15 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Cooking Chicken Thighs, According To Experts

Of all the meats consumed in the United States, chicken is hands down the most popular. It's easy to see why: Chicken is affordable, nutritious, and flavorful. It's a great source of protein and nutrients, and just about every part of a bird can be cooked in a wide variety of ways. People who love chicken generally fall into two camps. There's the dedicated fans of white meat — the breasts, wings, and back — and those who are 100% team dark meat — the legs, drumsticks, and thighs.

No matter your preference, chicken thighs can be the choicest part of the bird, yet many home cooks don't get the best out of them. From cooking them cold, to not letting them rest, we asked Shannon Snell of Sonny's BBQ, Scott Groth of I'd Rather Be a Chef, and Chris McLaurin of Lutra Cafe and Bakery for their expert tips to help people avoid these common chicken thighs cooking mistakes.

There are a lot of component parts to a chicken, and each of them can be cooked in myriad different ways. When it comes to convenience, many busy home cooks opt for chicken breast. After all, there's no fiddly bones to mess around with, they can be bought with or without skin, and even pre-diced if we're really short of time. All that's well and good but, as far as Scott Groth is concerned, anyone choosing chicken breasts over chicken thighs is making a mistake.

"I love cooking with them because they are more economical, have a ton more flavor and are much more forgiving than a chicken breast," he said. Unlike the breast, which can dry out if cooked at too high a temperature or for too long, there are more cooking options for thighs, from grilling to braising. If that wasn't enough of a reason to try out this creamy Tuscan chicken recipe, chicken thighs have more fat content than breast meat, making them a tastier option and better at absorbing big and bold flavors.

We've all done it; cooked frozen chicken on a grill and lived to tell the tale, but it's definitely better to let chicken thighs defrost properly in the fridge. Yet many home cooks fall into the same trap when it's time to start cooking: Popping their ice-cold meat straight into the pan. There are two reasons why this is a big mistake. First, you're more likely to end up with unevenly cooked thighs, especially if they are bone-in ones. "The skin will be crisping up, but the meat near the bone will still be uncooked," warned Scott Groth.

He recommended taking the thighs out of the fridge so they can come to room temperature and will cook more evenly. Groth also urged home cooks to use a meat thermometer to check for doneness, because determining whether chicken thighs are cooked by how they look on the outside was a "recipe for disaster." The second reason to leave your chicken thighs out of the fridge is it gives time for any added herbs or spice rubs to really elevate the flavor, making your finished dish one to remember.

There are lots of tricks to cooking the juiciest chicken thighs, yet for some home cooks, getting the darned things to brown in the pan can be a challenge all its own. Crispy, golden skin on a chicken thigh is a must-have for many recipes, and while searing them in a hot pan will do the job, there's an important step in the cooking process that many people miss.

No matter what they do, instead of getting that distinct color on their chicken thighs, they end up with a pan of boiling water. Chances are, they haven't dried their chicken thighs out before popping them in the pan. "The excess moisture releases a lot of steam, making the browning process more difficult," according to Scott Groth.

Patting the meat dry with a paper towel will help eliminate that excess moisture, so they are more likely to color up when they hit the pan. Groth added it was important to get the pan or skillet nice and hot too before putting the meat in it. As well as extending your cooking time, a pan that hasn't been warmed will result in chicken thighs that have skin that's mushy rather than crispy.

Anyone who has picked every scrap of meat from a cooked chicken knows there are a couple of lesser-known treats to be found. One is the oysters, found on the back of the bird, and another is the sliver of kidney nestled in the underside of a chicken thigh. It's not the only hidden treasure to be found on this part of the bird, either.

"One thing that is little known about the chicken thigh is the hidden "pocket" that is simply wonderful for stuffing," enthused Scott Groth. It turns out, skin-on chicken thighs are not completely connected to the meat — there's a handy hole that you can enlarge enough to spoon or push plenty of your favorite stuffing into. What might surprise some home cooks is the amount of stuffing they can get into the gap. Plus, using this neat, flavor-boosting trick means you don't have to rely on toothpicks to hold the meat together.

One of the things that makes chicken thighs so convenient is their size: They are quick to cook, especially the ones without bones. However, home cooks rushing them into the pan or oven without brining them first could be missing out. Although Scott Groth believes cooking them properly will enhance the flavor, not all our experts agreed. "Even if you have just an hour, I think it's worth it," said Chris McLaurin.

