Baharat-Spiced Chicken Thighs and Potatoes
By Andrea GearyPublished on August 7, 2023
Time
1½ hours
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Chicken thighs are very forgiving in terms of doneness, so don't worry if yours are of different sizes. We like Yukon Gold potatoes here, but you can substitute russets if that's what you have on hand. We used Diamond Crystal kosher salt when developing this recipe. If using Morton's kosher salt, which is finer and denser, use only 1⅛ teaspoons for the spice mix and 1½ teaspoons for the potatoes.
Instructions
- Adjust oven racks to lowest and top positions and heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine 1½ teaspoons salt, paprika, smoked paprika, cumin, pepper, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, and cayenne in small bowl. Bring 2 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven.
- Place 1 thigh skin side down on cutting board. Cut away any pockets of fat and any skin that extends beyond meat and reserve trim. Make three ½-inch-deep slits in flesh parallel to bone. Turn skin side up. Repeat with remaining thighs. Using tip of paring knife, poke skin of each thigh 8 to 10 times. Sprinkle 1½ teaspoons spice mixture evenly over skin of thighs. Turn thighs over and sprinkle remaining spice mixture over flesh side. Rub mixture into slits.
- Scatter trim over surface of rimmed baking sheet. Roast on lower rack until trim is mostly crisped and fat is rendered, 8 to 10 minutes. Discard trim and leave fat in baking sheet. While trim is rendering, add potatoes and baking soda to boiling water and return to boil. Boil for 2 minutes and drain well. Return potatoes to Dutch oven and place over low heat. Cook, shaking pot occasionally, until any surface moisture has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Add rendered fat and remaining 2 teaspoons salt to potatoes and stir with rubber spatula until potatoes are coated with starchy paste, about 30 seconds. Transfer potatoes to now-empty sheet pan and spread into even layer. Roast on lower rack until undersides of potatoes are brown and crisp, about 15 minutes.
- Using spatula, flip potatoes. Push potatoes aside to clear 1 space for each thigh. Place thighs skin side up in cleared spaces. Roast on upper rack until chicken is browned and crisp and largest thigh registers at least 185 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through roasting.
- Transfer thighs to platter to rest. Stir potatoes to coat with any remaining liquid and spread over surface of baking sheet. Return pan to upper rack and roast until potatoes are mostly dry, about 5 minutes. Transfer to platter with chicken and sprinkle potatoes with parsley. Serve, passing lemon wedges separately.
Time
1½ hoursYield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Chicken thighs have plenty of flavorful juices and fat, but they don't release them until the meat is almost done, which is far too late to be helpful in roasting our potatoes. To better utilize the fat from the chicken, we trimmed the thighs well and roasted the trim on its own to render its fat. Meanwhile, we slashed the flesh side of the thighs and covered them with a simple spice mix, taking care to get the mixture deep into the slashes. To ensure that our potatoes could absorb all the savory juices thrown off by the roasting chicken thighs, we parboiled the spuds with baking soda. Its alkalinity quickly broke down the pectin in the exteriors. After drying the potatoes briefly, we stirred them vigorously with the fat we'd rendered from the chicken trim and some kosher salt. The salt roughed up the exteriors, creating plenty of entry points for the flavorful chicken juices to suffuse the spuds as they roasted. Starting the potatoes lower in the oven provided plenty of bottom heat to jump-start browning. After adding the chicken, we moved the sheet up in the oven where the plentiful top heat would ensure that the chicken skin became crisp. Chopped parsley and a spritz of citrus provided fresh flavor that complemented the richness of the potatoes and chicken.
Want more? Read the whole storyBefore You Begin
Chicken thighs are very forgiving in terms of doneness, so don't worry if yours are of different sizes. We like Yukon Gold potatoes here, but you can substitute russets if that's what you have on hand. We used Diamond Crystal kosher salt when developing this recipe. If using Morton's kosher salt, which is finer and denser, use only 1⅛ teaspoons for the spice mix and 1½ teaspoons for the potatoes.
Instructions
- Adjust oven racks to lowest and top positions and heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine 1½ teaspoons salt, paprika, smoked paprika, cumin, pepper, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, and cayenne in small bowl. Bring 2 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven.
- Place 1 thigh skin side down on cutting board. Cut away any pockets of fat and any skin that extends beyond meat and reserve trim. Make three ½-inch-deep slits in flesh parallel to bone. Turn skin side up. Repeat with remaining thighs. Using tip of paring knife, poke skin of each thigh 8 to 10 times. Sprinkle 1½ teaspoons spice mixture evenly over skin of thighs. Turn thighs over and sprinkle remaining spice mixture over flesh side. Rub mixture into slits.
- Scatter trim over surface of rimmed baking sheet. Roast on lower rack until trim is mostly crisped and fat is rendered, 8 to 10 minutes. Discard trim and leave fat in baking sheet. While trim is rendering, add potatoes and baking soda to boiling water and return to boil. Boil for 2 minutes and drain well. Return potatoes to Dutch oven and place over low heat. Cook, shaking pot occasionally, until any surface moisture has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Add rendered fat and remaining 2 teaspoons salt to potatoes and stir with rubber spatula until potatoes are coated with starchy paste, about 30 seconds. Transfer potatoes to now-empty sheet pan and spread into even layer. Roast on lower rack until undersides of potatoes are brown and crisp, about 15 minutes.
- Using spatula, flip potatoes. Push potatoes aside to clear 1 space for each thigh. Place thighs skin side up in cleared spaces. Roast on upper rack until chicken is browned and crisp and largest thigh registers at least 185 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through roasting.
- Transfer thighs to platter to rest. Stir potatoes to coat with any remaining liquid and spread over surface of baking sheet. Return pan to upper rack and roast until potatoes are mostly dry, about 5 minutes. Transfer to platter with chicken and sprinkle potatoes with parsley. Serve, passing lemon wedges separately.
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