 Lemon Garlic Chicken Dinner Recipe

Sometimes we make this quick lemon and garlic chicken recipe in a glass casserole and put the chicken thighs under the boiler to give them a nice golden skin.

And at other times we make it in our cast iron skillet and brasier. This recipe works fantastic any way you want to make it. . It's all up to you.

To go along with this delicious simple dinner, our savory Sweet Potato Casserole with Bacon would be fabulous. You can make the mashed potatoes in small mounds, which we like, or all in one casserole dish.

We love easy one-pan dinners and I'm sure you do too. Next time try our delicious recipe Creamy Tomato Chicken With Kale.

If you like this recipe please give it a 5-star rating.

📖 Recipe

Close up of Garlic Lemon Chicken Thighs in a casserole dish with a serving spoon.

Baked Lemon Garlic Chicken With Tuscany Seasoning

This is an easy one-pan baked chicken dinner recipe that produces moist tender chicken thighs with just the right amount of lemon-garlic flavor, Italian herbs, and a touch of smokiness from the paprika. This family-friendly dinner is a hit every time we make it.
4.96 from 22 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian American
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes
Resting Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 314kcal
Author: Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
As An Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Ingredients

  • 8 Chicken thighs can make them boneless and skinless or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts.
  • 3 lemons fresh
  • 16 cloves of peeled garlic left whole
  • 1 Tablespoon Tuscany seasoning or Italian seasoning*** see notes
  • Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
  • Smoked Paprika
  • Red pepper flakes optional
Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
  • Place chicken thighs In a large bowl. Slice the lemons in half and squeeze the fresh lemon juice over the thighs and add the lemon rinds to the bowl along with the garlic, salt, pepper, and Tuscany seasoning.
    Mix well, then put everything in a large baking dish spreading everything out evenly. Sprinkle smoked paprika over the chicken.
    We love the taste of the smoked paprika so we sprinkle quite a bit on the chicken. It's up to you.
  • Put the dish in the heated oven and bake the chicken for 30 minutes, basting every 10 minutes. The internal temperature should reach 165 degrees F. If it hasn't reached that point, put it back into the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
    When it reaches the temperature of 165 degrees F take it out of the oven, cover it with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
  • Serve the chicken thighs with the juices -- discard the lemons.

Notes

  • When we serve a dish with juices -- we serve a side that will absorb that juice. We certainly don't want to waste a flavorful sauce. With this dinner we served peppery couscous which does soak up the juice if there is any left.
  • If you want to make your own Tuscan Seasoning Blend:
    • 2 tablespoons ground rosemary
    • 2 tablespoons dried basil
    • 2 tablespoons dried parsley
    • 2 tablespoons dried marjoram
    • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
    • 2 tablespoons onion powder
    • 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
    • 1 tablespoon red chili pepper flake
    • 1 tablespoon dried thyme
    • 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
    • 2 teaspoons dried ground lemon
    Combine all of the spices in a bowl and mix well. If you want them finer put them in a spice grinder. We actually use our coffee grinder. Store in a mason jar with a tight lid. We have a jar with holes to shake out the Tuscan seasoning blend.

Nutrition

Serving: 4g | Calories: 314kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 215mg | Sodium: 205mg | Potassium: 729mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 93IU | Vitamin C: 47mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 3mg

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    First Published: October 23,2014... Last Updated: December 28, 2021

    ⏰ How this quick and easy dinner was born

    When you're on vacation and spend the entire day on a pier fishing, you don't feel like coming up with something to cook.

    So, once we got back to our rental house, Righteous Oaks, we were hungry.

    We wanted something to eat that was satisfying, something that appealed to our taste buds. And most importantly something that was easy to make and didn't take a lot of time.

    The chicken thighs were already in the fridge thawing. All we needed was to find a recipe that included the ingredients we had on hand. We didn't have heavy cream, onion powder, or garlic powder. which we found was in the typical recipe. Our recipe had to be easy and have few ingredients.

    That's how this recipe was born.

