Crispy Spice Rubbed Chicken Thighs
These super easy Spiced Chicken Thighs show off the power of spices, and how you can make a truly delicious meal with a handful of ingredients from the pantry!
How often do you go into your spice cabinet?
The other day I realized I had completely forgotten about the greatness of spices. I haven’t done a rub in ages!
While there’s definitely something to be said about fresh ingredients, having so much flavor sitting in your cabinet all year long, right at your fingertips, can be very handy. Especially if you know how to pair those spices together.
The collection of spices I’m sharing with you today is my favorite rub to put on chicken. It has some Indian and Chinese influences in there, with very warm spices, like ginger, cardamom, cumin, and so on.
I keep a jar of it in my pantry all the time so if I’m feeling tired on a weekday, I know that I can rub it on some chicken and make a simple meal.
My recommended cut for this rub is chicken thighs, and you’re going to cook them in a way that gets the skin all crispy. My husband put it perfectly when he said this dish tastes sort of like Indian Fried Chicken.
The chicken thighs I buy happen to have a lot of excess fat/skin on them, so if any overhangs the main portion of meat, trim it off with a knife or scissors:
This dish goes great with a little quinoa and a dollop of thick yogurt on the side, but similar grains like couscous or farro would work well too.
In the comments below, what is your favorite spice? Mine would have to be…cinnamon! Cumin is a close second.
Crispy Spice Rubbed Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 2 or 3 lb package skin-on bone-in chicken thighs about 5 pieces
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground chipotle pepper
- 2 tsp yellow curry powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1.5 tsp sea salt
- olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Stir to combine the ginger, chipotle pepper, curry powder, paprika, garlic powder, coriander, cardamom, cloves, cayenne, cumin, and salt.
- Trim the excess fat from the chicken thighs (any part that overhangs the main piece). Rub the chicken thighs all over with the spice rub.
- Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan (about 2 tbsp). Cook the chicken thighs skin side down (in a single layer) for 10 minutes, until the skin gets crispy (and if the skin isn’t golden brown and crispy after 10 minutes, cook it for a few minutes longer). Flip the chicken and cook for another 5 minutes, then transfer the skillet to the oven to cook for additional 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and has reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees F. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
47 Comments on “Crispy Spice Rubbed Chicken Thighs”
This is one of the five best food discoveries I have ever made on Pinterest. Easy to make, packed with flavor, and the crunch the skin gives it is out of this world. Will definitely be making these again (and again, and again).
SO happy to hear that, Mattie! This is one of the dishes in my regular rotation, and I always keep the rub on hand!
Randomly found this recipe on Pinterest and made it for dinner last night. We didn’t have ground ginger unfortunately so I left that out, replaced the ground chipotle pepper with chili powder, and replaced the cardamom with a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. It came out AMAZING and is likely to be a new favorite for my boyfriend and I. We had it with some brown rice. The dollop of yogurt really takes it to the next level. Thank you for posting this!
I’m so glad you loved the recipe! This is one of my regular rotation dishes so I’m glad to hear it will be a new favorite for you! Enjoy =)
I stumbled upon this recipe as I needed something to do with the chicken thighs I had taken out to cook tonight. My husband is very finicky about his chicken being “crispy” so I was delighted when I found this. I am going to try this tonight! I also love that it is something I can cook in my cast iron skillet going to from stove top to oven! I will have to come up with an accompaniment because my hubby isn’t a fan of couscous. I am thinking a simple salad or sautéed garlic and green beans because dessert is going to be warm coconut rice pudding 🙂
That sounds wonderful! Hope you enjoyed it Cheryl =)
Hi Joanne! This recipe looks delicious – but I’m wondering whether chicken breast can be substituted for thighs in this recipe? Not a huge fan of thighs, but this combination of spices looks amazing!
Hi Roxanne! Are you planning to do boneless skinless or bone-in skin-on chicken breasts? The cooking method needs to be different but you can definitely use this spice for chicken breasts (and I do it myself). I also rub it on roasted potatoes!
Joanne,
This is probably a dumb question, but I’m relatively new to “spices” and I guess cooking. What exactly is “ground cloves?” The best guess I have is garlic cloves, but I don’t know. I just want to make sure when I go to the store for it that I know exactly what it would be labeled as.
