Martha Stewart’s braised chicken thighs are seasoned with Cajun spice, browned in butter, and simmered in an onion and thyme gravy. Six servings, one pan, and 1 hour 10 minutes from spice rub to sauce over rice.
The recipe comes from marthastewart.com, where her site publishes it from Emeril Lagasse’s collection, seasoned with his Original Essence. The two brands share an owner, and this version follows that published page exactly, right down to the parsley stirred in at the end.
The quick flour dredge does double duty, protecting the skin during browning before the toasted coating melts into the stock and thickens it into gravy. Skip it and you get brothy chicken instead of the sauce the rice is there to catch.
Martha Stewart Braised Chicken Thighs
Course: DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy6
servings5
minutes1
hour5
minutes380
kcal1
hour10
minutesCajun smothered chicken in everything but name: crisp-edged thighs cook down in a pile of onions until the pan turns to gravy. Weeknight simple, Sunday flavor.
Ingredients
6 chicken thighs (about 2 lb / 900g), trimmed of excess skin or fat
1 tablespoon Emeril’s Original Essence or Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon salt, divided
½ cup (65g) plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons (10ml) olive oil
3 tablespoons (45g) unsalted butter, divided
2 cups (300g) thinly sliced yellow onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied in a bundle, or 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups (720ml) chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Steamed white rice, for serving
Directions
- Season and dredge. Rub the thighs all over with the Essence and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Dredge both sides of each thigh in the ½ cup (65g) flour and shake off the excess.
- Brown the chicken. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a 10-to-12-inch flameproof casserole or sauté pan over medium-high. Melt in 2 tablespoons (30g) of the butter, add the thighs skin side down, and brown 2 minutes per side. Set aside.
- Soften the onions. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon (15g) butter in the pan. Add the onions, garlic, herb bundle, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and the pepper, and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Start the gravy. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon flour, then whisk in the stock and raise the heat to high.
- First simmer. Return the chicken skin side down and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with a heavy, tight-fitting lid, and simmer 15 minutes.
- Turn and simmer. Uncover, stir the bottom of the pan, and turn the thighs skin side up. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.
- Final simmer. Stir the bottom once more, re-cover, and simmer 20 minutes longer.
- Finish. Off the heat, discard the herbs and move the chicken to a platter. Stir the parsley into the sauce, spoon it over the thighs, and serve with rice.
FAQs
Why brown the chicken in both oil and butter?
The oil is there to protect the butter. Butter alone scorches at browning temperatures, and its milk solids burn fast in a pan hot enough to crisp skin.
A little oil raises the mix’s burn point, so the thighs pick up buttery flavor from the first sear without black flecks. The recipe page calls out this pairing as the reason the sear works.
Why stir the bottom of the pan between simmers?
Flour from the dredge settles as the chicken simmers, and it collects on the bottom of a covered pan. Left alone for an hour, that layer scorches.
One burned patch turns the whole gravy bitter, and there’s no fixing it once you taste smoke. Two quick scrapes at the 15 and 35 minute marks are cheap insurance against it.
Can I use boneless, skinless thighs instead?
Yes, with adjustments. Skinless thighs have no fat cap to render, so brown them gently in the same oil and butter, about 90 seconds per side.
Cut the total simmer to about 35 minutes, since boneless meat cooks through much faster. You lose some of the richness the skin feeds the gravy, though the browned flour still carries it. Skin lovers should look at her buttermilk fried chicken instead.
What can replace Emeril’s Original Essence here?
Any Creole or Cajun seasoning blend works, and the ingredient list says so itself. Tony Chachere’s and Slap Ya Mama are the common store shelf stand-ins.
Check the label for salt first, because blends vary wildly. The recipe already adds a teaspoon of salt, so with a salty blend, hold that back and season the gravy at the end instead.
How do leftovers of this braise hold up?
This is one of those dishes that improves overnight, like her slow cooker corned beef. The gravy soaks deeper into the thighs, and leftovers keep 3 to 4 days sealed in the fridge.
The gravy sets thick when cold, so reheat gently on the stove with a splash of stock. It also freezes well up to 3 months, though whisk while rewarming, since flour-based gravy can separate slightly after thawing.
