Mediterranean Baked Chicken Dinner – this is a midweek chicken dinner idea that’s one of those “throw it all in a pan” recipes with high returns for minimal effort. With chicken, potatoes, onion and cherry tomatoes, you’ll love how everything sucks up the tasty lemon garlic sauce in this sheet pan dinner!
Mediterranean Baked Chicken Dinner
This is a chicken sheet pan dinner that ticks a lot of boxes for midweek cooking:
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complete meal – no need to bother with side salads
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low effort prep – no finely chopping anything, no fiddly assemble, just throw it all in a pan
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no need to watch over it – pop it in the oven, set the timer and walk away;
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no gourmet or hard to find ingredients – plus plenty of substitutions
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IT’S TOTALLY DELICIOUS!!! The tasty Mediterranean sauce is not only very, very tasty in its own right, it also keeps everything nice and moist while it’s in the oven (you will love how juicy the chicken is).
I especially love how the potatoes suck up the sauce as they bake. It reminds me of Greek Lemon Potatoes (but a lot less effort!).
What you need for this Chicken Dinner
Here’s what you need for this one pan Mediterranean Baked Chicken Dinner:
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Chicken – thighs and drumsticks (bone in, skin on = juicy flesh and golden skin!)
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Lemons, lots of garlic, paprika and oregano – to make the tasty Mediterranean sauce;
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Honey and mustard – to thicken/sweeten/flavour the sauce;
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Potatoes, onion and cherry tomatoes
Customise it!
I’ve used onions, potatoes and cherry tomatoes here but you could really use whatever vegetables you have.
Zucchini, pumpkin, sweet potato, corn cobs spring to mind as ideal substitutions. Rummage around in your fridge and see what you’ve got!
Also, in there spirit of Mediterranean food, I’ve used oregano and garlic here. Try it with rosemary or thyme instead, or give it a Middle Eastern spin by adding a touch of cumin and coriander!
How to make this One Pan Chicken Dinner
Obscenely simple: mix Sauce, toss in chicken, optional marinade, toss it all in a pan and bake.
OK, I skipped one step here. 😇 I add cherry tomatoes partway through the bake time so they don’t turn into unidentifiable mush. But if you’re ok with extremely squishy tomatoes, just add them right in at the beginning!
And here’s what you end up with in this one pan Mediterranean Chicken Dinner:
1. Very, very juicy chicken infused with Mediterranean flavours -the chicken isn’t submerged in sauce because we want the skin to go nice and golden. But the underside is partially in the sauce / steamed which keeps it ultra juicy.
2. Juicy pops of cherry tomatoes and potatoes that suck up the lemon garlic sauce:
Another nice thing about this chicken dinner is that marinating is optional. It definitely adds flavour if you can marinate overnight because then the chicken is flavoured all the way through.
However, there is plenty of sauce in this recipe – enough to mop and dunk and douse every bite you take. So it’s fine to make even without marinating! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Mediterranean Chicken Dinner
Ingredients
Marinade / Sauce
- 1kg / 2lb bone in, skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) lemon juice
- 6 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard (Optional - Note 2)
- 2 tbsp honey or 1 tbsp sugar (or maple or other sweetener)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1.5 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp EACH salt and pepper
Bake
- 5 smallish potatoes (7.5cm/3" wide) , quartered (Note 3)
- 2 red onions , quartered
- 1 cup (250ml) chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 250g/8oz cherry tomatoes (whole)
- 1/2 tsp EACH salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp Olive oil (or oil spray)
- Fresh oregano , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Mix Marinade ingredients in a bowl, then add chicken and toss to coat. If time permits, marinate for 24 hours, otherwise proceed to next step.
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Place potatoes and onion in baking pan, top with chicken. Pour over the chicken stock then marinade from the bowl.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven.
- Scatter over cherry tomatoes, drizzle everything with 1 tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for a further 30 - 35 minutes until chicken is golden and potatoes are cooked.
- Remove from oven, garnish with fresh oregano if using and serve!
