Creamy Smothered Chicken Thighs are the perfect dinner for a chilly night! Seasoned with spices and baked to perfection in a delicious cream sauce.
If you’re a fan of homemade meals and soul food then you’re going to love this recipe! I love making chicken thigh recipes like my Honey Lime Chicken Thighs, and this recipe is equally flavorful.
This recipe was inspired by my Smothered Pork Chops video on my Youtube channel, and I knew I just had to add the version made with chicken thighs to my site.
The sauce is super creamy but it mostly consists of chicken broth. This isn’t a quick meal, it cooks for about an hour but let’s face it, meals cooked long and slow are the best!
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- Bone-in Chicken Thighs
- Granulated Garlic
- Paprika
- Oregano
- Chili Powder
- All-purpose Flour
- Onion
- Garlic
- Chicken Broth
- Heavy Cream
- Red Crushed Pepper (optional)
- Butter
- Oil
- Salt and Pepper
How To Make
It’s incredibly easy to make these delicious juicy smothered chicken thighs, here’s all you have to do:
You’ll want to preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Season the chicken with the spices on both sides and under the skin as well. You will have some spices leftover. You can add them to the all-purpose flour for even more flavor. Coat the chicken with the seasoned flour on both sides.
Cook the chicken in a hot skillet with oil over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside on a plate or lined baking sheet. Add the onions to the skillet and cook until translucent. Stir in the fresh garlic and red crushed pepper and cook for 20 seconds. Season with salt and pepper.
To make the sauce, add the butter and 1 tbsp of the seasoned all-purpose flour to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes to make a roux. Add the chicken broth and cook for 2-3 minutes while whisking constantly. Stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper.
Place the chicken back in the skillet. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until the chicken is fully cooked through.
What Should I Serve This With?
A savory chicken dish is super versatile. To make a delicious and complete meal, serve with any combination of these:
- Fluffy White Rice
- Cauliflower Rice
- Brown Rice
- Steamed or Roasted Vegetables
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- A side salad
Can I Use Chicken Breasts Or Chicken Legs Instead?
Absolutely! All you have to do is adjust the cooking time but keep the recipe exactly the same. If you decide to use chicken breasts, serve this with some pasta! It’s so good.
Keep in mind that boneless chicken breasts cook a lot quicker than bone-in chicken thighs. Reduce the cooking time accordingly so that you don’t end up with dry chicken breasts.
Can Pork Be Substituted For Chicken?
Of course! You can definitely make smothered pork chops if you don’t want to use chicken thighs.
You can also make smothered steak or smothered turkey wings if you’d like as well.
How To Make Low Carb Cream Sauce For Chicken
If you’re on a low carb diet you can omit the seasoned flour. Just remember that the sauce won’t be as thick.
My Creamy Baked Chicken Legs recipe is low carb and keto-friendly, and tastes just as good!
Top Tips:
- Use a thermometer. Every oven is different, so your chicken may cook quicker or may take longer to cook than mine did. The safe internal temperature for chicken is 165 F. The juices should always run clear.
- Make sure the chicken is at room temperature before cooking.
- Pat any moisture off of the chicken with paper towels before cooking. This will help to get a crisp sear on the chicken thighs.
- Add mushrooms and spinach if you’d like to incorporate some veggies.
More Chicken Recipes You’ll Enjoy:
-
Chicken Stew
-
Grilled Chicken Parmesan
-
BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
-
Healthy Orange Chicken
-
Avocado Chicken Salad
Creamy Smothered Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1 lb bone-in chicken thighs
- 2 tsp granulated garlic
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 small onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- pinch of red crushed pepper
- 2 tbsp butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- oil for frying
- parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, combine the paprika, oregano, chili powder, and granulated garlic.
- Season the chicken with the spice mixture, salt, and pepper.
- Add the remaining spice mixture to the all-purpose flour.
- Coat the chicken with the seasoned flour, shake off any excess.
