Preheat your oven to 425°F. Grab a large Dutch oven or oven-safe skillet—at least 4 quarts. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels so they actually sear properly. Season them with salt, pepper, and paprika on both sides.

Place chicken thighs skin-side down in the hot oil. Don't move them around—let them sit for 5 minutes until they get golden. Flip them over and cook another 2 minutes on the other side. You're not cooking them all the way through yet, just getting that flavor locked in.

Remove the chicken and set it aside on a clean plate. You'll hear it sizzle when it hits the pan—that's your sign the oil's hot enough. Add the diced onion to the same pot and stir it around for about 3 minutes until it starts to soften. Then add the minced garlic and cook for another minute until it smells amazing.

Stir in the uncooked rice, making sure every grain gets coated in that oil and onion mixture. This takes about 2 minutes and it's worth doing right. Add the water, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, and salt. Stir everything together so the rice isn't sitting in clumps on the bottom.

Nestle the chicken thighs back into the rice mixture, skin-side up. They don't need to be fully submerged—the steam does the work. Cover the pot with a lid or aluminum foil and transfer it to the oven. I personally think the covered method beats any other version because nothing dries out.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed. When your kitchen smells like toasted garlic and warm herbs, you're getting close. Check it at the 35-minute mark by lifting the lid—if there's still liquid pooling, give it another 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes with the lid still on—this helps the rice finish steaming. Take off the lid, fluff the rice with a fork, and pull out the bay leaf before serving. The chicken should shred easily with a fork at this point, which means you nailed it.