Made Juicy Lemon Chicken Thighs tonight and honestly I'm kind of mad I haven't been making these weekly. Been trying to get better about cooking actual meals during the week instead of defaulting to takeout, and this one felt doable even after work. Took about 45 minutes start to finish, and most of that was just oven time where I wasn't doing anything. Here's how I made it if anyone wants to try: [https://www.amgroyal.com/juicy-lemon-chicken-thighs-easy-dinner](https://www.amgroyal.com/juicy-lemon-chicken-thighs-easy-dinner)  
  
Here's what I used:  
  
1 ½ pounds chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in, trimmed of excess fat  
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard  
1 tablespoon lemon zest, 1 teaspoon for rub and 2 teaspoons for sauce  
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano  
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme  
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt  
2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon for rub, 1 tablespoon for cooking  
2 garlic cloves, smashed  
1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice, from 1 large lemon  
1 ¼ cups (300ml) low-sodium chicken stock  
1 tablespoon unsalted butter  
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour  
  
The process:  
  
1. Preheated the oven to 400°F. Mixed up the mustard, one teaspoon of lemon zest, oregano, thyme, salt, and one tablespoon of olive oil in a small bowl to make a rub. Rubbed that all over the chicken thighs on both sides.  
  
2. In another bowl, I combined the rest of the lemon zest (2 teaspoons), lemon juice, and chicken stock. Just set that aside for later.  
  
3. Heated the other tablespoon of oil in my oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Tossed in the smashed garlic and cooked it for about a minute until it smelled amazing and browned a bit. Took the garlic out but kept that garlic oil in the pan.  
  
4. Put the chicken thighs skin-side down into the pan and let them cook for two to three minutes until the skin got golden and crispy.  
  
5. Flipped the chicken, poured in the lemon juice mixture, gave it a stir, then stuck the whole pan in the oven. Baked for about 30 minutes until the internal temp hit 175°F.  
  
6. Pulled the pan out and moved the chicken to a plate. Covered it loosely with foil while I dealt with the sauce.  
  
7. Put the pan back on the stove over medium heat and brought the liquid to a simmer. Mixed the butter and flour together with my fingers to make this crumbly paste, then whisked it into the sauce. It thickened up pretty quick and looked really glossy.  
  
8. Tossed the chicken back in and served.  
  
Few things I noticed: Don't skip the garlic oil step, it adds way more flavor than I expected. The mustard in the rub isn't super obvious flavor-wise but it helps everything stick and adds this subtle tang that works really well. I was worried the sauce would be too lemony but it balanced out perfectly with the chicken stock. Fair warning, my pan sauce was a little thinner than I wanted at first but that flour-butter paste fixed it right up. Also this is a solid family dinner option because my usually picky eater actually asked for seconds, which never happens.  
  
Leftovers kept fine in the fridge for a few days and reheated pretty well in the oven. The skin obviously wasn't as crispy the second time around but still tasted great.  
  
What do you guys usually serve with lemon chicken? I just did rice and green beans but I feel like there's probably something better I'm missing.

Juicy Lemon Chicken Thighs Easy Weeknight Dinner