Crispy Cast Iron Chicken
Without a doubt, this is our FAVORITE way to eat chicken! I make my Crispy in the Cast Iron skillet several times a month, it’s such a quick and easy meal – that tastes AMAZING!
Oddly enough, even though we raise our own chickens (for meat & eggs) my husband wasn’t big fan of chicken (strange, huh?!) until I started making my Crispy Cast Iron Chicken!
He’s even said it tastes BETTER than fast food breaded & fried chicken… and there’s no breading, nothing fancy or difficult.
I want to STRESS the importance of buying local, pasture raised, organic chicken at all times. Not only is it HEALTHIER for you & your FAMILY, it’s also better for the chickens, the planet and it’s supporting your local farmers.
OH! and it is the #1 key to amazing tasting chicken! Very liberally season up those local, pastured, organic chicken thighs with my seasoned salt – and let them sit for at least 15 minutes but you can feel free season them up a couple days ahead and keep ’em chilling in the fridge 
Then heat up your cast iron skillet over medium heat and add a little fat (butter, ghee, coconut oil, tallow, lard, bacon grease or schmaltz) Then brown your chicken on both sides….
When your chicken is lightly browned pop the entire skillet in your preheated 350 degree oven and let ’em bake (uncovered) for 30-45 minutes. The skin will be nice and crispy and the meat will be tender and juicy!
Equipment
Ingredients
- Chicken Legs and/or Thighs
- Homemade Seasoned Salt
- avocado oil*
Instructions
- Liberally season chicken with my Seasoned Salt, set aside for at least 15 minutes or chill for up to a few days
- Preheat Oven to 350 F
- Heat your cast iron skillet over medium heat, add Fat
- Lightly brown chicken on all sides
- Bake (in the cast iron skillet, uncovered) at 350 F for 30-45 minutes (until chicken is cooked through and skin is crispy)
- Remove from oven and let rest 5-10 minutes prior to serving
- Enjoy!
Will the cast iron start to smoke
Will the cast iron start to smoke, when? in the oven? on the stove?
Love the seasoning salt recipe! The chicken was very tasty but not “crispy”. I will do this again but crank the heat up to 375-400.
Meant to rate at 4 stars! Don’t know how to edit my comment.
Hi Hayley , I love the cast iron crispy chicken and I want to make it again, in the past I was able to access your seasoned salt recipe but now it’s not highlighted on your website, may I please get the recipe.
Thank you 🙏
Tony
It’s linked in the recipe card 🙂 but I’m including it HERE for you too!
I always bake the drumsticks in my cast iron to get the skin a bit crispier but doing it this way (searing first) makes it even better! Also, it was time to switch up the recipe I have been using for years. I loved the seasoned salt and have been using it on many other things, including the cauliflower breakfast home fries we have been eating all week.
I made my own seasoning salt, used pasture-raised butter and baked in batches as described. This is probably the best chicken I’ve ever made!
Did I miss where you describe how much fat to use? I’m trying to recreate a very old recipe that essentially fried the chicken in its own rendered fat without adding additional fat (and this recipe looks close). Thanks!
I’d say anywhere between 2T and 1/2 a cup depending on your cooking style AND the quality of the chicken you use.
Thanks…
Thank you, this is such an awesome technique! I let some legs soak in lemon juice and then covered them in flour salt pepper and some lemon zest and they are so delicious! Thank you so much!
I don’t have a cast iron skillet. Can I use just a basic cooking pan to fry the chicken? Also I normally just bake a bunch of chicken breasts for about 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees. Do you suggest baking chicken at a lower temp for longer going forward? Thank you.
Alex- you are welcome to create a baked chicken recipe using mine as your inspiration. Cast Iron defiantly makes the chicken a little more yummier (hence why it’s what we cook with 90% of the time)
Any issue with doing chicken breast’s with the thighs and legs?
No
I have my beloved griswold #8 (I miss when things were built to last, so I digress) and I’ve done variations of this before: brown and bake, same skillet.
Browning I have to imagine cooks 25 percent? gives the thighs (or whatever) a head start? I do it, too. But at 275 or 300.
So my question is about the 350. The skin remains crunchy? If I followed your recipe I’d be inclined to aluminum “tent” the thighs so skin doesn’t get tough.
Sorry to bug you. Of the low and slow oven school, but some nights, like tonight, I don’t have the time. I think this is a wonderful blog. Curious about your thoughts on the chicken. I’ve been juicing about 20 years and I feel I’m plateauing with my regular regime, so I’m checking out what you have here. Thanks–Brent in AZ
Brent – this is a pretty basic cooking technique where you brown your meat first then finish cooking through in the oven. “Bake (in the cast iron skillet, uncovered) at 350 F for 30-45 minutes (until chicken is cooked through and skin is crispy) – If you tent it with foil you’ll trap in moisture that will make your skin soft and soggy – which is counterproductive 🙂 I agree that slow and low is awesome, however the other school of thought is to not over cook, which in this recipe we are only cooking the chicken until it’s cooked through.
While I enjoyed (vegetable) juicing, I have since abandoned the practice because it negatively impacted my blood sugar and played a large part in creating my insulin resistance. I am still fighting to resolve the issue now years later. Drinking straight juices are pure carbohydrate and IMHO not the best practice for everyone. If its working for you that’s awesome!!!
I was searching for a new way to make chicken and came across your recipe. I have a huge cast iron skillet and thought how perfect! Used my own seasoning on the meat, followed the rest of your recipe and WOW! Would never of thought of this myself, so, thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s so good AND easy. I use this all the time. At least 2 or 3 times a month.