He suggests soaking them in a little salt, sugar, and water, alongside any dried herbs, lemon or peppercorns. McLaurin also uses a dry brine, made of two parts salt and one part sugar, to liberally coat chicken thighs in. "Don't wrap them. Just put them in the fridge with the skin side up," he said. You can even boost your chicken thighs' flavor even if you don't have the time to brine. Give them a good grind of salt before cooking and that will do the job.

There are ways to turn the delicious flavor of chicken thighs all the way up to 11, and citrus is one of our experts' favorite marinade additions. Shannon Snell said his own creation "Is one of my go-tos for chicken, it's packed with flavors like cilantro, garlic, and even orange juice, for a citrus twist." Those ingredients aren't a million miles away from the marinade behind this Cuban mojo chicken recipe.

As a fan of Mediterranean flavors, Chris McLaurin combines preserved lemon with fresh thyme, salt, and pepper. "It's really simple, but very flavorful," he said. Scott Groth also reaches for lemon to marinate chicken thighs, teaming the juice and zest with garlic and onion powder, as well as avocado oil, as it's better suited to cooking at high temperatures.

"Herbs like dried thyme, oregano, or basil work wonders," he said. However, home cooks that are new to marinades should know there are time limits. Anything between half an hour and four hours will work, but any longer than that and they risk mushy meat from the citrus acids.

There are many situations in life where less really does mean more, and using a powder rub on chicken thighs is one of them, for Shannon Snell. Snell is adamant about the right way to introduce flavor using this method. "There's one mistake I always call out," he said. "A rub is not a rub."

He explained that rubbing spices into the chicken skin can "create pockets of seasoning that aren't great to bite into." Home cooks looking to finesse their seasoning skills can try this chicken and green chile quesadilla recipe. Snell's advice, when it comes to seasoning and spices, is to sprinkle or shake on the rub when trying to add flavor to your chicken thighs to get an even coating without clumps.

It's also worth sidestepping any additional rub flavors that are too sweet, according to Scott Groth, as they tend to burn before the chicken has thoroughly cooked, potentially spoiling the flavor. "A good rule of thumb is to balance the fat of the chicken thighs with some good acidity and salt," he advised.

Chicken is one of the most flexible meats we can buy. Every part of it can be roasted, grilled, poached, and sautéed, and anyone looking for sheer chicken bliss should try this way of cooking it. All that versatility extends to chicken thighs, too, and Chris McLaurin loves how they offer home cooks lots of options.

"They are a quick protein to cook and have ready after a busy day," he enthused. But it's not just speed that makes chicken thighs such an appealing ingredient. McLaurin enjoys cooking them in a variety of ways. "Searing them is one of the most simple methods. You can fry, braise, or grill them just as easily," he said.

It's easy to forget chicken thighs are hugely popular outside the United States, with many other cuisines embracing this meat for the same reasons Americans have. Want to shake things up the next time you want to eat chicken thighs? Give home made Tom Kha Gai, aka Thai coconut chicken soup, a whirl.

Millions of us love to eat chicken but as an ingredient it comes with a lot of risks. In its raw form, chicken, including thighs, can be contaminated with bacteria such as salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, and Campylobacter. Eating just one can give us a nasty dose of food poisoning, which is why it's essential to make sure all chicken is thoroughly cooked.

For ex-cooking school teacher Scott Groth, undercooking the thigh was the No. 1 mistake his pupils made. It's understandable that many home cooks run into the issue too, whether they're dealing with a handful of chicken thighs or a full-on Thanksgiving turkey.

However, while the CDC recommends that all chicken is cooked to a temperature of 165 F, Groth disagrees with the organization when it comes to thighs specifically. He insists they should be cooked to at least 175 F — preferably to 195F — to break down all the connective tissue in the meat. "When a chicken thigh is cooked only to 165 F, it feels undercooked and rubbery," he warned.

Not everyone has a kitchen packed with state-of-the-art equipment but many of us are guilty of not using what we do have correctly. One of the most common mistakes home cooks make is trying to cook too much food at once. Overcrowding is a problem with an air fryer basket, a pan on the stove or in the oven, and it has two main consequences.