Otherwise, I appreciate the recipe for the rub. I’m now strictly eating lean meats (Chicken, pork) and honestly, they were bland to begin with; but they just get boring without any spices. It’s nice to have different combinations of spices to implement different flavors into my meats from day to day. Looking forward to trying this.
Thanks again,
Josh
Hi Josh, no problem. At the store you will find whole cloves and ground cloves. For this recipe you should be able to find ground cloves very easily, as it’s a very common spice, kind of similar to cinnamon (warm fall spice). I think you’ll enjoy this rub. Happy cooking!
Really sorry that I have to pester you about basically the same topic. I’m having problems locating yellow curry powder, chipotle pepper, coriander, and cardamom.
Specifically with the yellow curry powder, all I could find was regular curry powder? Can you give me some alternate names associated with these spices? (Mostly the curry powder and chipotle powder).
I went to two grocery stores and couldn’t find coriander or cardamom in either. Are these only available in certain regions? I live in Pennsylvania and couldn’t find it so far.
Thanks in advance,
Josh
Hi Josh, is the “regular curry powder” yellow in color? If so that should be fine. I’m sure this would be delicious with other kinds of curry too, it just matters to get a curry to have lots of flavor. I’m surprised you’re having trouble finding coriander, as I think it’s a pretty standard spice. Cardamom and chipotle are probably harder to find, so you can sub the cardamom with cinnamon or allspice and sub the chipotle with chile powder. Enjoy!
Josh, do you have an Ocean State Job Lot in your area? They have a huge variety of spices there. All needed in this recipe I found there.
I hope you found thm by now.
This chicken was delicious! I couldn’t find the ground chipotle pepper and I cut the salt to 1.5 tsp. and found it to still taste great! Thanks for the recipe. I had it with couscous, roasted red cabbage, potatoes,sweet potatoes and broccoli. Add brownies, ice-cream and peanuts for a great dessert. Everyone loved it.
Hi Jane, I’m so happy to hear that! I make this very frequently and love it too. Your accompaniments sound lovely as well!
I made this tonight with organic chicken thigh without skin and it was so scrumptious! I went out and purchased the ground cardamom and thought it was a price mistake when I saw the receipt for $9.99….but found out later that it is one of the most expensive spices. That being said, it is a very aromatic spice and worth it to have it in my now spice rack….thank you for this delicious recipe. I think this could also be used on other meats….seafood….maybe salmon…yum!
Hi Samantha, so glad you enjoyed this chicken recipe! Cardamom is a great spice, and I actually like to use it in cookies sometimes. It’s great for both sweet and savory dishes. Happy cooking!
Yumm! I can never pass up a great chicken recipe!
If we don’t like to eat the skin, is it possible to rub the spice mix under the skin, cook it with the skin, and then remove the skin without losing a lot of flavor? Or, even if put on the skin, does the chicken without the skin still taste flavorful when one removes the skin?
Thanks!
Hi Danielle, yes I think if you’re not going to eat the skin, it’d be best to rub the spices underneath so the spices can flavor the meat. I also think it would be best to cook the chicken with the skin, then remove the skin afterward if you can, for moisture reasons. Hope you enjoy the chicken!
These look amazing, Joanne!! We’re chicken thigh fans in this house and I have a very well stocked spice cabinet so these will be made at my earliest opportunity. 🙂
Oooo, I love these spicy chicken thighs, Joanne! It’s simple and scrumptious recipes that make the weekdays all the more manageable. This is a great one! Thanks for sharing.
Wow, these look delicious! Pinned. 🙂
I go for months using spices every day and then I fall off the wagon. I think your chicken thighs will put me back on track. 🙂
LOL! It sounds like you’re talking about my dieting habits 😉 haha. But yes, I totally know what you mean! And I think it may be natural in the summer when so much fresh stuff abounds (I know you’re headed into that season, YAY).
Made this today and it is excellent! Thank you for this post. I’ll be using this one again in the future.
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for letting me know. Happy cooking!
How essential is the cardamom? I have every spice but that one. I am always on the prowl for new flavors to add to my low carb regimen and this will help add some spice to what can be ho-hum chicken. This sounds really delicious!
Hi Jan, it’s okay to skip the cardamom here if you don’t have it. Hope you enjoy this one!
I don’t care what kinds of spices you use, nobody wants to eat a rubber chicken.
… Oh, wait…. I read that wrong, didn’t I?