Chicken thighs with lemon [Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer] from Food52 Genius Recipes: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook by Kristen Miglore

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Ingredients

preserved lemon rind
chicken thighs

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Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

kariholsberry on May 23, 2026

Very easy. I added the suggested bacon and olives. Simple and perfect.
kenalper on April 26, 2026

I made this regularly. I do it in cast-iron, and do 20 minutes on the stove, then flip them and put them in a 350° convection oven for another 20 minutes. I’ve never used the preserved lemon, but I do throw a couple thick slices of ordinary lemon in there when I flip ?
Delys77 on September 07, 2021

Perfect as written. Lovely thighs with crisp skin and a great little sauce. My chicken did render a huge amount of fat so I didn't drizzle over the chicken, instead I skimmed some of the fat and then gathered the lemon with a touch of the dripping and drizzled this over.
ChelseaP on May 21, 2021

Excellent recipe.
rionafaith on April 02, 2020

Nice simple way to cook crispy-skinned chicken thighs. They took more time than indicated to really brown, and I should maybe have had the flame even lower after flipping, as I burned some of the preserved lemon bits. I'll use this method again.
mharriman on December 28, 2018

My husband and I loved the crispiness and slightly grilled flavor of this chicken. I used my LeCreuset cast iron pan and they cooked as described in the directions. They had beautiful color and coats! Prior to cooking, I spent an embarrassing amount of time looking for preserved lemons. No luck there. They were listed on two stores’ websites as in stock but alas there were none to be found at either. My regular grocers didn’t have them. I ended up using lemon zest, a bit of salt, as well as dried and minced lemon peel from the spice section of a gourmet food store. The chicken was delicious but I’ve now ordered preserved lemons so I can see what it’s actually supposed to taste like! Served with a green salad and stove top grilled zucchini. Update 11/11/20: served with Black Bean,Corn , red bell pepper, and quinoa salad from 365 Days of Salad/ Williams Sonoma. Excellent wine pairing- sauvignon Blanc for the chicken as well as salad.
chawkins on July 22, 2018

Somewhat of a failure for me, I went by some of the comments on food52 and covered the pan to avoid grease splatter; so the thighs were stewing in its own juice instead of frying in its own grease, I also trim all the fat off the thighs before frying. I left the pan open once I recognized the problem and let the juice evaporate, however, the skin mostly stuck to the pan, what stayed on were really crispy though.
stockholm28 on February 28, 2016

This technique produces a wonderful, crispy chicken skin and a very moist chicken thigh. I used a cast iron pan which worked perfectly. I will definitely use this technique again.
Zosia on December 08, 2015

I agree with the other reviewers: the method worked perfectly in delivering crisp skin and tender meat.
tmatthey on October 28, 2015

Crispy skin delivered! The technique is simplicity itself.
DKennedy on October 27, 2015

A complete and utter success. Used the chantal dutch oven and used the same technique to first make thighs, then moved on to wings and legs, emptying pot of grease in between batches.
Astrid5555 on April 13, 2015

Delicious chicken thighs with the crispiest skin I have made so far. The only issue I had is that it took much closer to 1 hour for the meat to be cooked through than the 45 minutes stated in the recipe.