These oven-baked chicken thighs are juicy, delicious, and easy-to-make — they are great during the work week, when you want to make a relatively simple dinner at home with a lot of flavor, and also yield plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.
SPICY LEMON PAPRIKA CHICKEN THIGHS
- 2 lbs. organic chicken thighs, skin on
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tsps cayenne power
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- Zest and juice of one lemon
- ¼ cup organic olive oil
In a bowl, mix paprika, garlic powder, cayenne powder, salt and pepper. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and olive oil, to create the marinade. Check the taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary (you may want more spiciness here, for instance).
Add the chicken thighs and toss. If you have the time, let the thighs marinade for a couple of hours –in full-disclosure, I often make this recipe when I don’t have time to marinate the thighs for much longer than 15 minutes, and the chicken still tastes delicious.
Preheat the oven to 215C (about 419F). Lay out the chicken thighs in a roasting pan and roast for about 30 minutes, until cooked through.
Turn on the broiler and broil until the skin is lightly crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Take the roasting pan out of the oven, transfer the thighs onto a platter and let them rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
These chicken thighs are great the next day, even cold!
eat. live. paleo. 
These look VERY good! I do a similar spice blend for chicken and seafood. Look forward to trying this!
Mmm, there’s just something about paprika! This looks like a great blend–definitely have to try it out.
Oh my god. These may be the best chicken thighs ever!! Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I made this tonight and I must say it was a HUGE hit! I didn’t use as much cayenne though…I was afraid 😉 If you don’t mind, I will reblog and share this with everyone I know!
Fantastic!
Reblogged this on barefootandprimal and commented:
I made this dish tonight and it was AMAZING!
Delicioso! Gratzie! I will have to reblog this on my site as well.
Thanks!
Not a thigh fan, do you think this would work with breast? It looks delicious!
I’m sure it will – hope you enjoy!
Made this tonight and the flavor was amazing! It will be on my regular rotation for sure!
Wonderful!
I made this tonight for the first time. I really didn’t have a lot of marinating time but they were super juicy and a great hit. I was hoping to save some for lunch tomorrow but they were too popular.
Making this tomorrow evening– currently marinating in the fridge as we speak. I used smoked paprika. Smelled delish! What would you suggest as a side dish? I am thinking a green salad with a nice paleo ranch dressing. Yes?
Yes! Sounds great – summery and delicious!
i just have to say thank you so much for this recipe- I’ve made it 4 time this month already- so easy, economical and YUMMMM. I keep saying I’m going to try the thighs another way but I CAN’T- the whole household is hooked. thanks again
Thank you for the lovely comment! So glad that you and your family love the recipe — I’m making them this weekend for a picnic!
This chicken was awesome, moist full flavour, thank you for sharing, my husband thinks this is the best chicken dinner, I have made
Fantastic! Glad it turned out well!
Are these bone-in or boneless? I usually get boneless but I think these look like they are bone-in…just don’t want to ruin the cook time!
These are bone in!
thank you so much for this recipe it is amazing!!! i used it on chicken breast and put it on the grill and it worked perfect
Just made this today and it was amazing!!! Have already shared the recipe with a couple friends! Thanks so much for sharing.
You’re welcome! So happy to hear that the chicken thighs came out great!
I will be trying this, but I do believe there is specifically no salt in the paleo diet.
http://thepaleodiet.com/what-to-eat-on-the-paleo-diet/
Hi Andrew,
If you try the recipe, I hope you enjoy it! My husband and I are not “hardcore” paleos as prescribed in the link you posted. We’re more along the lines of what Robb Wolf calls 80/20 paleo, since we drink wine and very occasionally eat cheese. He has a write-up about the various “paleo” approaches here: http://robbwolf.com/2012/10/24/shades-paleo/
Delicious!!! I replaced the cayenne with srirarcha sauce and it tasted marvelous 🙂
Awesome! Good idea with the sriracha!
