The Best Way To Cook Chicken Without a Recipe

You don’t need a recipe to cook juicy, flavorful chicken. I learned this easy method in culinary school, then perfected it over years of restaurant and home cooking. It works for many cuts of chicken—breasts or thighs, skin-on or skin-off, bone-in or boneless.

First, preheat the oven to 400°F. While the oven preheats, prepare your chicken. No matter the cut, I add a little olive oil all over, then rub in my seasoning of choice. It can be as simple as salt and pepper, or a combination of a dried herb (my favorite is oregano), something spicy (like smoked paprika), and something with umami (such as garlic powder or onion powder).

Let the chicken sit at room temperature until your oven preheats. This gives the salt a chance to flavor and tenderize the chicken and brings the meat closer to room temperature, which helps it cook more evenly. If you're working ahead, you can pop the seasoned chicken into the fridge for up to 24 hours and then let it come to room temperature while the oven preheats.

You aren’t going to bake the chicken quite yet. Instead, reach for a heavy-bottomed or cast-iron skillet. Coat it generously with oil. I prefer the flavor of olive oil, but I find avocado oil gives me a better sear thanks to its high smoke point, so I usually use a mix of the two.

You’re not deep-frying the chicken; you need just enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the skillet. Set it over medium-high heat until you can visibly see the oil shimmering.

Add the chicken to the pan, presentation side down. (This is a fancy way of saying skin side down. If you’re using a skinless cut, it’s the side where the skin would have been on the breast or thigh.)

Sear the chicken for three to five minutes without touching it. Again, this is just a guideline. Let your chicken tell you when it’s ready. When it’s ready to flip, you shouldn't feel any resistance. If it’s stuck, let it sear a bit longer until it releases easily.

Flip and sear the other side for two to three minutes. Then transfer the whole skillet to the oven. How long it stays there depends on the cut. No matter what type of chicken you cook, it’s only done when the internal temperature reaches 165°F.

Use the following oven times as a guide:

• Boneless thighs: 12 to 15 minutes
• Boneless chicken breasts: 8 to 12 minutes
• Bone-in thighs: about 30 minutes
• Bone-in breasts: about 25 minutes

Remove the chicken from the oven and tightly tent it with foil for five to 10 minutes. This allows the juices to redistribute so every bite is flavorful. Then you're ready to serve!

The Thermometer I Use To Make Cooking Chicken So Much Easier

If you're making chicken breasts, there’s not much room for error. Overcook the meat, and it will be dry and tough. Undercook it, and, well, that’s even worse (and gross). Even as someone who went to culinary school, I only feel comfortable when I’m armed with a good instant-read thermometer. A recipe? I can do without. As long as I know the internal temperature of my bird, I’m good to go.

I picked up my trusty thermometer from Costco over the holidays last year, but you can find a reliable one relatively inexpensively (or splurge on this editors' pick). It gives me the confidence that the chicken is not only safe to eat, but that it’s perfectly cooked, too, which maximizes flavor and texture.

Now, as someone who develops recipes for a living, I’m going to let you in on a secret about chicken recipes: They’re not reliable unless you’re using a thermometer.

Recipe developers always use thermometers to get an accurate read on their chicken. They’re also working in a home or test kitchen that’s likely different from yours, and they’re using cuts of chicken that can vary in width, weight, and moisture. So even with the best of intentions, a recipe’s cook time is only a general guideline. The only way to know for sure that your chicken is done is to check its internal temperature. It's done when the temp reaches 165°F.