Easy, Delicious and oh so versatile! These Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs will have your family begging for this recipe every week and you’ll be so glad to have it in your pocket. Great for company too!
Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs
If you have ever wanted an easy and tasty recipe that is packed with chicken flavor, this is the one! These Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs hit all the right notes and are so versatile that you’ll be cooking chicken this way every chance you get!
Low in fat, high in flavor and the chicken is falling apart with the tap of a fork. These Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs are Moist, never dry and go down way too easy!
These are similar to braised chicken thighs but a little different and I think you will love them!
How Long to Cook Chicken Thighs in a Dutch Oven
Gonna be honest here, this isn’t a FAST recipe! I cook my dutch oven chicken thighs over night or all day long at the lowest temp my oven will do, 170. It takes about 8 hours to make the perfect dinner.
Sometimes perfection takes a while, I’m just saying.
You could also do this recipe in a slow cooker or crockpot, cook on low for the same length of time and follow the same steps.
That said, it also isn’t a difficult recipe, it only have a few ingredients and you basically just dump and go. What more can you ask?
Here’s How You Do It
- Sear the chicken in a tablespoon of vegetable oil (you can skip this step if that seems too much), but it does add flavor.
- Put the chicken in, mix the broth with the three packets and the pepper and pour it over.
- Put the whole thing in the oven with the lid on and bake for 6 hours.
- Add the mushrooms all at once. Put the top back on.
- Remove from the oven and serve.
Here’s What You’ll Need
- 8-12 boneless skinless chicken thighs.
- 1 box of chicken broth
- 1 packet of chicken gravy
- 2 packets of Ranch dressing seasoning.
- Big pinch of pepper.
- 2 8oz packages of sliced fresh mushrooms
Special Equipment
You will need a dutch oven for this recipe. I personally have a Le Crueset brand dutch oven but those are expensive and unnecessary for most cooking needs. I also own a Lodge brand and the Sam’s Club Brand, both are sufficient.
Here’s the Lodge Brand dutch oven that I own, I like it, it works and is affordable. You can find it at Target or on Amazon.
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Versatile Chicken
This is possibly one of the most versatile chicken recipes I’ve ever come up with! Here are some ways you can use it!
- As a stand alone chicken dish. Serve like you would a braised chicken thigh recipe. Pair with broccoli casserole, corn bread and a noodle.
- Use the broth and make a chicken rice soup!
- Thicken the broth with some corn starch and use it as a chicken and gravy dish over some mashed potatoes.
- Dip the chicken out, chop it up and make a chicken salad with it.
- Use the chicken to make chicken pie
- Eat the chicken and then use the broth as the base for a soup.
- Eat the chicken over some nachos!
See how this can go on and on forever? Endlessly useful dish.
Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs and Rice
This is a terrific dish when served with rice. There are several ways to accomplish that and here they are…
- Make rice via standard recipe in a separate pan and then add that rice to your dutch oven chicken thighs just before serving. Be sure to season your rice with salt, pepper and butter.
- Add minute rice to your chicken thighs about 5 minutes before serving and allow to simmer and then let the whole dish sit for another 5 minutes before serving.
Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs and Potatoes
This dish is DELIGHTFUL with potatoes! Who could deny some dutch oven chicken thighs over creamy potatoes? Here are a couple of suggestions for that.
- Follow the recipe as written and in a separate dish make these stewed potatoes. Add them together just before serving.
- Serve Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs over some mashed potatoes, oh man, you can’t go wrong with that!
Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs and Sweet Potatoes
Yes, they are WONDERFUL this way! Try one of these methods…
- Fix up some canned sweet potatoes and serve them with your dutch oven chicken thighs and sweet potatoes.
- Serve over sweet potato fries!
- Mash up some of these boiled sweet potatoes and serve with your dutch oven chicken thighs
Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs and Pasta
All of these additions are wonderful and we enjoy ours over pasta too. You’ll see in the pictures that I use a corkscrew pasta for these photos. Just add a little more of the pot liquor for a delightful soupy pasta dish OR leave all the soup out and just enjoy the chicken over the pasta. YUM!
Cook the pasta per directions and then serve the chicken over the pasta at the table.
