Mexican-Spiced Chicken Thighs take less than 5 minutes to get in the oven and are amazing served up with warm tortillas. It’s an easy and delicious dinner!
Chicken Thighs on a white plate.

Chicken thighs are one of my favorite chicken parts to cook with. They are always tender and moist, and as a bonus they are always cheap. Chicken thighs are one of my go-to dinners for nights where I just don’t know what else to do.

The first time I made this particular version was several years ago. It was a beautiful 70 degree Sunday afternoon. I decided we should have a little picnic in the backyard. I threw together these chicken thighs and made some fresh tortillas (admittedly I use the cook and serve variety when I’m feeling lazy). I kicked back in my lounge chair with an IBC cream soda and a plate of this chicken and a couple tortillas. After that is all a blur of gluttony. The meat was moist and flavorful, the skin…oh the skin!….it was crisp and packed a punch of flavor. How could 5 minutes of prep work lead to such heavenly food? I found myself using that tortilla to soak up any last ounce of flavor. I’ve made these many, many time since and every time I’m met with glutenous joy.

If you’ve ever been afraid to cook with bone-in skin-on chicken, now is the time to get over it and enjoy that moist meat and crispy skin. Please, join me in my Sunday backyard picnic heaven. It’s full of amazingness I tell you!

Cooking Lesson
Chicken thighs might seem like an intimidating cut to work with because they have both bones and skin. No worries! They have a good amount of meat on them, and a good crispy chicken skin is to die for. The trick to getting a crispy skin is that it can’t sit in any moisture and it needs a heat source to crisp it up. With a chicken thigh, the dark meat will stay juicy while the skin crisps up, so it would take a lot for your meat to dry out. The bone-in helps bring out the chicken flavors while keeping it moist. Don’t be scared of bones and skin, it’s where all the flavor is! And as for my kids….I just pull it off the bone for them and they gobble it right up.
Chicken Thighs and half a lime on a white plate.
Chicken Thighs and half a lime on a white plate.

I’ve made a video to show you just how easy it is to make this recipe. Join be on my YouTube Channel too where I put out 3 new episodes a week. Subscribe and check out all my videos. With over 150 there’s sure to be something yummy that you will love!