Got 5 minutes for dinner? Make this incredible baked chicken recipe! Crispy oven roasted chicken thighs and drumsticks that makes its own gravy in the same baking pan.
It’s the chicken version of this Sausage Bake with Gravy, a long time reader favourite. Minutes to prep, zero maintenance to cook. 100% delish!
Gravy Baked chicken recipe – make its own gravy!
This is another one* of those super speedy recipes that came about at the end of a long cook day when I had to use up ingredients before the expiry date but had zero energy to expend. It’s a dump-and-bake recipe, but entirely made from scratch – no canned soup shortcuts around here!
Chicken is coated in a simple spice mix for flavour (plus it makes the chicken crispy!) then it’s baked IN a flour/beef stock liquid that magically thickens into a gravy by the time the chicken is cooked.
Just LOOK at the gravy perfection!! ↑↓↑↓
* Sausage Bake, and the Ultra Lazy Series (Chicken Broccoli Pasta Bake, Chicken Rice Bake and speedy Corn Chowder) being to more such examples! Handy for busy midweek cooking. 🙂
What you need
Here’s what you need for this baked chicken. Very few ingredients, right?? Hard to believe it’s going to make something so delicious… but I promise it does! It’s all in the cooking logic. Read on!
How to make this baked chicken dinner
And here’s how it’s made:
The key to this recipe is how the “self saucing gravy” is made. You simply whisk together flour with beef stock/broth, then pour it around the chicken. As it bakes in the oven, 3 things happen:
-
The chicken flesh under the liquid stays moist and absorbs the stock flavour = tasty chicken flesh even without marinating;
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The chicken leeches juices into the stock, adding even more flavour into what will end up as gravy; and
-
The flour in the broth makes it thicken into a gravy.
WARNING: When it comes out of the oven, you’ll be looking at a congealed mess in the pan instead of the silky gravy you see. Have faith! Just give it a good whisk and it comes together beautifully!
And here’s what you end up with – crispy chicken….
…. AND a gravy to douse everything on your plate!
And what did that take you to prepare? All of 5 minutes? If that!
Serve with anything your heart desires. Pictured at the top of the post with creamy mashed potato (possibly cauliflower – can’t remember if I was attempting low carb on that day) and a side of Rocket Salad with Balsamic Dressing.
And in the photo above, this crispy baked chicken is served with buttery Seasoned Rice (think Rice-a-roni, except homemade, excellent freezer standby) and steamed greens drizzled with the herb & garlic dressing from this Cucumber Salad.
But honestly? Chicken and gravy. It goes with anything (non Asian). You could even pull the meat off the bones, toss in the gravy then stuff it in bread rolls to make Chicken and Gravy Rolls. YES! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Gravy Baked Chicken (thighs & drumsticks) - 5 min prep!
Ingredients
- 1.25 kg/ 3 lb bone in, skin on chicken thighs and/or drumsticks (all of one, or mix, Note 1)
- 2 tsp olive oil (or other oil)
Chicken seasoning:
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp onion powder (or garlic powder)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Gravy:
- 4 tbsp flour , plain/all purpose (Note 2 for GF)
- 1 1/2 cups beef stock/broth (yes, beef, not chicken! Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
- Seasoning - mix in a small bowl.
- Season chicken - Place chicken in a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13" baking pan. Drizzle with oil then rub all over Sprinkle & rub in the Seasoning, using most on the skin side.
- Arrange chicken skin side up in the pan.
- Gravy mixture - Whisk flour with about 1/2 cup of stock until lump free, then whisk in remaining stock and pepper (forgot in video!). Pour into the pan around the chicken.
- Bake uncovered for 50 minutes, or until chicken is crispy and golden.
- Whisk gravy - Remove chicken onto a plate, then give the gravy a good whisk to make it smooth. Adjust Gravy thickness if required - Note 4. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed.
- Serve - Pour gravy into a jug. Serve alongside chicken!
Recipe Notes:
- Seasoned Rice (excellent freezer standby to serve with everything)
- steamed veg tossed with the Herb & Garlic dressing from this Cucumber Salad
- creamy mashed potato (or cauliflower for low carb)
- Rocket/Arugula salad with balsamic dressing (super speedy, no chop salad)
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
It would be kind of cute that he stands there for ages with his head pushed through the dog door….except it’s winter here, and ice cold air is blasting into the house through that considerably large hole…😖
Loved this recipe! I added a layer of carrots, potatoes and onions under the chicken thigh. My husband was very impressed. Thanks Nagi!
I made a double batch so I would have enough for tomorrow’s dinner. Unfortunately it is so good that my sons scoffed the entire lot. LOL.
I made it with the seasoned rice which btw if anyone wants to try using their rice cooker it came out perfect in mine! Just threw all the ingredients in with the raw rice and water.
