Creamy Lemon Butter Chicken Thighs with Spinach
It started to cool down this week (thank goodness), which means I have been in the mood to cook comfort food for dinner. I saw a recipe for creamy lemon butter chicken thighs with spinach on Damn Delicious, and it looked and sounded amazing. I served this tender and juicy chicken with garlic rice and crusty baked bread to help soak up the delicious lemony butter sauce, along with some roasted asparagus. We all agreed that this was a delicious recipe and would most definitely need to make another appearance on our dinner table.
Creamy Lemon Butter Chicken Thighs with Spinach
Ingredients:
- 5 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Paprika, to taste
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 cups baby spinach
How to Make Creamy Lemon Butter Chicken Thighs with Spinach
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Season both sides of the chicken thighs with paprika, sea salt, and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste.
Add the chicken thighs to the HOT pan skin side down and cook for 4 minutes, or until the skin is golden brown.
Flip over and cook for another 2 minutes. Carefully drain & discard the grease from the cast-iron skillet.
Return the skillet to the stovetop and add the garlic; cook, stirring it around the chicken for about 30 seconds.
Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, remaining butter, and fresh thyme sprig to the skillet; mix well.
Place the skillet in the preheated oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove the skillet from the oven.
Using tongs, remove the chicken from the skillet and place it on a plate loosely covering it with a foil tent.
Stir in the spinach and heavy cream into the sauce. Taste and season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste, if needed.
Nestle the chicken thighs back into the sauce, then serve. Enjoy.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Paprika to taste
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter divided
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 cups baby spinach
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Season both sides of the chicken thighs with paprika, sea salt, and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste.
- Add the chicken thighs to the HOT pan skin side down and cook for 4 minutes, or until the skin is golden brown.
- Flip over and cook for another 2 minutes. Carefully drain & discard the grease from the cast-iron skillet.
- Return the skillet to the stovetop and add the garlic; cook, stirring it around the chicken for about 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, remaining butter, and fresh thyme sprig to the skillet; mix well.
- Using tongs, remove the chicken from the skillet and place it on a plate loosely covering it with a foil tent.
- Stir in the spinach and heavy cream into the sauce. Taste and season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste, if needed.
- Nestle the chicken thighs back into the sauce, then serve. Enjoy.
This looks amazingly delicious! Wish I could dig right in 🙂
This dish looks awesome – we are big fans of lemon-butter-garlic sauce. I like that it is simple and one pan.
Oh boy would I like this dish – chicken, cream, and spinach. Yum.
Have just printed this to make up and take with us as we are off next weekend for 7 days. Camping in the luxury of a safari tent. Perfect meal for the night we arrive, Thanks. Happy weekend Diane
This looks amazing, but inquiring minds need to know-WHO GETS THE EXTRA THIGH? lol
My husband. 🙂
~Pam
Me!
We just finished this very delicious meal. I cooked the chicken a bit longer in the skillet and less in the oven. At the end I added sliced cherry tomatoes ti add some color. I am not one to measure ingredients so I just pour, chop or add what feels right. Ours came out perfectly!!!
John,
Adding the tomatoes for a pop of color & flavor is a terrific idea. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
-Pam
I needed to use up some spinach and was looking for recipe ideas when I found this one. It was a definite hit! Husband and MIL loved it. The only change I made was to add Lemon Pepper rotini pasta to the completed dish. We all agreed I need to make this again.
Beth,
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
-Pam