The Right Oven Temperature For Perfect Chicken Thighs Every Time

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Chicken thighs are a dinner lifesaver; they're relatively inexpensive, oh-so-versatile (from crispy, not-fried thighs to cider-braised thighs with cabbage and thyme), and super-easy to prepare and cook. While you could make them in the air fryer and get tender results, if your tabletop appliance isn't very big, and you're feeding a crowd, they'll end up taking twice as long while you air fry in batches. At least where chicken thighs are concerned, the oven is a perfectly suitable alternative, and you can cook far more pieces at once. And the right oven temperature for perfect results, every time, whether bone-in, skin-on, or boneless-skinless, is between 400 and 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

We're giving you a small range because really any temperature, as long as it's 400 degrees and above, and 425 degrees or less, will yield the most delicious chicken thighs you've ever had. This range might sound pretty hot, and it is, but you need this much heat not just to penetrate and cook the chicken all the way through, but to make sure the chicken actually overcooks. Yes, you read that correctly: Overcooked chicken thighs are actually the best way to eat this poultry because the additional fat that is in dark meat renders out and distributes itself among the flesh, filling it with the juices, which creates a heavenly, tender bite.

Now that we've established the proper cooking temperature, we need to talk about the proper length of time for which chicken thighs need to bake in order to reach over-cooked nirvana. You see, it's different for bone-in, skin-on thighs versus boneless, skinless thighs. Bone-in, skin-on (BISO) thighs have little reserves of fat that the latter do not, so they can stand to be cooked longer at 400 to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, BISO chicken thighs should be baked for 30 to 40 minutes, allowing for variations in oven temperature. Boneless, skinless thighs, on the other hand, need only bake for about 20 minutes.

It's important before you start baking your chicken thighs that you invest in an instant-read meat thermometer, like this option from ThermoMonster. This is because, while chicken thighs are more forgiving to high heat, you'll want to make sure you don't bake them above 200 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature. Up to about 190 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for the juiciest, most tender meat, so if you want to broil BISO thighs for a few minutes to get the skin nice and crispy, do it before they hit 190 degrees. On the other hand, you shouldn't cook them any lower than 175 degrees. If you were to bake them to the minimum temperature for safe consumption of chicken, 165 degrees Fahrenheit, much less of the fat inside would break down, and your dinner would end up kind of rubbery.