Crispy sage butter chicken thighs with roasted mushrooms and squash
THAT SAGE BUTTER SAUCE 😍
Hi! I hope you’re well and enjoying the week so far. I have the most incredible, fall-inspired chicken dinner recipe for you, in honor of my birthday girl Posey, who turned eight this past week…
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We have been in what feels like a super-crazy-busy season right now, and all of a sudden it’s October. Almost every single weeknight we are juggling an after-school activity with dinner prep, family, time, birthdays, etc., which is forcing me to be extra efficient in the kitchen.
This recipe is a little-effort-big-reward situation. The dish— with its crispy chicken skin and sage butter sauce and mushrooms— is for my Posey girl, who has always been chicken dinner’s biggest fan.
Posey turned eight years old over the weekend and we had so much fun celebrating her kind, sweet, funny self. Her birthday request was a girl’s day out, which included lunch and shopping (can I just take a moment to express how grateful I am that we have arrived at the stage where she enjoys shopping with me?!). She’s going through a slime and stick-on earrings phase (let’s hope it’s a short phase) and that’s all she wants to spend her birthday money on.
Posey is pure sweetness and will give you all the love in the world. She’s considerate, always looking out for her friends, and you can always depend on her for a hug.
She was my baby for over seven years and it’s interesting to see how much she has grown as she shifted into a new role as middle child, and became a helpful big sister this past year. She asks me so many big, life questions, and I’m often blown away by what her little brain is thinking about. Along with her big questions and big voice (read: loudest in the house), she has a big heart with a kind strength I wish I had myself. I love when parenting reminds us of how much we want to be like our kids.
So in honor of my former-baby-now-middle-child, my best little co-baker, and my first baby girl turning eight this past week, I’m sharing a crispy chicken skin dinner that is one of her favorites.
I hope you love it as much as Posey does.
Crispy chicken thighs with roasted mushrooms, squash and sage butter
This dish captures all of the fall flavors I’m craving right now and combines it into an easy, crispy chicken thigh dinner with just six ingredients required.
I am a huge fan of chicken thighs which are completely underrated. They’re affordable, hard to overcook, and bone-in thighs with skin cook up so beautifully nice and crisp that they remind me a bit of fried chicken.
But this dish is better. There’s no batter or dredging or deep frying required. The skin side of the chicken gets perfectly seasoned and crisp in a skillet, then finishes cooking in the oven.
You’ll whisk some butter and fresh sage in with all those pan juices to create this deliciously rich, savory sage butter sauce. It’s so good drizzled on the chicken and also on the roasted butternut squash and mushrooms.
The recipe, nutritional information and printable PDF is below— ENJOY!
A tip for you: If you end up with leftover sage butter sauce, it’s delicious on mashed butternut squash and sweet potato, my sheet pan cheesy chicken and cauli rice, and as a dipping sauce for these easy air fryer chicken bites.
Yield: 3-4 servings
Prep time: ~30 minutes
Ingredients
1-½ pounds chicken thighs (about 5-6), bone-in and skin-on
fine sea salt
pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil, divided
16 ounces cubed butternut squash, cut into approx. ¾-inch cubes
12-16 ounces cremini mushrooms, cut in half (cut extra-large mushrooms in quarters)
3 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, divided
2 tablespoons grass-fed butter
Instructions
Arrange two oven racks in the center of the oven, with enough space for your skillet to fit on the bottom and a sheet pan to fit on the rack above. Preheat the oven to 425°F and heat a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat.
Pat dry the chicken with a paper towel. Season it with salt and pepper on both sides.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet. When it glistens, place each of the chicken thighs in the skillet, skin side down. Let the chicken pieces cook for about 8-10 minutes or until the skin is crisp and golden brown. Check the chicken after 5 minutes – the browning time will vary based on your skillet and stove top burner.
While the chicken cooks in the skillet, prepare the mushrooms and squash. Add both to one large sheet pan, then drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil. Season the veggies with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and 1 teaspoon of the chopped sage (reserve the remaining 2 teaspoons for later).
Transfer the veggies to the upper rack of the oven and cook for 15-18 minutes or until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork.
When the chicken is done searing on one side, flip each piece over so that the skin side is now up. Transfer the entire skillet to the lower oven rack and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken’s internal temperature is at least 165°F.
When the chicken is fully-cooked, transfer each piece to a plate and set aside to let the chicken rest for a few minutes. Add the 2 teaspoons of chopped sage to the pan juices that remain in the skillet. With a whisk, carefully whisk in the butter with the sage and pan juices to create the sage butter sauce.
Serve the roasted veggies and crispy chicken thighs with a drizzle of the butter sauce over each.
Notes
After 5 minutes of cooking the chicken, check to see that the skin is cooking evenly. If you need to rotate them, do so. The center of the pan will be the hottest so I sometimes swap chicken pieces halfway through so they all cook evenly.
It’s important to cut the squash into small-ish cubes, about ¾-inch. These will cook quicker than the big cubes that you usually get when you buy pre-cut butternut squash. `
I aim for an internal temperature of 170-175°F for bone-in chicken thighs. The meat stays juicy so it’s okay to cook above the 165°F standard.
An extra large cast iron skillet, large braiser, or large stainless steel pan works well for the chicken. You simply need a large pan that is also oven-safe.
The best way to clean mushrooms is to wipe them well with a damp cloth. This also prevents them from getting wet and allows them to roast better.
The mushrooms should be cut larger than the squash (at least twice the size), otherwise they will overcook and shrivel up. I like to cut medium-sized mushrooms in half and large mushrooms into quarters.
I use grass-fed, salted butter for the sauce. If you’re doing the same, keep in mind that it slightly boost the salt level, so go easy when seasoning the chicken.
The chicken and vegetables will cook in the oven for about the same length of time. If your chicken goes into the oven first, it’s no problem– the vegetables can continue roasting as the chicken rests.
Substitutions
Mushrooms and butternut squash: If you’re not a fan of mushrooms, you can use all butternut squash or swap out the mushrooms for halved Brussels sprouts or cubed sweet potato. And vice versa- if you don’t like butternut squash, you can swap in sweet potato, Brussels sprouts, more mushrooms, or another type of squash like delicata or chayote.
Butter: If you need this to be a dairy-free dish, you can omit the butter entirely or substitute it with a clean, dairy-free/vegan butter. Another option is to substitute the butter with a dairy-free yogurt or cream cheese.
Sage: This can be substituted for fresh rosemary or thyme. It will change the flavor profile but is still delicious!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated by MyFitnessPal and is based on an estimate of 4 servings.
Calories: 520
Total fat: 38 g
Cholesterol: 15mg
Sodium: 51mg
Total carbohydrate: 10 g
Dietary fiber: 1 g
Total sugar: 3 g
Protein: 30 g
Total net carbs: 9 g
What you’re making!
Here’s a look at the recipes you’re making and enjoying this fall:
No-bean Chili (I also have a Crockpot version)
Newsletters to read
Tim Ebl’s “to-do” list if you want cancer or metabolic disease. (Obviously we don’t, but the concept is brilliant.)
This reminder from Emma Frisch on how we should be using food as preventative medicine, plus her go-to brodo recipe. (I also have a chicken bone broth recipe you might enjoy!).
Jenn Lueke’s 90-minute fall meal prep post, with a yummy looking egg muffin recipe. I’m always inspired by her meal prep and time-saving ideas!
If you enjoy the chicken dinner or any of the recipes above, let me know! And if you missed it, I am taking requests for holiday recipes that you’d like to see a healthier version of. Feel free to message me and send in your request!
Have a wonderful week,
Abby
Happy birthday Posey!