Skillet-roasted chicken thighs with a lemon garlic pan sauce

Some nights the bar is simply this: something warm, something real, and minimal cleanup after. Skin-on chicken thighs seared hard in one skillet and finished with a quick pan sauce clear that bar without asking much of you. About 30 minutes stand between turning on the oven and sitting down to eat, and the hardest part is leaving the chicken alone while it sears instead of poking at it.

Bone-in, skin-on thighs give you real fat along with the protein, which keeps you satisfied instead of hunting the pantry an hour later. The lemon juice and zest hold a solid dose of vitamin C, and the pan sauce pulls minerals out of the broth as it reduces, a small, ordinary way of feeding yourself well on an otherwise unremarkable evening.

Choose pasture-raised chicken and a good, unwaxed lemon when you can, and let the moment the lemon hits the hot pan, when the whole kitchen brightens, be the payoff for the half hour you gave this.

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• salt
• 2 tablespoons lard (or coconut oil; both AIP-compliant)
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled (omit for low-FODMAP)
• 1 cup chicken bone broth, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon cassava flour (AIP-permitted)
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method

Heat your oven to roughly 400 F. Pat the chicken thighs very dry and season them all over with salt, which helps the skin crisp. Warm the lard in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Lay the thighs in skin-side down and let them sear undisturbed until the skin is golden and releases easily from the pan, around 6 to 8 minutes. Resist the urge to move them early.

Turn the thighs skin-side up and scatter the peeled garlic cloves around them. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until the chicken is cooked through and reaches 165 F at the thickest part, somewhere around 20 to 25 minutes. Lift the thighs and the softened garlic onto a plate and keep them warm.

Set the skillet back over medium heat, taking care since the handle is hot. Whisk the room-temperature bone broth with the cassava flour in a cup until smooth, then pour it into the pan, scraping up all the browned bits. Let it bubble and thicken into a light sauce, a minute or two. Pull it off the heat and stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and chopped parsley. Taste and adjust the salt. Spoon the sauce and the soft garlic over the thighs and serve warm.

*Adapted from gutsybynature.com*