Cooking Tips
Want tender chicken thighs? Throw the chicken-cooking rule book out the window.
By
Published Mar. 3, 2024.
We all know the golden rule of cooking chicken: Don’t overcook it. Doing so leads to dry and leathery meat. But since undercooking it is an even worse fate, many of us overcompensate and pay the price.
There’s an exception to this cooking rule: dark meat. Unlike chicken breasts, chicken thighs and drumsticks actually become more tender the longer they cook.
That’s because of their makeup. Dark meat has an abundant amount of connective tissue, which dissolves into gelatin as the meat cooks, rendering it juicy and tender. The longer it cooks, the more that connective tissue breaks down.
Sign up for the Notes from the Test Kitchen newsletter
Our favorite tips and recipes, enjoyed by 2 million+ subscribers!
America's Test Kitchen will not sell, rent, or disclose your email address to third parties unless otherwise notified. Your email address is required to identify you for free access to content on the site. You will also receive free newsletters and notification of America's Test Kitchen specials.
What internal temperature should you cook chicken thighs to?
Chicken thighs, whether bone-in or boneless, are good at an internal temp of 175 degrees Fahrenheit, but they’re even better at 195.
Knowing this, what’s the best way to cook thighs and drumsticks? The key is to cook them slowly. Gentle techniques—such as braising at a relatively low heat and grilling over an indirect fire—work best.
The goal is to keep the meat at an internal temp between 140 and 195 degrees—the collagen-breakdown sweet spot—for as long as possible. (That discovery is what led to the supple meat in our Mahogany Chicken Thighs and Grilled Spice-Rubbed Chicken Drumsticks recipes.)
There’s a wide spectrum of doneness for dark meat depending on how you’re cooking it, but keep these temperature guidelines in mind. (And don't go past 210°F. At that point, the meat gets stringy and loses its chicken-y flavor.)
Watch Bridget McManus prepare our Oven-Roasted Chicken Thighs, which she cooks until 175 degrees.
Temperature Chart for Chicken Thighs and Drumsticks
There’s a wide spectrum of doneness for dark meat depending on how you’re cooking it, but keep these temperature guidelines in mind. (And don't go past 210°F. At that point, the meat gets stringy and loses its chicken-y flavor.)
1 of 3
| Temperature | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
165°F | Good | The USDA recommends cooking poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature as measured by aninstant-read thermometer. |
175°F | Very Good | The meat is cooked through and tender but still clings to the bone. If you’re roasting a whole bird or cooking the thighs along with other ingredients, this is a good temperature to cook the meat to. |
190–195°F | Even Better | The meat is meltingly tender and exceptionally succulent, with rich poultry flavor. |
How do I test the temperature of chicken thighs?
The best way to temp your chicken thighs is to use an instant-read thermometer.Unlike relying solely on cooking time or feel, an instant-read thermometer takes the guesswork out of cooking, telling you exactly what’s going on inside your food. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when taking the temperature of dark meat:
- Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh.
- Avoid the bones. Touching bone will give an incorrect reading. Make sure you’re at least ¼ inch away from the bone to get an accurate reading.
- Allow a few seconds for the thermometer to accurately read the meat temperature.
ATK’s preferred instant-read thermometer is the ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE. In our testing of instant-read thermometers, the reviewers considered speed, accuracy, size, and design. They loved the Thermapen ONE'slarge, grippy handle; rotating screen with large, highly legible numbers; and backlight that goes on when viewing conditions are dim. It's also waterproof. It goes to sleep when not in use, and the display wakes up automatically when you pick up the entire unit.
Is it safe to cook chicken to a lower temperature?
Surprisingly, it is OK to cook chicken to a temperature lower than the usual food-safe measure of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The key is doing it for the proper amount of time. The lower the temperature you want to cook chicken to, the longer you'll have to keep it there in order to kill off any pathogens. Our science editor Paul Adams goes into depth on why it's OK to cook meat to a lower temperature as long as it's for a certain amount of time.
So you can cook chicken to a lower internal temp or a higher one. That said, the advantage of cooking chicken to a lower temperature is that it stays moist. The other end of the spectrum—cooking it to a higher internal temp of 190-195 degrees Fahrenheit—produces the same moist results and removes any potential food safety issues.