The first is steam gets trapped in the pan, and all that excess liquid prevents us from getting the best thing about a chicken thigh: golden, crispy skin. "Often the result is a watery chicken skin that isn't very appealing," said Scott Groth. What most of us do when we see the thighs are not browning is crank the up temperature, hoping it will boil off the liquid.

Unfortunately, this is more likely to burn the skin before the fat has a chance to cook down to make the thigh tender and juicy. Instead of a delicious piece of meat, we end up with a tight, undercooked thigh. Putting fewer of them in the pan, air fryer or oven dish means cooking might take a little longer, but everything will taste better for it.

There are several key steps to getting perfect, crispy chicken skin on a whole bird, and there's a bit of skill required to achieve the same result with chicken thighs. Many home cooks think, because they are smaller pieces of meat, searing them quickly is the way to go. This is wrong, according to Chris McLaurin.

He believes not cooking the skin on chicken thighs for long enough is a common mistake, even for recipes that call for them to be simply pan fried. His preferred method is to cook them low and slow in a pan with a little neutral fat or oil in it, such as canola or avocado oil.

The trick is to have patience and not move them around very much. McLaurin recommends putting the thigh in the pan skin side down and keeping them like that for the majority of the cooking time. If you can hold your nerve, the results will be worth it. "It will render out the fat and the skin will get really crispy," he said, adding, "Then flip them over for the last couple minutes."

It takes time to pack chicken thighs with flavor, get their skin crispy and keep the meat juicy. Yet one mistake can undo all that good work. "You always should rest your meat for at least a few minutes once you take it off the grill," warned Shannon Snell, and Scott Groth agreed. "Resting the meat keeps the thighs juicy and tender," he said.

While barbecue cooks working with larger cuts can opt for this smart hack to keep their meat juicy and delicious, it's a little simpler for chicken thighs. Leave them on the cutting board — preferably one with a drip groove to catch any escaping fat or juice — for around five minutes. "It allows all those juices to soak back into the chicken and not run out the minute you slice or bite into it," said Snell.

Not resting your chicken thighs at all can be bad enough, but home cooks can also make a mistake in how they set their meat aside, according to our experts. The temptation to swaddle our freshly cooked chicken thighs in tin foil to stop them going cold can be overwhelming (unless that's how you want to serve them) but if you want to keep that skin crispy, don't do it.

Covering the chicken thighs in foil too tightly will trap the steam coming out of them and turn the skin from superb to soggy in moments. Chris McLaurin suggested home cooks, "tent them with tinfoil to keep them warm." As for how long chicken thighs could be rested for, he did the math, "With all proteins, the rule of thumb is to rest them for a third of the time that you cook them."

If you're making pulled or shredded chicken using thigh meat, Scott Groth advised home cooks not to hang around. "Waiting too long to remove the meat from the thigh makes it much more difficult as the fats begin to solidify," he warned.

A plate of juicy chicken thighs, covered in perfectly crisp skin, and flavored with herbs and spices, will likely be reduced to a pile of bones within minutes in most hungry households. The mistake many of us make is to toss them in the garbage, as far as our experts are concerned. It's less a case of waste not, want not, than missing out on future flavor opportunities.

Shannon Snell urged home cooks: "Absolutely keep the bones, you can always save them for homemade chicken stock," a point echoed by Chris McLaurin. Scott Groth takes it a step further. "There's nothing quite like a home made chicken stock or bone broth. At my house, I have a large freezer zip-top bag that is dedicated for chicken bones," he said.

As well as having a key ingredient on hand to whip up stock or broth at a moment's notice, bags of chicken thigh bones take up surprisingly little room. Being able to make your own stock isn't just great for adding flavor to dishes, it's a potentially healthier alternative to bouillon cubes that are sold in supermarkets.

Cooking chicken thighs the right way helps get rid of water and keep them crispy, but the heat of the process also generates fat. For some meats, like bacon, beef or duck, this grease can be a treasured ingredient, one that is worth keeping for use in cooking other recipes. But chicken fat? Not so much, at least according to Scott Groth.

"It can taste amazing when added to some sautéed or roasted veggies," admitted Groth, but he thinks it's a mistake for home cooks to try to hang on to it. It's easy to buy jars of clarified butter in a supermarket or online, and keeping yummy, rendered bacon fat is a no-brainer. While he agreed that using chicken fat can help expand a home cook's range and help deepen the flavor profiles of recipes, it's just not worth it for Groth. "It just always feels like too much hassle," he said.