Roasted Chicken Thighs

This recipe combines

Velouté

Bone-in chicken thighs roasted over a little mirepoix and wine until the skin is deeply golden, then finished with a pan gravy built from the roasting juices. Because everything is the same cut, it all cooks at the same rate — no dry breast to babysit — and the thigh is the most forgiving part of the bird. The gravy is a velouté: a roux loosened with the strained roasting juices and a little stock, which carries far more flavor than a gravy built in a clean pan. This page includes the velouté so it reads as one dish; it also stands on its own.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups chicken stock

For the gravy (a velouté)

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• Reserved roasting juices
• About 1 cup chicken stock, plus more as needed

Roasting & Baking

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Frying in the Oven→

Method

Prep and assemble

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Pat the chicken thighs completely dry — this matters more than almost anything else for crisp skin. Scatter the mirepoix (onion, carrot, celery) across the bottom of a roasting dish, then pour in the wine and 2 cups stock; you only need a little aromatic here since the stock already carries flavor, and just an onion is enough if that's what you have. Rub the thighs all over with olive oil, season generously with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence, and set them skin-side up on top of the vegetables, keeping the skin above the liquid so it crisps rather than steams.

Roast and rest

Roast 40–45 minutes, until the skin is deeply golden and crisp and the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Move the thighs to a plate to rest, then pour off the roasting juices and skim off the excess fat — for a smooth gravy, strain out the vegetables; at home I leave them in.

Make the velouté gravy

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, whisk in the flour, and cook 1–2 minutes to a roux. Slowly whisk in the roasting juices along with about 1 cup stock, and simmer until the gravy coats the back of a spoon — too thick, whisk in more stock; too thin, simmer to reduce. Season and spoon over the thighs.