Mediterranean Baked Chicken Dinner

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:

• complete meal – no need to bother with side salads
• low effort prep – no finely chopping anything, no fiddly assemble, just throw it all in a pan
• no need to watch over it – pop it in the oven, set the timer and walk away;
• no gourmet or hard to find ingredients – plus plenty of substitutions
• 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:

• Chicken – thighs and drumsticks (bone in, skin on = juicy flesh and golden skin!)
• Lemons, lots of garlic, paprika and oregano – to make the tasty Mediterranean sauce;
• Honey and mustard – to thicken/sweeten/flavour the sauce;
• 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

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 55 mins

Total: 55 mins

Dinner

Mediterranean, Western

4.91 from 42 votes

Servings4 - 5 people

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Recipe video above. Infused with classic Mediterranean flavours of garlic, lemon, oregano and paprika, this is a terrific quick dinner idea. The sauce is the star of this and marinating is optional! I made this with drumsticks but you can make this with bone-in chicken thigh fillets too.

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:

1. Chicken - To make this with other cuts of chicken:

- Boneless skinless thigh fillets: Add the chicken into the pan 20 minutes into the baking time. If you leave it in for the whole time per the recipe, they will overcook.

- Chicken breast: not recommended, because there is a high risk of being dry and the cook time is very variable. However, it can be done - just add the chicken for the last 20 minutes of bake time.

2. The Dijon mustard adds another slight layer of flavour into the sauce and also thickens it. But the dish can be made without it.

3. Potato size - choose potatoes around 7.5cm/3" wide, so once quartered they are the right size so they will cook through. If using large potatoes, cut into 3.5cm/1.3" cubes

4. General 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.

8. Potatoes - cut the potatoes to about 2.5 cm / 1" cubes to ensure they cook through in time.

9. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings (2 drumsticks per person).

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 503gCalories: 90kcal (5%)Carbohydrates: 50.6g (17%)Protein: 31.5g (63%)Fat: 10g (15%)Saturated Fat: 2.3g (14%)Cholesterol: 81mg (27%)Sodium: 607mg (26%)Potassium: 1285mg (37%)Fiber: 7.5g (31%)Sugar: 14.4g (16%)Vitamin A: 700IU (14%)Vitamin C: 85.8mg (104%)Calcium: 70mg (7%)Iron: 3.6mg (20%)

Keywords: chicken and potatoes, Chicken dinner, chicken tray bake

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

Originally published November 2015, updated March 2020 with new photos, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!

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