    Browned Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs in Cast iron skillet with rosemary and lemon.
    Sometimes we use chicken legs and wings for a quick baked garlic lemon chicken dinner.
    Lemon Garlic Chicken thighs roasted in the oven and put under the broiler to crisp up the skin.
    For a crispy skin we stick the chicken thighs under the boiler for a minute or two. This lemon and garlic chicken is a family favorite.
    A spoon spreading butter sauce over chicken pieces and lemon wedges.
    Easy Italian Chicken Dinner that can be on the table in 1 hour with minimal work.
    Lemon Garlic chicken oven-baked in a black casserole with fresh thyme

    SaveSave

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    2.9K shares

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Isis

      March 13, 2023 at 10:52 am

      5 stars
      Can I do it with chicken breast?

      Reply
      • Marisa Franca

        March 13, 2023 at 4:55 pm

        Yes, you can. I would add a bit of butter to the top of the chicken breasts -- they have a tendency to be dryer than the dark meat.

        Reply
    2. Diane DiPrete

      October 09, 2021 at 8:05 am

      How do you make dried ground lemon?
      Thank you

      Reply
    3. Natalie

      July 19, 2021 at 5:09 am

      5 stars
      This is such an easy and delicious dinner idea. I can't wait to make this for my boys. They will love this, I'm sure. Meat looks perfect and flavors are summery and light. Making this for sure.

      Reply
    4. Kate

      July 18, 2021 at 2:31 pm

      My chicken turned out so moist and flavorful (the combination of lemon and garlic on chicken is out of this world)! I can only recommend, thank you.

      Reply
    5. Silvia

      July 18, 2021 at 12:05 pm

      5 stars
      You are not kidding! This lemon garlic chicken was so easy to prepare and it turned out delicious. Sometimes the simplest things are the most delicious.

      Reply
    6. Brianna

      July 17, 2021 at 3:19 pm

      5 stars
      Simple, comforting, easy and quick! Definitely going into the dinner rotation.

      Reply
    7. Natalia

      July 17, 2021 at 4:18 am

      5 stars
      What a great recipe to make for my family! Tender and flavorful meat is just what they like, specially chicken. Definitely going to give this a go, thank you so much for the recipe! Will let you know how it turned out! 🙂

      Reply
    8. Amy Liu Dong

      July 17, 2021 at 12:00 am

      5 stars
      I love this recipe because it's delicious and easy to make. I am very sure that my husband will enjoy eating this dish. Yum!

      Reply
      • Loreto and Nicoletta

        July 18, 2021 at 7:28 pm

        5 stars
        This reminds me of our Italian Pollo al forno. I love the color on the skin, tells me crispy tasty and moist inside!😋🥰 Your so right about easy, lemon and chicken is a great pairing and the Italian herbs seals the deal! Thanks for sharing!

        Reply
    9. Veronika Sykorova

      July 16, 2021 at 11:55 am

      5 stars
      I love the combo of lemon and garlic! Especially when you include the whole lemons like you did with those herbs! I wish I could smell the dish through the screen haha, it looks so good!

      Reply
    10. Colleen

      July 16, 2021 at 11:51 am

      5 stars
      This was an easy and delicious dinner that the whole family loved. Will make again for sure!

      Reply
    11. veenaazmanov

      July 16, 2021 at 11:43 am

      5 stars
      Love your dish and love the flavors too. Lemon and Garlic sounds yum.Presentation superb.

      Reply
    12. Amy

      July 16, 2021 at 11:35 am

      5 stars
      Such a delicious dish, and it goes with most any side dish too. One of our favorites! I like making it on busy days. It's easy to get it ready early and then just putting it in the oven when I get home.

      Reply
    13. Allyssa

      July 16, 2021 at 8:14 am

      5 stars
      Thank you so much for this super delicious recipe! It tasted really flavorful and amazing! Super easy to make too! Highly recommend! Will surely make this again!

      Reply
    14. Adri

      October 26, 2014 at 12:17 am

      5 stars
      This chicken sounds wonderful, and your shots of your fishing expedition are beautiful!

      Reply
      • Marisa Franca

        October 26, 2014 at 6:04 am

        The chicken was wonderful -- surprising for how quickly it came together. Last night we sampled some of our fish - it was fried in our special way - and it was delicious! I'll post pictures on Allourway Facebook page. I hope you try the recipe, if you do, let us know how you like it. 🙂

        Reply
    4.96 from 22 votes (9 ratings without comment)

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    I’m Marisa Franca, a home chef, food writer, and photographer who believes that you can make gourmet quality food at home with simple seasonal ingredients. I’m passionate about family, food, friends, everything Italian, and happy endings.

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