Lemon Caper Chicken Thighs

This chicken recipe is based off of a meal my very culinarily talented best friend has made many times. The dish took on an extra special meaning when I cooked it last January when I first moved to Salt Lake City. I had only been in Utah for a few weeks and only had about two weeks left until I was scheduled to continue to California. I decided to cook this chicken recipe for a few of my new friends and this boy I had gone on a few great dates with. During the dinner it was brought up how I was supposed to leave in a couple weeks and there was a clear sadness between me and this new boy. Turns out he was a real keeper, I ended up coming back to Salt Lake after only a few weeks in California, and the rest is history. I know there is this super cheesy trend of Mommy-bloggers sharing “Marry Me Chicken” recipes (that usually just look like insta-pot chicken stews). If I’m going to hop on this cringe trend I would call this chicken “Date Me Chicken” If you ask Jacob I’m sure there were a few extra reason to date me (hopefully but maybe not ha!).

Bone-In Skin-On Chicken Thighs 

Shallots 

Olive Oil

Capers 

Lemon

Capers

Dry White Wine 

Chicken Broth

Butter

Salt 

Pepper 

Gently cut off the peel of one lemon avoiding as much white pith as possible. I cut off the ends of the lemon first, stand it up on it’s side, then carefully cut off the peel in large strips.

Cut the lemon peels into very thin strips. 

Thinly slice 2 shallots 

Juice the lemon and set aside. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Heat olive oil over medium heat. 

Salt and pepper both sides of 2 pounds of bone-in skin-on chicken thighs. 

Place chicken thighs skin down and cook untouched until skin is crispy and golden. It will take at least 15 minutes so be patient, pour yourself a glass of wine or a cup of tea while you wait. 

Flip the chicken and cook for an additional 6 minutes. Remove chicken from the pan. 

Pour off some of the fat so there is about 3 tablespoons left behind. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add shallots and lemon peels and cook until soft and starting to caramelize about 6 minutes . Add as many capers as your heart desires (I added like 3 tablespoons).

Cook for a minute. Add 1 cup of white wine to deglaze pan. Cook off alcohol for a few minutes. 

Add 1 cup of chicken stock and lemon juice and simmer until liquid cooks down and thickens. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and stir to make sauce silky. Add chicken back into the pan skin side up. 

Put pan in oven and cook for 25 minutes until internal chicken temp is 170 degrees. 

Plate chicken thigh spooning all the sauce and goodness on top!

If you don’t have a pan that is oven safe (like me) I transfer the liquid to an oven safe pie plate and then put the chicken in.