If you’ve never cooked with miso before, this is the perfect recipe to start with. If you love it and cook with it all the time, this is probably going to end up on your monthly recipe rotation. It definitely has for us.
There’s very little work involved so when you pull it out of the oven and find perfect, crispy bronzed chicken skin, tender meat and a delicious sauce, it almost feels like cheating. “Did I really do that,” you might be tempted to ask yourself. Yes, you did. Now go eat your dinner before any goblins attracted by the glorious smell of chicken, miso and garlic steal it from you.
Years ago, I read an article on miso by Mark Bittman in the New York Times where he says that David Chang, of Momofuku showed him how to make a miso compound butter.
The recipe is basically this: mix four tablespoons miso into two tablespoons unsalted butter. Add some cracked pepper.
It’s so simple but completely genius and it changed the way I cook. I use variations of it on everything. Grilled shrimp, sautéed spinach, charred green beans, baked tofu.
And this magical chicken.
In this version I’ve added some extra flavorings like garlic and ginger. A little sweet and sour from maple syrup and rice vinegar. Once you mix it all together, you want to rub it all over the chicken and also get a little of it under the skin. Be gentle. You don’t want to pull the skin off, just lift up a corner and tuck some under.
If the meat is cooked before the skin is brown enough, place it under the broiler for a minute or two but watch it carefully. The sugar in the marinade can burn easily.
Nerd Tips:
- We served this with brown rice and these dead-simple Quick-Pickled Cucumbers.
- This Teriyaki Brown Rice Salad would also be a great side.
- A large cast iron pan is great for a dish like this. Whatever pan you use, make sure it’s oven safe and has a heavy bottom so the sauce doesn’t scorch.
- If gluten is an issue for you, make sure you use gluten free miso. Our Asian Pantry Basics page lists some GF options as well as our favorite brands.
- Chicken breasts work perfectly well this way too, just be careful not to overcook them. Start checking them for doneness after 20 minutes or so.
Miso-Butter Chicken with Garlic Pan Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 skin-on bone-in chicken thighs, approximately 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup white miso
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 inch piece ginger grated
- 8 garlic cloves unpeeled but lightly smashed
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- Black pepper to taste
- 2 scallions finely sliced, for garnish
- 2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine butter, miso, maple syrup, rice vinegar, ginger and black pepper in a large bowl and mix until well combined.
- Add chicken to the bowl and massage the miso-butter mixture all over it. Gently lift up the skin of each piece and, using your fingers, rub some miso butter under the skin. Place the chicken in a single layer in a roasting pan or heavy oven-proof skillet, add the garlic cloves and place it in the oven. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, basting the chicken once or twice, until the skin is golden brown and crisp, and the internal temperature of the meat is 160 to 165 degrees. If the chicken is cooked before it’s brown enough, place it under the broiler for a minute or two. Watch carefully or it can burn.
- Remove the garlic skins and mash them into the pan drippings. Sprinkle chicken with sesame seeds and scallions and a spoonful or two of the garlic pan sauce.
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This looks and sounds flipping amazing! Chicken thighs are the king of chicken in my book. I am putting this on the meal plan for next week!
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One of the best chicken receipes,….
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Hello from Brazil! I made your recipe and the sauce was really good(I used molasses instead of the maple syrup, which I couldn’t here), but the meat got very bland, almost without salt and flavor ( I did rub the paste under the skin as written). Do you think that marinating it a couple hours before would help? Thanks!
Hello! The miso should be very salty on its own though maybe the variety you have is milder? You could season the chicken itself if you felt it needed more salt. Marinating for a few hours would certainly help impart more flavor into the meat. Glad to hear molasses worked well. Honey is also a good substitute for maple syrup. 🙂
LOVE
I made this for dinner tonight. IT’S AMAZING!! A perfect balance of salty, sweet and umami, and the touch of vinegar just balances it perfectly. The sauce is to die for, even before cooking. You could use this on anything, I think… Seafood, veggies, what ever. Heck, I’d just dip veggies in there and eat them, just because I could.
Am making this meal today……sooooooo excited for the outcome
Made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious! I didn’t add the maple syrup because I didn’t have any, but it was still amazing. Might add even more garlic next time.
Hi! Are the quantities of miso and butter flipped in the recipe? The write-up describes 2:1 ratio of butter to miso.
Hi Lindsey, thank you for letting me know! The recipe is correct. I fixed the typo in the article. 🙂
It looks like they are still flipped in the ingredients. Should it say 1/2 cup of butter and 4 tablespoons of miso?
Hi Julie, no the recipe is correct (1/2 cup miso to 4 tablespoons butter). Make sure to use white miso which is mild, red miso would be overwhelming in that amount.
A very tasty recipe. I added mushrooms the second time I made it (and more garlic because I love garlic) and it put a new dimension to the chicken. Mmmmm
Thank‘s a lot for this great recepie. We cooked this for guests and we all loved it.
Hi Doris,
So glad it was a success!
In Mark Bittman’s article (in the New York Times) the ratio of butter to miso was different – 4 tablespoons of butter to 2 tablespoons of miso.
Eran
Can you please tell me an gas oven way of making this?
Absolutely amazing!!!
Absolutely amazing!!!
your print function is broken
Hey Mike – sorry it’s not working for you. Can you explain what happens when you click the “Print Recipe” button? You should get a new page with a simplified recipe box, and then a Print button should take you to your print dialog. I just tried successfully on Chrome and Safari.
Visiting my daughter for two months in Spain, and between myself, my daughter, and my son-in-law, we take turns cooking dinner. Tonight was my turn and this recipe was a HIT! I used a pack of large boneless chicken breast, which I fileted into thinner cutlet. Used olive oil in the marinade instead of butter, and honey instead of maple syrup. I let that marinade for about an hour, and cooked the cutlets stovetop for about 3 minutes on each side. After all the chicken was cooked, I added mushrooms, green bell peppers, and onions to the same pan with the residual marinade. I added some sesame oil, a cup of water with a chicken boullion cube and made a little cornstarch slurry to add. Added the cooked chicken back in to coat it, and served this over rice. I am the SUPER CHEF!!! Thanks!
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This has become our “we are bringing dish” to Easter and other family get togethers! We have had to progressively make more each year until we stopped running out, 16 thighs!!! Sooooo Goood!!!!
Made this tonight. I did brine my chicken thighs first – because I always do. This was fabulous! I only had 3 chicken thighs so I cut the recipe in half. Wish I would have made all of the sauce it was so good! I could use it on so many different things. Great recipe – thank you!
I made this tonight and the yummy sounds were making the rounds at our table! I halved the amount of chicken thighs (4), but made all the sauce and I’m so glad I did! This sauce is so wonderful. (I skinned the garlic, though. It saved a step.) It seems unbelievable that a recipe can be so easy, almost hands off, and taste so rich and luxurious. This will be on rotation at our house, and is going into my Best File. Serve this to company and they will be wowed! Thank you for sharing, Emily!
Agreed – this is one awesome chicken dish! I also peeled the garlic before putting it in the oven. The dish smelled wonderful while baking, and tasted even better when on the plate! Served this with rice and a green salad – the perfect weeknight dinner! Thanks for sharing!
This is SO GOOD! We all loved the miso garlic sauce. It gave the chicken so much flavor. It was great served over rice. For those unsure about cooking with miso, try it with this recipe. It’s a winner! This is going into my Best of 2024 file. Thank you!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe, Kathy! “Best of” is a high honor 🙂 And thanks so much for taking the time to comment and rate the recipe. It helps so much!