Easy Baked Greek Chicken Thighs

4.60 from 80 votes
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You’re going to love this Baked Greek Chicken Thighs Recipe – with tons of fresh lemon and oregano flavor for a keto Greek chicken dinner the whole family will ask for again and again!

Greek chicken thigh in a baking dish with oregano and lemon in pan

Chicken thighs are one of my favorite things to cook.

They are delicious, often budget friendly, don’t dry out, and are great for low carb or keto diets.

These Greek chicken thighs are baked to perfection with simple ingredients you probably already have on hand – but the flavor is amazing and unforgettable – you won’t even realize it’s low carb and keto approved.

You can make this recipe as-is – or add a vegetable to cook in the dish with chicken and Greek marinade for an all in one meal, like my viral Chicken Thighs and Mushrooms in Garlic Butter Sauce recipe and this out-of-this-world delicious Maple Dijon Chicken and Potatoes Skillet.

Try it with potatoes, broccoli, or asparagus (with asparagus, add vegetable partway through cooking to prevent overly soft vegetables.)

Chicken thighs are amazing with rice pilaf, pan fried broccolini, cauliflower rice, or fresh baked bread – they are a delicious addition to sandwiches, wraps, and salads as meal prep, too!

I love Greek flavors – they are clean, simple, hearty, and so delicious. If you love this oregano and lemon chicken dinner, be sure to visit my Greek chicken power bowls, Greek chicken souvlaki, or my absolute favorite Tzatziki recipes, too!

Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.

At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe – my goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

I want each reader to walk away with a solid knowledge of each recipe, with all of the tips I’ve gathered from extensive testing of each recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help everyone better understand the processes we use – and why!

How To Bake Chicken Thighs

If you’re bored with baked chicken thighs, and looking for a way to make them crunchier, juicier, and with more flavor – these tips will help you to bake perfect chicken thighs every time right in your oven!

Pat Chicken Thighs Dry

Extra liquid and moisture on the chicken will keep the thighs from crisping – pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels before cooking to remove any excess liquid.

This will help the fat to stick to the chicken better, and help the Greek flavors sink into chicken for flavor.

If your chicken thighs are wet, the oil won’t have a chance to really sink in, so remove any excess packaging liquid/water with paper towels.

Don’t Trim Fat

Fat is good on chicken thighs, even if you don’t usually like chicken fat.

We’re cooking these chicken thighs long enough for the fat to render out and help make a crispy, crunchy outer crust – so don’t over-trim your chicken thighs.

This will allow the chicken to naturally crisp and add to the flavor of your chicken, so don’t trim too much away.

Let Skin Crisp

If you’re looking for additional crunchy chicken (especially important since we’re using skinless, boneless chicken thighs), you can pop the chicken thighs under the broiler for 2-4 minutes – be careful and watch the chicken closely to make sure it doesn’t burn.

I always crisp mine a bit at the end for extra crunch – it makes this baked chicken thigh recipe crave worthy!

If you’re loving the crunch, be sure to also check out my fried keto chicken thighs recipe – it tastes deep fried, with absolutely NO breading whatsoever – just pan fried chicken thighs with an amazing crunch!

Unroll Chicken Thighs

If you’re often not a fan of chicken thigh texture, unroll the chicken thighs so they lay flat.

This will cook the chicken thighs more evenly, and ensure a crunchy surface on the entire thigh – which makes it completely irresistible, and a bit easier for people who usually shy away from dark meat chicken.

This makes your chicken thighs look a little weird – I have one friend who says they look like aliens – but chicken thighs taste SO much better unrolled, so consider trying it yourself!

When you add to the surface area of the baked chicken thighs, more of it can get a lovely brown crisp, and the chicken cooks faster, to prevent drying out.

Adjust cooktime a bit if unrolling thigh, since it will cook faster.

My Blacked Chicken Thighs recipe is based on unrolling chicken thighs, if you’d like to see a recipe that unrolls them to cook in a cast iron pan (a method you can use with this recipe if you’d rather not turn on the oven.)

3 chicken thighs in a baking dish with oregano and lemon

Use Bone-in or Skin-on Thighs

If you’d like to use thighs that are bone-in, or have skin, this recipe still works fabulously!

Skin-on and bone-in thighs will take 5-10 minutes longer to bake, depending on their size.

Watch the temperature of the thighs and make sure to measure the thickest part of the thigh, without hitting the bone, to tell when chicken is done and has met 165 degrees internal temperature.

For skin-on thighs, I prefer to cook to 155 degrees and then pop the chicken under the broiler for the final 10 degrees so the skin can crisp and get crunchy.

Flabby chicken skin is gross – but crisping just before removing can make it amazing!

How To Remove Chicken Thigh Bones

Removing chicken thigh bones is no necessary in this recipe – you can instead increase cook time by 5-10 minutes to cook thighs through completely – but if you’d like to remove bones, you can do so with the simple steps below.

