Cozy Apple Cider Chicken Thighs

Sep 6, 2025 - 12:00

Apple cider chicken thighs bring all the best fall flavors to your plate! Juicy chicken, caramelized apples, and a rich cider sauce for the ultimate cozy dinner.

Why You’ll Fall for This Dish

Sweet & Savory: The tender apples and savory seasoning create a perfect flavor balance.
One-Skillet Wonder: Everything cooks together for easy prep and cleanup.
Full of Fall Flavor: Warm spices, tender chicken, and a cider pan sauce that tastes like the season.
Easy to Pair: Serve with mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, or crusty bread to soak up the sauce.

Apple Cider Chicken Thigh Ingredients

Apples: Skip soft apples like McIntosh or Red Delicious. Choose crisp ones like Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, or Gala.
Apple Cider: Use fresh cider for the best flavor. Apple juice works in a pinch, but not apple cider vinegar. I like grabbing mine at the farmer’s market.

How to Make Apple Cider Chicken Thighs

This apple cider chicken thigh recipe comes together fast! Browning the chicken first ensures a crispy, golden exterior, and using fresh apples and cider makes the flavors shine.

Prepare the Chicken: Thoroughly pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels.
Season Chicken: Combine salt, black pepper, dried thyme, dried sage, ground allspice, onion powder, and garlic powder in a large bowl, then coat the chicken in the seasoning blend.
Cook the Chicken: Add the seasoned chicken thighs, top-side down, to a heated skillet. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown. Flip and cook for 5-7 minutes more, until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF. Remove the chicken to a plate.
Brown the Apples: Melt the butter in the skillet and cook the apple slices for 2 minutes, until they are lightly browned, then flip them to cook the other side for an additional 2 minutes.
Start the Sauce: Add apple cider, chicken broth, and Dijon mustard to the skillet, then bring to a simmer. Once simmering, cook for about 10 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
Finish the Sauce: Combine cornstarch with water in a small bowl before whisking it into the sauce. Once thickened, add the chicken thighs back to the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes until they’re heated through.
Spoon the sauce and apples over the chicken, then garnish with fresh thyme or parsley and serve.

Someone dabbing the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel.

Chicken thighs coated with seasonings sitting in bowl.

Alyssa’s Pro Tip

Chicken Thighs: Bone-in, skin-on thighs work; you will just need to cook them longer. Sear skin-side down for 10 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.

Apple Cider Chicken Thighs

Juicy chicken thighs simmered in apple cider with crisp apples and warm spices. This cozy fall dinner is full of flavor.

Course Dinner, entree, Main Course, main dish

Cuisine American

Keyword apple cider chicken, apple cider chicken thighs, apple cider chicken thighs recipe, braised apple cider chicken thighs, easy dinner, fall dinner ideas, fall recipes, glazed apple cider chicken thighs, skillet apple cider chicken, skillet chicken thighs, skillet dinner, skillet hicken

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 35

Total Time 50

Servings servings

Calories 316kcal

Author Alyssa Rivers

Equipment

1 14-inch skillet preferably cast iron

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs about 6-8 thighs
1 teaspoon salt additional to taste
½ teaspoon ground black pepper additional to taste
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried sage
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large apples sliced into ¼-inch thick slices, peeling optional
1 ¾ cups fresh apple cider
¼ cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon cornstarch for slurry
2 tablespoons water for slurry
fresh thyme or parsley optional garnish

Instructions

Combine 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon dried thyme, ¼ teaspoon dried sage, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice, ¼ teaspoon onion powder, and ¼ teaspoon garlic powder in a large bowl.
Thoroughly dry 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs by patting them with paper towels before adding them to the bowl with the spices. Toss until evenly coated in the rub.
Heat a large 14-inch skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet.
Add the seasoned chicken thighs top-side down to the skillet. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown. Flip and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes, until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the chicken to a plate.
Add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter to the skillet. Once melted, add 2 large apples and spread them into an even layer. Cook for 2 minutes, until the apples are lightly browned before flipping them to cook the other side for another 2 minutes.
Add 1 ¾ cups fresh apple cider, ¼ cup chicken broth, and 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard to the skillet and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes until reduced by half. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl before whisking it into the sauce. Once thickened, add the chicken thighs back to the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes until the chicken is heated through.
Spoon the sauce and the apples over the chicken before garnishing with fresh thyme or parsley and serving.

Notes

Storage (Refrigerator): Keep leftovers in an airtight container up to 5 days.
Reheating: Warm in the microwave (20–30 sec bursts) or in a skillet over medium heat (3–4 min) until hot.
Make Ahead: Season chicken up to 24 hours ahead. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to cook.