These Crispy Cantonese Chicken Thighs are the perfect healthy weeknight meal to feed to your family! It’s a one-pan, umami-packed, Whole30, paleo, and keto chicken dish with super crispy skin!
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A spin on a childhood favorite!
When I was growing up, one of my mom’s weeknight dinner standards was a steamed Cantonese chicken dish with sliced shiitake mushrooms, ginger, and scallions. The combination of these umami-packed ingredients yielded a dish that tasted exponentially better than the individual parts—umami synergy in action!
Chinese Cracklin’ Chicken
A few years ago, my picky younger son, Ollie, declared that his grandmother’s cooking is far superior to mine (“no offense, mom, but poh-poh’s a better cook than you because she cooks with Chinese flavors—you’re number two”). I told him that I agree with him 100 percent, but not to tell my mom. (I like to needle my mom, just like Ollie likes to needle me.) Ollie did throw me a bone, though: “I love your Cracklin’ Chicken, mom. I just wish you’d make it with Chinese flavors.”
Ollie never makes any special requests for recipes, so I decided that this was a challenge worth taking. Taking inspiration from both my mom’s Cantonese chicken dish and my friend Simone Miller’s Pan-Roasted Chicken with Bacon and Apples, I created this simple yet flavor-packed chicken dish with ingredients that remind me of my childhood. And did I mention that the chicken skin gets super crispy (like Cracklin’ Chicken!), the juicy meat is infused with tons of flavor, and you only dirty one pot? Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!
This recipe is so good that we put it in our second cookbook, Ready or Not!
Soak Dried Shiitake Mushrooms Ahead of Time!
Dried shiitake mushrooms are one of the key components to this dish. They pack a giant wallop of flavor ’cause they have more than 15 times the amount of umami as fresh shiitake mushrooms.
Plus, you can keep them in your pantry for months and pull them out whenever you need an extra burst of flavor. I’m convinced that my mom’s cooking tastes so good because she adds reconstituted dried shiitake to EVERYTHING.
Of course, you do need to reconstitute these dried mushrooms in water before using them (unless you’re throwing them in a soup), and they need time to rehydrate. The package normally says to soak them for 30 minutes, but I’ve found that it always takes longer.
If you’re planning to make this chicken dish, take a few minutes earlier in the day to rinse the dried mushrooms to remove dirt. Then, put the mushrooms in a large bowl and cover with water—your ’shrooms will be ready to use at dinnertime!
Can’t find dried shiitake mushrooms? You can substitute fresh shiitake mushrooms, but your dish won’t be quite as good.
Ingredients
- Chicken thighs: If you want crispy skin and flavorful, juicy meat, use bone-in and skin-on thighs. Yes, you can use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. However, keep a close eye on the breasts so they don’t overcook! Definitely use an accurate meat thermometer and make sure that you remove the breasts when the temperature hits 145°F to 150°F in the meatiest part. (Yes, chicken breasts are A-OK at this temperature per this article from Serious Eats.)
- Avocado oil: This is my favorite high temperature neutral cooking oil.
- Shallots: I love using sliced shallots in this dish, but feel free to substitute a yellow or white onion.
- Bone broth: I like using bone broth but you can use regular chicken broth or stock instead.
- Red Boat Fish Sauce: Not a traditional Cantonese ingredient, but it makes everything—including these chicken thighs—taste so dang good!
- Fresh ginger
- Garlic cloves
- Dried shiitake mushrooms: See note above about how to soak them before cooking.
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Green onions
- Fresh cilantro
How to make Cantonese Chicken Thighs
When you’re ready to cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 450°F with the rack in the middle position.
Heat a 12-inch oven-safe heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Melt one tablespoon of ghee in the hot pan, add the sliced shallots, and a sprinkle of salt.
Cook until the shallots are softened, stirring occasionally. This should take 5-10 minutes.
While the shallots are cooking, sprinkle kosher salt liberally (about 2 teaspoons) on both sides of the chicken pieces.
Squeeze out the excess liquid from the reconstituted mushrooms, slice off the woody stems (which can be reserved for bone broth)…
…and thinly slice the caps.
Once the shallots have wilted, add the sliced mushrooms, ginger, and garlic.
Stir-fry for about a minute or until aromatic. Transfer the vegetables to a plate.
Return the pan to the stovetop, wipe out any remnants with a paper towel, and increase the heat to medium-high. Then, sear the chicken pieces skin-side down in the hot pan until nicely browned and crispy, about 4 to 5 minutes.
While the skin is crisping, add freshly ground black pepper to the meaty side.
When the skin is golden brown…
…flip the pieces over and cook for 2 minutes more.
Stir the fish sauce into the broth and pour it in the pan, making sure to avoid pouring the liquid on the crispy skin.