- Cook the chicken in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes on each side.
- Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.
- Add the onions to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and red crushed pepper.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the butter and 1 tbsp of the seasoned flour.
- Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken broth and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the heavy cream.
- Place the chicken back in the skillet.
- Place the skillet in the oven and cook for one hour.
- Garnish with parsley and enjoy!
I’m going to cook it I’ll let you know how it is thank you
I used cream of chicken soup instead of the heavy cream flour & seasonings. It great recipe. Thanks
That’s an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing it 🙂
I can’t cook, but I made these and they were amazing!!! I highly recommend this! I ended up eating it all in 2 days. So delish!
I made this and loved loved it. Slight kick of heat but not overly so. Does it take time? Yes ma’am . Worth it? Absolutely!!! Really the most time is hands off so I think it is so worth the outcome. Made with drumsticks and boneless thighs both good but for leftovers the boneless is better and trust me you want leftovers! I made it into lunch for two days!!! Yummmmm
Woohoo! So glad you enjoyed it, Suzie, this is one of the most popular recipes on the blog and my personal fave as well.
This is an excellent recipe, I added green peppers, so good, I’m glad I found you❤️!
Thanks, Tamara! I’m happy you found me 🙂
Loved this recipe but found the chicken was done after about 25 minutes in the oven! A cooking thermometer is a MUST for this recipe!
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Micah! So glad you enjoyed the recipe and yes every oven works differently and some people use bigger chicken pieces, etc. so I strongly recommend using a thermometer 🙂
Do you remove the skin on the chicken?
No, I didn’t.
I made this yesterday and I have to say it was wonderful. We served it over rice and thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. I wouldn’t change a thing about this recipe.
I am by no means an experienced cook, but I made this and it was amazing! The second time, I seasoned with Herbs de Provence and it was equally amazing. Thank you for this delightful dish!
I made this tonight and it has my kitchen STILL mskng amazing! I added: shallots, green peppers, mushrooms, green onions and dill! Superb! Nice family dinner and plenty of left overs! Will most definitely be adding this to our list of frequent dinners. Thank you!
Tried this and it turned great! I like the tip of stirring in some more cream after taking it out of the oven as it brings back some volume to the gravy.
I used medium sized chicken thighs so it took only 40 mins for me in the oven.
Made this tonight! I removed the skin from the chicken. I fried the chicken for 8 minutes on each side in a cast iron pan. I substituted the heavy cream for milk and a little extra butter and baked in the cast iron on 400 for one hour. Absolutely delicious!
I’ve made this three times already and my boyfriend loves it. I followed recipe to the tee. Thanks
Yay! So glad you guys enjoy this recipe, it’s one of my faves!
This is so good! One of our new favourite recipes! I serve it with garlic mashed potatoes.
Yay! This is one of my favorite recipes as well 🙂
Great Recipe!! I used half chicken half mushroom stock which gave it a nice flavor. Fun dish to prepare!
Made this recipe tonight and entire family loved it.
Made this tonight. I have made smothered chicken b4 but misplaced my go to recipe. Googled it and was led to this website. I was nervous about using heavy cream but the chicken was delicious and very easy to make. I love that it was one pot. Thanks for an awesome recipe.
The onion – chopped, diced, sliced? The garlic gloves: diced, crushed, sliced?
dice the onions and minced the garlic 🙂
Love this recipe! My husband enjoys it too!! Definitely in the dinner rotation! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you and your husband enjoyed this recipe! It’s one of the most popular recipes on the site 🙂
Could I use Chicken Stock vs Broth. That’s what I have. So want make this and don’t wanna run out and get anything else.
Thanks, Jan
Yes, absolutely.
I cooked five pounds of Costco bone-in chicken thighs and adjusted the recipe accordingly. Served over rice. It’s 18 degrees here in north Mississippi, and this is definitely a “stick-to-your-bones” recipe. Thank you so much.
This comment made my day! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