You can trim bones out of chicken thighs for easier eating by unrolling thigh.

Gently pull at the bone to separate it from surrounding meat and using sharp kitchen scissors, cut it out and discard.

oregano and cracked pepper on top of a chicken thigh

How To Tell When Chicken Thighs Are Done

If you’re looking for the absolute best baked chicken thighs, you need to go off the chicken’s temperature – NOT the time listed in this recipe.

Chicken thigh sizes can vary wildly, and differences in oven effectiveness, altitude, humidity in the air – they can all impact your cooking time, making it shorter or longer.

Chicken is safe to eat at 165 degrees internal temperature.

Check your chicken thighs regularly as they cook to monitor temperature.

When chicken is cooked to 160-165, it is done in the oven -since it will carryover cook the final five degrees.

Do let chicken rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting or serving to continue carryover cooking and help chicken rest so juices don’t all rush out.

To measure, be sure to insert thermometer in fattest part of meat – without getting too close to bone as it will throw off temperature.

raw chicken thighs marinating with lemons and oregano

Greek Chicken Marinade

This chicken gets its rich flavor and perfect tender juiciness from marinating ahead of time.

Marinating the chicken helps to lock in the flavor and keep chicken from drying out – and lets your herbs fully absorb into the chicken’s flavor.

You can also pre-marinate big batches of chicken thighs and then freeze them (in a bag or vacuum packed for even more flavor – which is our favorite method) so you have freezer meals ready to go for later!

Greek Chicken Marinade Recipe

This Greek chicken marinade is fabulous on chicken, pork, and even beef!

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano (I will often toss in a few sprigs of fresh oregano)
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
baked chicken thighs in a pan with lemon and oregano

The Best Chicken Thigh Recipes

If you love these Greek Chicken thighs, be sure to check out our other favorite chicken thigh recipes – most are keto approved and low carb (the keto fried chicken thighs are my personal favorite can’t miss recipe!)

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chicken in a baking dish with lemon and oregano

The Best Easy Greek Baked Chicken Thighs Recipe

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chicken thigh in a pan

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4.60 from 80 votes

The Best Easy Greek Baked Chicken Thighs Recipe

By: Courtney O’Dell
Servings: 6
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Marinating Time: 30 minutes
Total: 1 hour 10 minutes
Greek chicken thigh in aa baking dish with oregano and lemon in pan
Baked Greek Chicken Thighs with tons of fresh lemon and oregano flavor for a keto Greek chicken dinner the whole family will love!

Ingredients 

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano, I will often toss in a few sprigs of fresh oregano
  • 1 lemon, sliced
  • ยฝ teaspoon turmeric
  • ยฝ teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, bone in or skin on ok – please see cooking time notes

Instructions 

  • Remove chicken from packaging and pat dry. Set aside.
  • In a gallon plastic bag or large bowl, add all ingredients except for chicken and mix well to combine.
  • Add chicken to bag or bowl and cover to make airtight.
  • Refrigerate and let chicken marinate at least 30 minutes up to overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Add chicken, lemons, garlic, and oregano to nonstick baking dish (I use an enamel baking dish since it is so easy to clean) with some marinade (about 2-3 tablespoons of marinade, not all of it).
  • If adding more fresh oregano sprigs, place in dish.
  • Bake, uncovered, for about 35 minutes – until chicken thighs are golden browned and 175 degrees F when a digital thermometer is inserted into the thickest part of chicken thigh.
  • Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes.
  • Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 254kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 28gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 137mgSodium: 201mgFiber: 1g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Chicken
Cuisine: keto
Tried this recipe?Mention @sweetcsdesigns or tag #sweetcsdesigns!

Sweet C’s Favorites

If you love this recipe be sure to find our reader favorites – all are easy and quick, many are low carb!

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About Courtney

Courtney loves to share great wine, good food, and loves to explore far flung places- all while masting an everyday elegant and easy style at lifestyle blog Sweet Cโ€™s Designs. Sweet C's devoted to finding the best food and drinks you'll want to make or find, around the world!

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4.60 from 80 votes (80 ratings without comment)

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5 Comments

  1. Sandra Easterling says:

    For the Greek chicken thighs the recipe was never given. Only ingredients was given. Not happy about it

    1. MJ says:

      Maybe you should have your own blog. Research, plan, purchase practice, photograph , write, publish, put up with rude nonsense posts like yours. The only thing you have to be upset about is you.
      This is a fine blog with lovely thoughtful recipes.

  2. lily says:

    Looks great, can you marinate over night?

    1. Courtney ODell says:

      Definitely – more flavor!!!

    2. Toni Hartman says:

      I don’t see that anyone ever responded to your question, but personally I would not marinade any type of meat (especially chicken) overnight in marinade containing lemon or lime juice as the acid tends to “cook” the meat after a few hours, which will make it stringy, rubbery, and/or mushy.