This is an easy and wonderful change from traditionally baking your chicken.

Chicken thighs are tossed in an easy 3-ingredient coating, then fried in the oven in melted butter. The result is crispy, flavorful skin and meat.

With just 5 minutes of prep, this recipe is an easy addition to your family-friendly meal rotation.

Oven fried chicken stacked on top of eachother on a plate.

A Perfect Oven Fried Chicken Recipe

There are lots of reasons why I love this recipe.

Preparation is so easy that you might be surprised at the delicious outcome.
The result is juicy chicken meat with extra crispy skin.
This method will also work with chicken drumsticks, wings and any other cuts with the skin-on.
While I do love Shake n Bake chicken, this is a wonderful from-scratch alternative made with wholesome ingredients.
It’s so versatile and can be served with almost any side dish like potato wedges and greek salad.

Recipe Ingredients

CHICKEN: The recipe uses 6 chicken thighs. Feel free to use 4-8 depending on how many people to serve. There’s enough coating mix for 8 chicken thighs, but you might need to use a bit more butter for frying.

FLOUR: You can use all-purpose flour or a gluten-free flour blend. I used a gluten-free blend and it turned out beautifully.

BUTTER: This is what the chicken will be fried in while baking. I suppose you could use oil for this step but I haven’t tried it personally. I used salted butter.

SPICES: This recipe keeps things simple with a bit of paprika, salt and pepper used for the chicken coating.

COOKING SPRAY: For crispier results, I do recommend using a cooking spray on the chicken before tossing it in the coating. This is optional, but I find that the skin is more crispy golden when I do this step. You can use any kind of cooking spray for this step.

Four images of white casserole dish sharing recipe steps: first with melted butter inside, second with coated raw chicken face-down, third with cooked chicken thighs face-down, fourth with cooked chicken thighs face up.

How To Make Oven Fried Chicken

This is such an easy way to try fried chicken without a deep fryer or air fryer.

Pat chicken dry, then spray with cooking spray and season with coating mix.
Bake chicken thighs face down in melted butter according to the full recipe instructions below.
Flip halfway through.
Chicken is cooked when it reaches 165°F internally. Let sit 10 minutes, serve and enjoy!

Looking down at white casserole dish with six oven fried chicken thighs.

Recipe Tips

For crispier results, pat the chicken dry with paper towel before spraying with cooking spray.
Drippings can be drizzled over mashed potatoes, chicken meat, or rice. They can also be used to make a simple gravy.
Turn the oven to broil in the last 3-5 minutes for an even crispier skin.
Cooked chicken should reach 165°F when poked with a meat thermometer.
Let the chicken rest 10 minutes before serving.
Leftovers can be reheated in microwave or oven. To make the skin crispy again, broil for 3-4 minutes carefully watching so that it doesn’t burn.

Close up of cooked chicken thighs in baking dish.

More Easy Chicken Recipes

Baked Orange Ginger Chicken uses a delicious orange honey sauce.
Maple Lemon Garlic Chicken Tenders is simple, flavorful and a family favorite.
Balsamic-Glazed Chicken Wings are saucy, ooey-gooey, lick-your-fingers deliciousness.
Garlic Chicken Legs are so easy and a great way to use up inexpensive chicken.

Did you love this chicken recipe? Be sure to leave a rating below!