This sounds yummy! Would it be ok to marinate these overnight or is that too long?
did anyone else think there was too much olive oil???
This was great. I used it on wings and we couldn’t stop talking about it. Thanks for this.
I used 1 clove of garlic instead of garlic powder. I also used some chilli powder instead of cayenne.
Made this today. It is now my new favorite chicken recipe. Only marinated it for about 15 minutes but it still had an amazing flavor.
Wonderful! So glad to hear you liked the recipe!
Sorry for this question, but what does ‘in full disclosure’ mean in regard to the marinade process? I’m from the UK and not too sure the meaning travels well! Thanks
I just meant in the sense of “revealing” — almost like, “to be honest” — as in, “…to be honest, I often make this recipe when I don’t have time to marinate..” I hope that makes sense.
I’ve made this recipe several times now and it is damn good! Had to cut the cayenne in half, I don’t like things super spicy. So easy to just throw together on a weeknight!
Hi, I want to make this recipe tonight, but I only have boneless, skinless chicken thighs. So would I reduce the cooking time since they’re boneless? If so, approximately how long would you cook them?
If they are boneless and skinless, they shouldn’t take as long to cook — probably 20 min? You could always take a piece out and cut it to make sure it’s cooked through! Good luck!
This is one of my go – to fav recipes!! I highly recommend it! Thank you!! please continue to post recipes – i love them!
Thank you so much!
I was so over chicken for a while- up until I decided to try this reciepe! Wow, best tasting chicken and so easy to make! I’m obsessed!!
Thank you so much for this wonderful reciepe, please keep posting more!
Thank you! Glad you liked the recipe! Yes, I am quite behind on posting, but hoping to get back onto it as we approach summer. Please check back in! x
Loved this ! Grilled tonight and very yummy
Yum! Awesome!
Wow
What a good taste. I made this recipe for Sunday lunch and used the same spice rub for the accompanying baby red potatoes. Baked the potatoes on a seperate sheet pan. Made some braised cabbage, with rice. Amazing!!!
This recipe is definitely going to be a HIT in my chicken recipes.
My husband and I love this recipe with a passion! Simple and delicious, it’s our go-to recipe.
I made these tonight with boneless skinless thighs and a cut up breast. They are amazing!!! So delicious. Thanks for a great recipe.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I love this recipe with chicken! Really keen on trying with other protiens – do you think it would work with lamb?
Hi Kim! I think it might – I haven’t tried it, but I would think the marinade would tenderize lamb. Let me know if you try it and if it works! xx
Would you have a nutritional break down of these? These are my absolute favourite and want to know if I should or shouldn’t be over indulging in these 🙂
Hi Danielle, Unfortunately I don’t have a nutritional breakdown, though I found it just on a medium sized chicken thigh here, in case it’s useful:
https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/generic/chicken-thigh-roasted-broiled-or-baked-skin-eaten?portionid=5884&portionamount=1.000
Obviously the marinade has fat in it in the form of olive oil…
Thanks for this, it’s much better than what MFP was giving me for these! Great site by the way!
Made this for a potluck this evening and everyone LOVED it. One of my friends won’t eat anything even a little bit spicy, so I left out the cayenne, but it was still really delicious. Not only that, but I saved on the cleanup by mixing the marinade right in the freezer bag before putting the chicken in to marinate. Easiest recipe I’ve made in ages! Thank you!
Fantastic! Love that the recipe worked so well for you! Hooray! xx
So we’re new to the whole paleo world of eating having previously been a heavy pasta family and I stumbled upon this recipe in a search for more ideas. I made these tonight for my family and my 2.5 year old and 1 year old devoured them!! My 2.5 year old son asked for seconds and thirds, typically dinner with him is a struggle – not tonight! Thank you! (I did limit the cayenne a bit because of the kids, but I only cut it in half and they were perfect) I can’t wait to try more of your recipes 🙂