These juicy chicken thighs make an ideal dish that your whole family will love on busy weeknights: seasoned with lemon pepper and roasted with crispy skin, then served with a savory sweet honey garlic sauce packed with zesty lemon flavor all made in just one oven-safe pan. Serve these honey garlic lemon pepper chicken thighs over white rice, roasted potatoes, or veggies!
Looking for some amazing chicken dinners? Try this Million Dollar Chicken recipe (I swear we fight over it every time!), a tasty cast iron spatchcock chicken and potatoes dinner that cooks so fast, or my incredibly popular fried chicken and waffles with spicy honey butter sauce.
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Jump to:
- Delicious Chicken Thighs with the Perfect Buttery Honey Garlic Lemon Pan Sauce
- Why you're going to love this honey garlic lemon chicken recipe
- Ingredients
- How to Make this Honey Garlic Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs Recipe
- Variations and Substitutions
- Pro Tips
- What to Serve with Honey Garlic Lemon Chicken Thighs
- Storage and Reheating
- Equipment
- More Chicken Recipes
- Honey Garlic Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs
Delicious Chicken Thighs with the Perfect Buttery Honey Garlic Lemon Pan Sauce
These roasted chicken thighs are incredibly easy to make, y'all. The chicken thighs are super tender and cheaper than chicken breasts, the chicken skin gets all deliciously crispy, and the meat really soaks in all that lemon garlic honey sauce.
I even made them on vacation this month since we rented in this really interesting hotel that was basically like apartments turned into a hotel...?
But it had a full kitchen and I wanted to utilize it, so we had friends over and I whipped it up. Even my friend who has a thing about bone-in meat demolished it!
Like I said, this is an easy chicken recipe and while the pan sauce is optional, I really think it's an actual game changer (and I mean that sincerely, not like 'omg guys this one ingredient is a GAME CHANGER!' kind of way).
It's easy to make and amplifies all the flavors in the dish, utilizing the all the good stuff left in the pan instead of leaving you with just the greasy drippings we all end up with after roasting chicken thighs with a glaze.
Why you're going to love this honey garlic lemon chicken recipe
- It's a one pan plan - the chicken and the pan sauce is all made in one pan for less dishes!
- Learn how to make a pan sauce from scratch - this is what takes this dish from home cooked to a restaurant quality meal: a flavor-packed, delicious sauce that is so good on the chicken and anything you serve with it.
- Requires minimal prep work and a handful of simple ingredients - garlic and onion powder really knock down prep work and all the ingredients are easy to find.
- It's really affordable - chicken thighs are much cheaper than chicken breasts but still make a really delicious and filling main dish.
- It's perfect for beginners - I would make roasted chicken thighs all the time for dinner when I was a teenager! This is an easy dinner recipe for that young cook or new cook in your kitchen.
Ingredients
Full ingredients, measurements, and printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
For the Garlic Honey Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs
- Bone-in, Skin-on Chicken Thighs - this is my preferred piece right here! Thighs are a cut of chicken that are affordable, flavorful, and almost impossible to overcook thanks to their higher fat content.
- Honey - the sweetness of honey really balances all the savory, sour, and tangy flavors we have going on.
- Fresh Lemon juice and Lemon Zest - we don't just want the tangy juice we want that real lemon flavor, and you can only get that from the zest's natural oils.
- Lemon Pepper Seasoning - this seasoning rub is actually incredibly simple to make at home if you can't find it at your local grocery store. Want to make it from scratch? I have a simple recipe you can use!
- Garlic Powder and Onion Powder
- Butter
- Kosher Salt and Black Pepper.
For the Pan Sauce
These ingredients are very customizable, they were simply in my pantry! Use what you have, but follow this process:
Aromatics, Deglaze, Butter. You'll have a perfect pan sauce every time.
- Chicken Stock or Broth - you can also use a dry white wine you like, we're using this to deglaze the pan and flavor the sauce
- Shallots - I had some on hand, they're like a gentle, mild onion in flavor and that flavor really blooms in the pan drippings. Use yellow onions if you have those on hand, just chop them very fine.
- Fresh Thyme - another thing I had on hand. You can use dried herbs, but nothing too overpowering like rosemary.
- Red Pepper Flakes - just a hearty pinch to enhance and round out the flavor.
- A good bit of more buttah, baby - this is how we give it the restaurant quality goodness.
How to Make this Honey Garlic Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs Recipe
Step 1 | Season the chicken all over with salt and lemon pepper seasoning and put them into your braiser. Put the chicken in the oven, preheated at 425ºF, for 20-25 minutes.
Step 2 | Melt the butter down in a microwave-safe bowl and combine the honey, garlic and onion powders, more lemon pepper seasoning and lemon juice and zest with the melted butter.
Step 3 | Take the lemon-pepper seasoned chicken thighs out of the oven and use the silicone brush to coat the chicken skin generously with the honey mixture.
Step 4 | Cook the chicken for another 30 minutes at 375 degrees F, the honey will caramelize and darken but no, you haven't burned anything. I really like how the skin gets crisp and sticky and so yummy from that glaze.
Make the Honey Lemon Garlic Butter Pan Sauce
Now we're going to make the pan sauce. This is a totally optional step, but turning those pan drippings into a yummy, tangy sauce is not hard and takes less than 10 minutes to do.
So plate those chicken thighs, set them aside, and then...