Add the reserved shallots, mushrooms, and garlic back to the pan, tucking them in between the chicken pieces. Again, make sure not to cover the skin!
Transfer the pan to the hot oven and roast the chicken for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F. (You have a meat thermometer, right? Use it!)
Put on your heat-proof oven gloves, before you grab the pan.
Taste the sauce for seasoning and adjust as needed. Garnish the chicken with a shower of sliced scallions and cilantro, and dig in!
How to save leftovers
You can save leftover chicken in a sealed airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
What Do You Serve With This Dish?
- Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Simple Cauliflower Rice
- Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
- Smashed Cucumber and Carrot Salad
- Instant Pot Crispy Potatoes
More healthy Chinese recipes
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Crispy Cantonese Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or favorite high temperature cooking oil
- 1 cup thinly-sliced shallots about 3 large
- Kosher salt
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 6 dried shiitake mushrooms soaked for at least 30 minutes or until softened
- 2 inch fresh ginger peeled and cut into thin coins
- 6 garlic cloves peeled and smashed
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup bone broth
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce`
- ¼ cup sliced green onions
- ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 450°F with the rack in the middle position.
- Heat a 12-inch oven-safe heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Melt one tablespoon of ghee in the hot pan, add the sliced shallots, and a sprinkle of salt.
- Cook until the shallots are softened, stirring occasionally. This should take 5-10 minutes.
- While the shallots are cooking, sprinkle kosher salt liberally (about 2 teaspoons) on both sides of the chicken pieces.
- Squeeze out the excess liquid from the reconstituted mushrooms, slice off the woody stems (which can be reserved for bone broth) and thinly slice the caps.
- Once the shallots have wilted, add the sliced mushrooms, ginger, and garlic to the pan.
- Stir-fry for about a minute or until aromatic. Transfer the vegetables to a plate.
- Return the pan to the stovetop, wipe out any remnants with a paper towel, and increase the heat to medium-high. Then, sear the chicken pieces skin-side down in the hot pan until nicely browned and crispy, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- While the skin is crisping, add freshly ground black pepper to the meaty side.
- When the skin is golden brown, flip the pieces over and cook for 2 minutes more.
- Stir the fish sauce into the broth and pour it in the pan, making sure to avoid pouring the liquid on the crispy skin.
- Add the reserved shallots, mushrooms, and garlic back to the pan, tucking them in between the chicken pieces. Again, make sure not to cover the skin!
- Transfer the pan to the hot oven and roast the chicken for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F. (You have a meat thermometer, right? Use it!)
- Put on your heat-proof oven gloves, before you grab the pan!
- Taste the sauce for seasoning and adjust as needed. Garnish the chicken with a shower of sliced green onions and cilantro, and dig in!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Skipped the skin because we are trying to cut fat a little.
I had fresh shiitakes and wilted some spinach in at the end as I’m also trying to up my veggies.
This is going in rotation for sure!
The ginger, the fish sauce, the garlic…..all the flavors!
Hi Michelle, thank you so much for your wonderful recipes, I’m a huge fan! Question: ever since discovering your adaptation of Ollie’s Cracklin’ Chicken for the air fryer, which is a game changer, I can’t bear the thought of frying thighs on the stovetop (because of the mess as compared to the air fryer method). I’m going to try your Crispy Cantonese Chicken Thigh recipe in a baking pan in the air fryer as well. Can you see any reason why that might not work? How would you adjust the baking times accordingly?
Hmmm…I’m not sure it would turn out the same in a baking pan in the air fryer. The beauty of this recipe is you pan-fry the chicken skin to get it crispy and then the meat absorbs the flavors from the sauce as it finishes cooking in the oven. I don’t think you can really skip the frying part…
Hi again Michelle – I was determined to try this recipe with the air fryer, and I beg you to try it! I made it both ways, stove top and in the air fryer and I promise you it came out the same both ways – the chicken skin was crispy crispy crispy, and the chicken itself was well-imbibed with flavor. It helps to have a soup pot made for the air fryer/instant pot that comes in a box of accessories, but a round metal 8″ cake pan will work too. Here’s what I did:
1. Salt the thighs, put them in the air fryer skin side up and crisp the thighs at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn them over meat side up, pepper the meat and crisp the meat side for 2 minutes.
2. While the thighs are crisping in the air fryer, prepare the shallot/garlic/ginger mushroom mixture in a pan on the stove per your instructions. When done, transfer the veggie mixture into the soup pot, and add the broth/fish sauce to the veggies.
3. Place the thighs skin side up back on top of the veggies/broth mixture so that the bottom half of the thighs are submerged in the mixture, but the skin is well above the broth.
5. Air fry at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
6. Sooo delicious, thank you so much for this (and all of your) recipes!