Mexican-Spiced Chicken Thighs

Allow us to introduce you to one of the easiest, most flavorful chicken dinners you can make. It takes about 5 minutes to get these chicken thighs into the oven. The juices are absolutely drool-worthy so we highly recommend serving these with tortillas to soak up all that flavor. Alternatively, you can serve these thighs over plain-old steamed rice and let those juices provide all the flavor.

For more easy dinners check out our entire collection of 30-minute meals.

Why Our Recipe

One of the easiest dinners you can make. Just add spices and butter and bake.
Juicy flavorful chicken you can serve with tortillas or over rice.

Thighs are one of my favorite chicken parts to cook with. They are always tender and moist, and as a bonus, they are always cheap. Chicken thighs are one of my go-to dinners for nights when I just don’t know what else to do. If you’ve ever been afraid to cook with bone-in skin-on chicken, now is the time to give it a try and enjoy that moist meat and crispy skin.

Ingredient Notes

An overhead view of the ingredients needed to make mexican-spiced chicken thighs,

Chicken Thighs: Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are perfect for this recipe. You can use boneless skinless, but you won’t get that delicious crispy skin.
Lime Juice: Freshly squeezed works best. You’ll need about 2 limes to get 1/4 cup of juice.
Ground Cumin: Gives that Tex-Mex flavor.
Chili Powder: Experiment with different kinds of chili powder because they all taste a little different.
Cayenne Pepper: Adds a bit of spicy heat to the dish. Feel free to reduce or omit if you keep things mild.
Garlic Powder: Because garlic makes things taste so good!
Ground Cloves: A little warm spice added in to balance things.
Butter: Helps to crisp up the chicken skin. Divide it into 8 pieces so each thigh gets its own little pat of butter.

Make it a Meal

Warm Tortillas: Serve the chicken thighs with warm tortillas on the side. The tortillas are perfect for soaking up the delicious juices from the chicken. You can also shred the chicken and make tacos. Corn or flour tortillas both work well, so use your favorite!

Steamed Rice: A simple side of steamed rice is an excellent way to enjoy the flavorful juices from the chicken. The rice absorbs all the delicious drippings. You can use plain white rice, brown rice, or even cilantro-lime rice for an extra pop of flavor.

Vegetables: Keep it easy with our frozen veggies hacks. The whole point of this dinner is to keep things simple!

A Mexican-spiced chicken thigh in a plate with a fork and knife cutting into it to show the juicy meat inside.

Crispy Skins

Chicken thighs have a fair amount of meat on them, and a good crispy chicken skin is to die for. The trick to getting crispy skin is ensuring it doesn’t sit in any moisture and has direct heat to crisp it up. With chicken thighs, the dark meat stays juicy while the skin crisps, so it would take a lot for your meat to dry out. The bone also helps bring out the chicken’s flavors while keeping it moist.

To achieve perfectly crispy chicken skin, pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture before seasoning and cooking. Arrange the thighs in a single layer in your baking dish, ensuring they aren’t touching to allow heat to circulate evenly. Placing a small pat of butter on each thigh adds flavor and aids in crisping the skin.

Storage and Reheating Instructions

Refrigerate any leftover chicken thighs in an airtight container. They will stay good for up to 3 days.

Reheat in the microwave by placing a chicken thigh on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a microwave-safe lid or another plate. Heat on medium power for 1 minute then check the chicken. Microwave in additional 30-second increments as needed until heated through. This method is quick but may not keep the skin as crispy.

Reheat in an air fryer by placing chicken thighs in a single layer in the air fryer basket and heat at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5-7 minutes, or until warmed through and the skin is crispy.