By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- 5(7,366)
- Notes
- Read community notes
There’s nothing wrong with a dinner of pan-seared chicken seasoned with salt and pepper. But there’s everything right about the same chicken when you add anchovies, capers, garlic and plenty of lemon to the pan. What was once timid and a little dull turns vibrant, tangy and impossible to stop eating. And the only real extra work is chopping the garlic and a little parsley for garnish. In this dish, the cut of chicken is less important than the pungent pan sauce. Most people will probably want to use the workhorse of all poultry dinners, the boneless, skinless breasts. But the thighs cook nearly as quickly, and have a greater margin of error in terms of doneness. Overcook your breasts by even a minute, and you’ll get dry, tough meat. Thighs are more forgiving. However, if your family insists on white meat, you can substitute breasts and subtract about 3 minutes from the cooking time. There is no need to mention the anchovies until after people have complimented you on the meal.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1¼pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (4 to 5 thighs)
- 1teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 6garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 5anchovy fillets
- 2tablespoons drained capers, patted dry
- 1large pinch chile flakes
- 1lemon, halved
- Fresh chopped parsley, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
407 calories; 23 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 45 grams protein; 607 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and let rest while you prepare the anchovy-garlic oil. Mince one of the garlic cloves and set it aside for later. In a large, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the 5 smashed whole garlic cloves, the anchovies, capers and chile. Let cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up the anchovies, until the garlic browns around the edges and the anchovies dissolve, 3 to 5 minutes.
Step
2
Add the chicken thighs and cook until nicely browned on one side, 5 to 7 minutes. Flip the thighs, place the pan in the oven and cook another 5 to 10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
Step
3
When chicken is done, transfer thighs to a plate (be careful, as the pan handle will be hot). Place skillet back on the heat and add minced garlic and the juice of one lemon half. Cook for about 30 seconds, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Return chicken to the pan and cook it in the sauce for another 15 to 30 seconds.
Step
4
Transfer everything to a serving platter. Squeeze the remaining lemon half over the chicken and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve.
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7,366
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Cooking Notes
LH
For those who, like me, use anchovy paste from the tube rather than whole fillet anchovies, note that according to most sources one anchovy fillet is the equivalent of 1/2 teaspoon of anchovy paste.
Jessica
I make this all the time, too, and I've shared the recipe with lots of people. I use bone-in, skin-on thighs (because chicken skin is the best part of a chicken), and I brown the chicken a bit first before adding the anchovies, garlic, etc. so nothing burns. Perfect weeknight meal.
JD
I've made this many times now, and it is always a hit. I put capers in after the anchovies dissolve (Step 1) so they don't get too over cooked. Also I find that the juice of a whole lemon (Step 3) is necessary.
Ken Wightman
I'm going to make this tomorrow night. It sounds great. I'm beginning to think Ms. Clark is onto something when she goes on and on about the magic of anchovies. I've slipped them into a number of meals and they seem to add sparkle without added a "fishy" taste. (My wife's big fear.)
I must tell you that your Cooking site is wonderful. Well laid out, great videos (short but informative) and lots of contagious enthusiasm. Nice work. You can all take a bow.
Cheers!
nutsnbolts
There wasn't enough sauce for my taste so I added vermouth to the pan along with a little more lemon juice. Probably could have used chicken broth, but the vermouth was more interesting.
Stephanie
Brown the thighs first, remove from pan. THEN make the sauce. Cook the anchovies and garlic together on a low heat to control the garlic not getting over cooked. Then add capers as suggested by another reader. I add at least a half to 3/4 c white wine at the end when thighs have been removed from the sauce along with more lemon. simmer to reduce a bit and thicken. the more sauce the merrier! finally a T of butter.
Ray
Your assertion is overblown.
Guests generally bear the responsibility of informing their hosts about life threatening allergies.
Allergies to shellfish are fairly common, as food allergies go. Anchovies, though, are a fin fish, not a shellfish. They do not contain chitin, which is the allergen present in shellfish. Fin fish allergies are rare. People frequently believe anchovies are shellfish, and also commonly believe they don't like them due to fishy smell. She's saying try them.
3rd time
Last night, I briefly steamed thickly sliced potatoes and added them when the chicken went into the oven. Before deglazing the pan, I transferred the potatoes to a platter, placing the chicken on top, and returned to the oven. I poured the deglazed pan sauce over all and served with the parsley. (This eliminated the step of adding the chicken back to the pan.) The spuds were an easy way to round out the menu and take advantage of all the delicious pan sauces this recipe makes.
Christine
I have tried both ways and the oven finish really adds more depth to the flavor
Oksen
Just wow. Truly lives up to the hype!
