Ina’s Skillet Chicken Thighs and Roasted Veggies
My readers know what a huge Ina Garten fan I am. I’ve made well over 100 of her recipes and blogged about my experiences in the kitchen using her as my inspiration. So as a fan girl, I follow her on social media. As I was scrolling, I came across a video of Ina making her Skillet Roasted Chicken and Potatoes dish. I prefer using chicken thighs over chicken breasts and have a fondness for what buttermilk can do to tenderize and flavor meat. So her video was motivation enough for me to make it for dinner.
NOTE…PLAN AHEAD…it is essential that you marinate the chicken thighs in buttermilk for 8-12 hours. It’s a simple matter of covering the thighs in buttermilk in the morning and stashing them away in the fridge until it’s time to prepare dinner. Gallon size zip bags work great for this or placing them in a large casserole dish that you can cover.
Whenever you are working with a protein like chicken, pork or beef, make it a practice of taking it out of the refrigerator 1 – 2 hours before cooking. It is important to take the chill off the meat before placing it in the oven, on the grill, etc. So when a recipe says roast for 30 minutes, that is based on the meat being closer to room temperature.
Like most recipes, I alter them to match which ingredients I have in the kitchen and my preferences. So while I followed most of her recipe, here are the ways I modified it to make it my own: In addition to the potatoes she calls for, I added fresh leeks and carrots. In my opinion, the more veggies the better! I also used dried thyme instead of fresh. I have fresh thyme growing in my herb garden outside my kitchen. However we had a recent snowstorm that covered my fresh herbs in a blanket of white.
I’ll provide you the link to Ina Garten’s original recipe here: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/skillet-roasted-chicken-and-potatoes-11887246
As with much of my cooking, it’s all about using fresh quality ingredients. Keep it simple. Keep it fresh. Keep it delicious. Since this dish has many French flavors and ingredients…Bon Appetit!
Check out my variation of Ina’s recipe below:
Skillet Roasted Buttermilk Chicken with Potato, Leeks and Carrots
Ingredients
- 4 large bone in, skin on chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white or rose wine
- 1 teaspoon dried for fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika (not spicey or heavily smoked)
- 1 pound baby potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 large leek (white and light green parts) sliced 1/2 inch thick
- 1 1/2 cups baby carrots
- 1 tablespoon sliced fresh garlic (3-4 cloves)
- 2 tablespoons fresh flat leave parsley, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Marinate chicken thighs in butter milk around 8 hours
- Preheat oven to 350 (if you have convection roast option, use it)
- Pour extra virgin olive oil in 12 inch cast iron skillet and swirl until it coats the bottom
- Lift chicken thighs out of buttermilk marinade and let most of it drip off
- Place chicken thighs in skillet, skin side up
- Discard buttermilk marinade
- In a small bowl combine dijon mustard and wine
- Brush mustard mixture on top of each chicken thigh
- Sprinkle chicken thighs with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, paprika and thyme
- Place skillet in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes
- Remove skillet from oven.
- Using tongs lift chicken thighs out of skillet and put on plate.
- Add the potatoes, leeks, carrots and garlic to skillet. Sprinkle with remaining kosher salt and black pepper.
- Toss to coat veggies in pan juices.
- Place particially cooked chicken thighs on top of veggies.
- Roast chicken and veggies 30 minutes longer until chicken registers 155 degrees on instant read thermometer.
- Place cooked chicken thighs on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.
- Turn oven up to 425 degrees and place skillet of veggies back in the oven for an additional 15 minutes until tender and starting to brown.
- To serve, place roasted veggies on a plate and top with chicken thigh.
- Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and additional salt/pepper if needed.
Notes
- Plan ahead to marinate the chicken 8 hours…no more than 12 hour
- Remove marinated chicken from fridge at least 1 to 2 hours before cooking (this allows the chill to leave the chicken and cooking times will be correct).
- Feel free to swap out the veggies in this recipe for any that you like and that roast well (brussels sprouts, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, etc).
- Note…it’s important to season your food in stages. You’ll salt and pepper the chicken thighs as well as adding salt and pepper to the veggies before roasting.