Substitutions
Chicken Thighs – you could always use bone in thighs or a boneless skinless breast for this recipe. I’ve eaten a similar dish where gizzards were added in and honestly, you wouldn’t know that the gizzards were anything different than the thighs.
Packets – I don’t have a substitution for these because honestly, that is where all the flavor is coming from.
Mushrooms – if mushrooms aren’t your thing, leave them out. You could always add in a different veggie like carrots if you prefer.
Broth – You could use water combined with broth concentrate or bouillon if you prefer.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Here’s some of the questions I’m typically asked about this dish.
Keep covered in the fridge and it will last 5 days.
Yes, it freezes very well. Remove as much air as possible and freeze for 3 months.
Tips and Tricks
- I note in the recipe to sear the chicken breasts in the dutch oven before cooking, it adds flavor. If you don’t feel confident about that or it seems like too much trouble, you can skip that step and your dish will still turn out fine.
- Some of you will have a near heart attack about adding three packets of flavor to your dish. Honestly, that is where most of the flavor comes from, it’s necessary for this recipe. If that isn’t your thing, you might want to find another recipe.
- This dish is endlessly versatile for serving options, once you make this once, you’ll find a million uses for both the chicken and the broth it creates.
- We love mushrooms at my house, but maybe you don’t. If you don’t, leave them off. Your final dish will still be delicious. If you want to add some color, I suggest carrots slices added the last 2 hours of cooking.
- DO NOT add the veggies at the beginning or they will completely disintegrate by the time the dish is done. That said, if you are cooking for children who won’t touch a vegetable, maybe that is the answer. They will still be in there, just not visible as a whole thing.
Watch Me Make Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs (coming soon)
Can You Give Me A Hand
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Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1 tbs oil
- 3 lbs chicken thighs boneless skinless
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 packets ranch dressing seasoning
- 1 packet chicken gravy mccormicks brand
- 16 oz mushrooms sliced, fresh
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170
- On the stovetop, heat the oil in the dutch oven over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add the chicken thighs to the oil one at a time and sear on each side until brown. Do this by allowing the chicken to cook on one side until it releases from the bottom, this make take a minute or more. If some sticks, don't worry about it. Once a piece of chicken is seared, remove it to a plate. The chicken should not be cooked through, just browned on the outside.
- Once all of the chicken is seared, remove the dutch oven from the heat and add all of the chicken and the juices from the plate to the dutch oven.
- In a bowl, mix 2 cups of broth together with the ranch seasoning packets and the chicken gravy, mix well and pour over the chicken. Add the rest of the broth to the dutch oven. Place the lid on the dutch oven and put it in the oven in the center.
- Cook the chicken for 6 hours at 170. Remove from the oven and add the sliced mushrooms to the dutch oven and replace the lid. No need to try to stir them in. Return the dutch oven to the center of the oven. Cook for another 2 hours.
- Remove the dutch oven from the oven and remove the lid, Gently stir the chicken and mushrooms together. Serve hot.
Notes
- I note in the recipe to sear the chicken breasts in the dutch oven before cooking, it adds flavor. If you don’t feel confident about that or it seems like too much trouble, you can skip that step and your dish will still turn out fine.
- Some of you will have a near heart attack about adding three packets of flavor to your dish. Honestly, that is where most of the flavor comes from, it’s necessary for this recipe. If that isn’t your thing, you might want to find another recipe.
- This dish is endlessly versatile for serving options, once you make this once, you’ll find a million uses for both the chicken and the broth it creates.
- We love mushrooms at my house, but maybe you don’t. If you don’t, leave them off. Your final dish will still be delicious. If you want to add some color, I suggest carrots slices added the last 2 hours of cooking.
- DO NOT add the veggies at the beginning or they will completely disintegrate by the time the dish is done. That said, if you are cooking for children who won’t touch a vegetable, maybe that is the answer. They will still be in there, just not visible as a whole thing.
Nutrition
There’s been some things in the news lately pointing out hypocrisy. I’m not going to judge. I’m sure that I’m a hypocrite sometimes too.
Obviously, we should pray for one another. That said, when someone is looking to lead people, maybe we should be wary of a person who has obviously done one thing and then is so vehemently opposed to the same thing. There is something untruthful there and we should be aware and beware, in my opinion.
1 John 2:9
Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
Wendi
Friday 28th of October 2022
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