I also skipped the whole oven thing. Used thighs, which I think pan fry well without drying out. Another lazy shortcut I took was putting in white wine instead of lemon. Turned out plate-licking good. I'm literally making it again tonight, though we just had it last night. Melissa is my girl.
Sue Llewellyn
Splendid recipe, though there's no real need for the preheated-oven bit, which seems an entirely unwarranted complication. Instead, why not turn and cook chicken on other side in the pan, then transfer to plate and proceed with step 3?
mjb
Love this dish. Fast, easy and delicious. Its too hot to put the oven on, so, I made it entirely on top of the stove. I cooked for about 3-5 minutes per side and used a lid on my saute pan to keep the splatter at bay. On the plus side, I once I put everything on a platter, I used the light coating of oil remaining in the pan to saute some broccoli. Will be making this dish over and over again. Don't forget the bread!! Its essential to mop up the sauce.
Staccato
Great served over spinach.
Charles Michener
I've cooked this dish for years - it's a good one. I suggest several modifications. Tinned anchovies can taste fishy; if using them instead of jarred ones, rinse them gently first. I brown the chicken in the anchovy/oil/red pepper mixture, then add the smashed garlic (this way you won't burn the garlic).To keep the chicken moist, I pan roast it with a little chicken stock on the stovetop. I perk it up at the end with lemon zest (not juice), finely minced capers, garlic and parsley.
Sue Llewellyn
Next time try jarred anchovies in olive oil--and definitely "Italian" flat-leaf parsley--for an even higher flavor profile.
Chantal
Definitely a keeper! Next time I will brown the chicken in the oil, anchovies with chile flakes then add the garlic and capers because the garlic got a little too toasty for my liking. Otherwise yes to the oven finish - a must for more flavor!
Patrick
Made it 2x--first time very good. Second time we chopped the thighs, browned, finished in the oven and otherwise prepared as written except we served over pasta. That was amazing.
Adrienne
This was absolutely delicious just the way she wrote it. I did make the mistake of using a non-stick pan, so it will be even better next time!
Joan Pachner
Really delicious and so easy. I am not someone who uses much garlic at all and my husband was leery about the anchovies. But it really works beautifully altogether. Next time will try with bone-in thighs and will also add some vermouth or white wine, as others have suggested.
Diana
So good. We used the chicken tenderloins as we did not have the thighs. I followed the recommendation for chicken breast referenced in the recipe and decreased the cook time. Perfect. Quick enough, readily available ingrediants and accurate serving size.We served all over a bed of brown basmati rice.
Richard
It worked - wonderful recipe.
Laurie
This was delicious! Although I had to do the sauce twice. I started out following the instructions precisely, but picked a cast iron pan as my ovenproof pan. Within two minutes on medium high heat I had completely burned the capers, anchovies and garlic. So I switched to a stainless steel pan, re-smashed some garlic, opened a new bottle of capers, and fished out a few more anchovies. It went perfectly from there. Served with rosemary/herbes de Provence roasted baby potatoes and green beans.
This is a wonderful dish….
I used large thighs from Costco so I had to do two batches of browning. I used my 2.5 qt Le Creuset 13” pan. I found that using the lid in the oven built up a nice pan sauce. No need to add more liquid for finishing. I used 1.5 lemons. I whole for the final cooking step and then a half for finishing.
Sandra
This is a wonderful recipe framework. Like others I added vermouth as well as the lemon. I used a dash of lemon zest and forgot the capers. I also started with sauteing the chicken first to avoid overcooking the garlic. I paired it down for 1. Delish. Will make again!
The flavors, colors and textures have made this dish a family favorite. Healthy confort food.
25 minutes? Ha Ha. That said, it’s a big hit!
Lola
totally delicious and super easy to make. Agree with others here: brown chicken FIRST then make the oil - my thighs didn't get terribly brown for fear of burning the garlic. Used a whole lemon (was too much because I also added some white wine. Would have finished sauce with butter but didn't have any so I put about a teaspoon of sour cream in there - dont do it - did not improve sauce. Will make again and again - super easy weeknight meal that comes together quickly.
Kevin
My sauce came out really broken. Any tips?
Melinda Tha Cook
I didn’t have any anchovies so I used anchovy paste instead. I had to guess at an equivalent and next time I’ll use more! Regardless, the dish was very, very good.
Mary
I agree with others who say to add the garlic later. It just ends up getting too brown/burned if you make it according to the recipe. It also needs more lemon. This is an ok recipe—wouldn’t bother to make it again.
Jená Hatchett
We found this to be okay, but not up to Melissa Clark's usual fare. I'm wondering if I did something wrong. There are so many 5 star reviews. I was disappointed.
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