Looking for a skillet chicken recipe with crispy skin and tons of flavor? These Cast Iron Teriyaki Chicken Thighs are just that!
Yum
I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m a cast iron fan. In fact, I just posted a cast iron recipe on Monday, and have another waiting in the queue. And I’m pretty sure it won’t stop there.
I actually grew up with cast iron. My mom cooked with it often, and still does to this day. When when I moved away from home, she gave me quite a few pieces that she had picked up at garage sales. Today, I think I own probably at least 8 different cast iron skillets. If that doesn’t show how much I love it, I don’t know what does.
So it’s no surprise that I had to pick up a copy of Cook It In Cast Iron when I saw it at Costco a couple of months ago. It’s one of those books that I didn’t even have to look through to know that I needed it. And while I’ve only made one recipe from it so far, I know this is one book that I know I’ll get lots of use out of.
On the cover of this book, it calls the cast iron pan the “One Pan That Does It All”, and this book is proof of that. Not only are there plenty of savory dinner recipes, but you also get desserts, sides, even appetizers and breads. I do love how versatile a cast iron pan is, and this book has so many recipes that I want to make in it.
Here are the details:
Number of Photos: lots. There is a full page photo of every recipe in the book.
Difficulty Level of Recipes: Easy to medium. If you’ve read through a cookbook from Cook’s Country or America’s Test Kitchen, you know just how much testing, detail and information there is on each recipe. Because of this, I think that even the more difficult recipes are made easy because so much detail is given.
Availability of Ingredients: easy. I didn’t notice any ingredients that would be difficult to find.
Other recipes I want to try:
Baked Pepperoni Pizza Dip
Steak Tips with Mushroom-Onion Gravy
Skillet Macaroni and Cheese
Weeknight Beef Chili
Fried Chicken Sandwiches
Chicago-Style Pepperoni Pan Pizza
Huevos Rancheros
Home Fries
Big and Fluffy Lemon-Dill Biscuits
Griddled Flatbreads
Drop Doughnuts
Buy Cook It In Cast Iron on Amazon.
I honestly could make every recipe from this book. So of course, I had a hard time choosing just one recipe to start with. I think I changed my mind three or four times before settling on this recipe for Teriyaki Chicken Thighs. We are definitely teriyaki fans here at my house, and chicken thigh fans, as well. So I knew this one would be a home run.
The method of cooking these chicken thighs is definitely not your normal way of cooking them. The trick here is to get the skin on the thighs really crispy, and I’ve never had another technique work this well. You heat the skillet until it is very hot in the oven, then switch it to the stove top. Once you’ve placed the chicken thighs in the skillet, you want as much of the skin to be in contact with the skillet. You do this by placing a weighted Dutch oven on top of the chicken. I didn’t want to make a mess of my Dutch oven, so I placed a piece of foil on top of the chicken, then placed my Dutch oven on top. Then added a few (unopened) cans of food in the Dutch oven to weigh it down. This seriously worked so well – I don’t want to cook chicken any other way now!!
These Cast Iron Teriyaki Chicken Thighs were a total hit. We ate every single bite. Cast iron for the win!
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- 8 bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed (about 5-7 oz each)
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced on a bias
- Set the oven rack in the center of the oven. Place a 12-inch cast iron skillet on the rack, then preheat the oven to 500ºF.
- While the skillet is heating, pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper.
- When the oven reaches 500ºF, using pot holders, remove the skillet from the oven and place it on the stove over medium heat. (You can turn off the oven at this point.) Add the vegetable oil, and heat until it is just smoking. Place the chicken thighs in the skillet, skin side down. Place a weighted Dutch oven over the chicken to weight it down*, and cook until the skin is crispy and browned, about 16 to 20 minutes. Start checking the chicken at 10 minutes and adjust the heat as it is needed.
- When the chicken is crispy and browned, remove the Dutch oven and flip the chicken. Cook the second side (without being weighted down) until browned and crispy and when the chicken reaches 175ºF, 2-4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- In a bowl, whisk the soy sauce, sugar, mirin, garlic, ginger and cornstarch together. Pour the fat off of the cast iron skillet and add the mixture. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it thickens and becomes glossy, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices back to the skillet with the sauce. Turn the chicken to coat in the sauce. Sprinkle with the green onions.
- Serve the chicken with the pan sauce.
very slightly adapted from Cook It In Cast Iron
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MORE CAST IRON FAVORITES:
Pound Cake and Berry Campfire Skillet Dessert
Artichoke Spinach Quiche Pizza
Chorizo Mushroom Queso Dip Recipe
Around the Web:
The Best Cast Iron Pizza from Sweet As A Cookie
Skillet Apple Pie from The First Year
Skillet Chicken Pot Pie with Cheddar Crust from Spicy Southern Kitchen
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OMG,… the picture alone sold me ….without even knowing what it was !!!
Chicken, even better I always have it on hand. I grew up with my mom using cast iron skillet for every thing …..now so do I
Thanks for a great recipe !
Delicious! And so so easy. My 4 year old who rarely has anything but complaints after dinner said it was her favorite chicken ever. I subbed 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar + 1/2 tsp white sugar for the mirin bc i didn’t have any and it was amazing. Thank you for a fantastic recipe!!!
Made this tonight and it was amazing and pretty simple. Paired it with almond rice pilaf and roasted vegetables. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Very tasty and the kids gobbled it up!
Only thing I did different was omitted 3/4 of the pan juice. I don’t know if it changed the flavor but we all loved it anyway. Next time I’m making 2 batches for left overs.
Yay! I’m so glad it was a hit!