Best zero effort recipe ever, thank you Nagi! xx
Huge hit with my partner. Gravely was a bit thin so I thickened it in a sauce pan. Chicken perfect, nice and crisp. Served with seasoned wedges that baked in the same oven temp and time. Easy, hearty family meal.
This has been on my radar for a while and I finally made it. It was delicious – and so easy! Easy enough to tackle on a Friday evening after a long week and workday. Gravy (which I doubled so that we could have enough for rice also) was flavorful and smooth with no effort! Chicken was cooked perfectly at 50 min. I would have liked the skin to have been crispier but it was good. I would have finished under broiler if I had used a broiler-safe pan. Accompaniments I made were the buttery herbed rice from this website and fresh garden zucchini. This recipe is a winner!
I love this recipe – easy to make and absolutely delicious! The gravy is amazing. Thank you for sharing
Made this tonight and added carrot and potatoes to make a one dish meal. Had to cover with foil the last 30 minutes bc the potatoes weren’t done. The chicken was tender and flavorful and the gravy was excellent. I will be making this again.
I`ve made this multiple times now. VERY, VERY GOOD.
I`ve been skipping the dry rub and just use some salt and pepper.
Some peeled and sliced potatoes go on one side of the baking dish. I just mash them some with a fork and drown them in the gravy.
Give Dozer a scratch behind the ear for me.
Nagi this is amazing I am not a roast chicken fan but this won me over big time did exactly to the recipe did it with your roasted Mediterranean veggies next time I might sit chicken on a bed of sliced onion love love love your recipes always a success
This was sensational. So easy and so much flavour.
Made this tonight and boy was it good my husband kept raving about the gravy. Such a simple dish to make with great flavors. Will definitely be making again.
I combined this recipe with your Oven-Baked Chicken and Rice recipe on this site (with a few tweaks) and ended up with a very successful chicken and rice with gravy in one pot! The only thing I would do differently next time is to make even more gravy.
Delicious and easy recipe! I did this with several Chicken Maryland cuts (drumstick + thigh still connected) and it came out great. One big change is that I added rough cut carrots and potatoes, plus garlic cloves, and the veggies came out perfect. I added about 10 minutes to the cook time and had to throw the gravy back in for a bit too but aside from that I’d highly recommend doing it this way 😀
Absolutely banging chicken and gravy! Real comfort food which we had with mash and your parmesan baked zucchini. A 10/10 from the missus and m-i-l too. Next time will be making for the whole family. Thanks Nagi, love your recipes <3
Just tried making it and it was a success!! ! Have added to my favourite! Thank you so much Nagi for sharing another sumptuous recipe! You are a life saver! ❤️❤️❤️
Nagi, you know supper is delicious when you make one of your recipes. Love the chicken and gravy recipe!!! I pour the gravy into a gravy dish and microwave for 1 minute then whisk it before pouring it all over the chicken. Served it with rice and steamed green beans. Yum, yum!
Followed recipe to a T , after 50 mins my chicken looked pale and un interesting nothing like yours
Nor did seasoning amount’s enough to covers the amount of chicken
Very disappointing thank goodness it was just dinner for me snd hubby no guest – wouldn’t make again
Hi Jane,
Given the raging success of this recipe for the vast majority of us here (in the comments section :o) !) I thought I’d drop you a wee note to suggest you may want to look at getting your oven re-calibrated ??? The reason being, it’s scientifically highly unlikely that the recipe times/temps wouldn’t work for just one oven, and oven calibration can shift by more than 10 degrees – that has a serious impact on cooking…
Someone once kindly passed this info on to me when I had written a similar comment as yours on another website recipe forum many years ago, and turns out they were spot on with their advice as my oven was a good few degrees off kilter! (Mind you, I must also confess that I’ve occasionally been known to get my C v F temps wrong too haha, but I feel certain you won’t have done that – I’m blaming my menopause hehe!)
Anyway, I do hope that you try this recipe again, as it really is absolutely scrumptious when everything goes according to plan…
Kindest Regards
Pinsie
Hi Pinsie
Thank you for you kind advice, actually my oven (90cm Westinghouse) is only 12 months old and in fact I did call the manufacturer out to check my oven
They not only confirmed it’s working fine after testing but then duly baked some scones to double check and show it’s working fine
Cheers
Jane
The best baked chicken I’ve ever made!
This was amazing, so easy and quick to prep! Will make this again!!
Yum! This was super easy to prepare, but still tasted as though it took forever. I make it quite often.
Made for dinner tonight, again another easy easy dish and full of flavour
served with steam vegetables tossed in your Herb & Garlic Sauce and butter basmati rice
I cook your recipes most nights as I know they will never let me down, they are easy to follow, the ingredients are usually what everyone has in their cupboard AND they taste amazing