Recipe Notes:
- Marinating - benefits from marinating but not critical. Sauce has so much flavour (and there's lots of it) it compensates;
- Pan size - ingredients should fit snugly. If they are too spaced out, too much of the liquid will evaporate while baking and you won't end up with much sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published November 2015, updated March 2020 with new photos, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
More Dinner in One Pot!
Life of Dozer
This is a 3 seater lounge – or one Dozer. 🙄
How would you do this in the slow cooker?
Thanks 😊
I’m relatively new to cooking, and this was the first time I made something like this. I accidentally used chicken thighs without skin and only realised this 30-40 minutes into the bake time so I took the chicken out and let the veggies cook for another 30 mins or so. I think my oven maybe didn’t get hot enough so I turned it up to cook the potatoes. Anyway – it was so lovely! I added some cornstarch and water to the juices in the pan and simmered it to make a beautiful sauce. Honesty probably the best thing I’ve ever cooked haha. Thank you!
Further to my recent post I also slightly browned off the chicken thighs on both sides before marinating they came up even better when baked. Thanks again.
Hey Nagi I came across your recipes a couple of years ago and they are all absolutely brilliant. I love cooking and your recipes are so easy to follow and all taste yummy. The videos are also brilliant which aids in the preparation of the meals. Thanks for providing all these great simple and tasty recipes. This mediterranian lemon and garlic chicken bake is devine.*****
Another fabulous recipe! Thanks Nagi. I had no problems with the potatoes cooking perfectly. I added zucchini, mushroom and cannellini beans. Also, I only put the tomatoes in for the last 10-15 minutes coz I like them to stay whole. I will serve on a bed of couscous next time to soak up all the delicious juices.
Forgot to mention – I marinated the chicken for half a day in the Pyrex dish I baked the meal in. Made it even quicker and easier, as well as saving a little bit of extra washing up.
Super easy and super tasty!
The taste of this recipe is amazing, However, I followed the recipe exactly and the potatoes were undercooked. I even put everything in the oven at 400 for an extra 20 minutes. Still undercooked potatoes. So, flavour wise, 5 stars, but overall, 2 stars. I would definitely precook those potatoes before putting them in the oven,
As always, this dish is full of flavour and easy to make. Well done, Nagi!
Beautiful! As well as recipe ingredients, threw in capsicum, mushroom, cauliflower. My friends loved it (and left me no left-overs…. :-(. Thanks Nagi – as always!
Amazing! All the family loved it.
I served with a veg couscous and green salad plus sprinkled feta on top.
Loved it!!
Kids loved it. Absolutely delicious. Will make it again.
Tonight’s dinner. Easy to put together, love the sour/sweet sauce. Next time some crusty bread to sop up the sauce.
Delicious. It wont be the last time I make this.
I’m wondering if I can add some red and yellow capsicum?
Made this last night based purely on wanting something easy, tasty & with the ingredients I already had in the house as I’m house bound with ankle surgery. I had to defrost some chicken thigh fillets so wasn’t able to marinade as long as the recipe stated but I did coat them in the sauce before putting them back in the fridge for the initial 20mins of oven time as the notes recommend so they didn’t dry out. Other than replacing lemon juice with lime juice (pinched from my neighbours tree, thanks J+J) I had everything else – it was delicious, even with the wrong citrus & a 20min marinade! My husband has requested it for next weeks menu plan already & the fussy teens had seconds. Served it with green beans & peas. Yum!
I made this last week. My daughter liked the squishy cherry tomatoes. This dish was easy to make. I like that it’s a one-pot dish. Thank you.
Hi Nagi! What’s the size of this roasting pan please?
Yum, Yum and more Yum. Just made this for dinner and it was a hit. Beautiful lemon garlic sauce mopped up with some white rice and a bread roll (naughty but had to do it). Chicken fell off the bone and was juicy and full of flavour. Marinated as suggested for 24 hours. Worth the effort.
Anyone saying this sauce ia too runny… it’s supposed to be, traditionally eaten this way. You just eat it with pita bread and mop up the sauce! Very good!
Chicken was so tender and delicious, potatoes & onions cooked perfectly, tomatoes yummy. There was just too much runny sauce (how could I have thickened it more?). It was definitely delicious though!!!