Step 1 | Remove the majority of the fat from the pan with a paper towel. We want to keep about 3 tablespoon worth of fat in the pan. Add shallots, thyme, and red pepper flakes to the sauce and cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes.
Step 2 | Next is to add that chicken broth to the pan, just about ½ cup for 4 servings. We're going to use a whisk to deglaze the bottom the of pan, getting all the browned bits from cooking the chicken to incorporate into our sauce. Let that reduce by half and thicken up a little.
Step 3 | Let's finish it off with some butter, monte beurre style! Whisking in butter emulsifies the sauce, making it smooth and lucious like at your favorite restaurants.
Step 4 | Serve the lemon chicken thighs and the sauce over your preferred side dish.
Variations and Substitutions
- Try marinating the chicken thighs! I love a little oil, lemon juice, some smashed garlic, salt and pepper as a simple yet powerful marinade.
- Instead of making a pan sauce, serve these tender chicken thighs with a bright and herby chimichurri sauce or even a couple dashes of hot sauce.
- You can use chicken breasts or boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead but remember that the cooking time will change up! I suggest using a probe thermometer to keep track of the internal temperature.
- You can use fresh garlic, but I suggest using a microplane to grate it into a paste and mix it into your tangy sauce. Chunks of garlic easily burn so we want to kind of make it almost dissolve in, giving us a smooth sauce that won't have burnt garlic.
Pro Tips
Take the cooked chicken out at 160 degrees F, and let it rest on a plate so it can rise to 165 degrees on its own without overcooking.
If you don't have a braiser, use a baking dish then transfer all that lemon chicken-y goodness left in the dish to a skillet to make your pan sauce.
What to Serve with Honey Garlic Lemon Chicken Thighs
We keep it simple with these lemony garlic chicken thighs, it goes with a wide variety of side dishes!
- Add a fresh salad into the mix or serve over pasta.
- Like the rich flavor of the pan sauce is perfect for spooning over mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes.
- My husband loves roasted chicken with rice and beans, it never fails. Try it with Cuban style black beans or New Orleans' red beans and rice!
- Some roasted or sautéed veggies like asparagus, green beans, etc.
Storage and Reheating
Store the chicken thighs and sauce separately in their own airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat in the oven at 325ºF in an oven-safe dish until warmed through, about 20 minutes.
You can also freeze the chicken thighs with the sauce in a freezer-safe zip top bag or vacuum sealed bag for up to 6 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in the oven for 30-35 minutes at 325ºF.
Equipment
- An oven-safe and stovetop-safe braiser pan - a cast iron skillet also works wonderfully here!
- Tongs
- Silicone basting brush - I love this one because it has special bristles that hold more liquid than a classic brush and it's dishwasher safe.
- Microplane - for zesting the lemons
- Whisk
- Meat Thermometer - optional, if you really want that assurance for your chicken temperature.
More Chicken Recipes
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Honey Garlic Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 6 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Honey Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce
- 3 tablespoon salted butter
- ½ cup honey
- Zest and Juice from a Large Lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Pan Sauce
- 1 small shallot, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves OR ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoon salted butter, cold
Instructions
Make the Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs
- Preheat your oven to 425ºF.
- Season the chicken thighs all over with the salt and lemon pepper seasoning and put them into your oven safe braiser or large cast iron skillet. Put the chicken in the oven for 25 minutes.6 bone in, 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- While the chicken is roasting, melt 3 tablespoon of the salted butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Whisk the ½ cup honey, 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning, and the lemon juice and zest with the melted butter.3 tablespoon salted butter, ½ cup honey, Zest and Juice from a Large Lemon, 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Take the lemon-pepper seasoned chicken thighs out of the oven after the 25 minutes and use the silicone brush to coat the chicken skin generously with the seasoned butter and honey mixture.
- Turn the oven down to 375ºF, and place the chicken back into the oven for 30 minutes, until the chicken skin is dark from the caramelized honey sauce. Or until the chicken's internal temperature is 160-165ºF per a meat thermometer.
- Remove the pan from the oven and place the chicken onto a plate to rest.
Make the Pan Sauce
- Remove the majority of the fat from the pan with a paper towel, keeping at least 3 tablespoon worth of fat in the pan. Add shallots, thyme, and red pepper flakes to the sauce and cook over medium heat on the stove for 3-4 minutes.1 small shallot, 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves OR ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Add the chicken broth to the pan, use a whisk to deglaze the bottom the of pan. Let that reduce by half over medium heat and thicken up a little for about 5-6 minutes.¾ cup chicken broth
- Turn the heat off. Finish the sauce with the last 2 tablespoon of cold butter, whisking it well to incorporate fully.2 tablespoon salted butter
- Serve the chicken thighs and pan sauce over your choice of sides.
Recipe Notes
Variations and Substitutions
- Try marinating the chicken thighs! I love a little oil, lemon juice, some smashed garlic, salt and pepper as a simple yet powerful marinade.
- Instead of making a pan sauce, serve these tender chicken thighs with a bright and herby chimichurri sauce or even a couple dashes of hot sauce.
- You can use chicken breasts or boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead but remember that the cooking time will change up! I suggest using a probe thermometer to keep track of the internal temperature.
- You can use fresh garlic, but I suggest using a microplane to grate it into a paste and mix it into your tangy sauce. Chunks of garlic easily burn so we want to kind of make it almost dissolve in, giving us a smooth sauce that won't have burnt garlic.
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