One-Pan Chicken and Gravy with Potatoes and Vegetables

This is a magical baked chicken dinner where the gravy makes itself in the oven while the chicken, potatoes and vegetables cook! Just put everything in the same pan, uncooked, pop it in the oven and out comes dinner complete with a rich gravy. How good is that!?

Unorthodox method – but it works!

This baked chicken dinner is made entirely in one pan – including the gravy, rather than making it separately in a saucepan like you usually would! It uses my “self-saucing” baked gravy method, where flour and stock are poured into a pan with vegetables and seasoned chicken. As everything bakes, the flour thickens the stock into gravy while all those lovely chicken juices drip in, making it beautifully rich and savoury.

I know it’s an unorthodox method, but it works AND tastes great! Just see the reader feedback on my Baked Sausage and Gravy and Baked Chicken and Gravy which use the same method. This isn’t one of those convenience hacks that sacrifices flavour. And actually, when you think about it, this is really just a variation of a baked stew, where the sauce becomes a rich gravy. 🙂

Today’s version has chicken, potatoes, carrots, peas and onion with the beautiful rich gravy. It will take you just over 10 minutes to get in the oven, then out comes a complete dinner.

Can all chicken dinners be this easy please? 🙂

Ingredients in One-Pan Chicken and Gravy with Potatoes and Vegetables

Here’s what you need to make this.

1. For the country seasoned chicken

The chicken is coated in a country inspired seasoning using staple spices I always, always have.

• Bone-in Chicken Thighs – This recipe has been designed to use bone-in chicken thighs that stay beautifully juicy inside and get a lovely browning on the skin for the bake time required for the gravy to thicken and the vegetables to cook through.

  Use 1 – 1.25 kg / 2 – 2.5lb of chicken, whether that’s 4 large or 5 to 6 smaller ones.

  Other chicken cuts – Drumsticks will work nicely here, I’d increase the seasoning slightly as there’s more surface area. For boneless thighs, add them in partway through the bake time else they’ll over cook – I’ve included directions in the recipe card. I don’t recommend breast for this recipe as the tastiness of the gravy relies on the juices from the chicken, and breast doesn’t release much as it’s so lean.

• Spices – My never-fail combination of paprika, garlic, onion and thyme! I call it a Country Seasoning. 🙂

• Olive oil – To make the spices stick and help with browning.

2. Potato and vegetables

Here’s what I use for the vegetables. I chose them because they hold up for the whole baking time so you can put everything in at the beginning (except peas which are simply stirred in at the end and warmed using residual heat) and they don’t release liquid which will mess with the thickness of the gravy. Feel free to substitute with other vegetables, bearing in mind these factors. To be honest, other than root vegetables like celeriac I can’t think of others.

3. the magic self-saucing gravy!

And here’s what you need for the gravy! Just whisk everything together, pour in the pan, pop in the oven, and it will thicken like magic!

• Beef stock / broth – Yes beef, not chicken! It has more flavour and gives the gravy more colour, though I’ve noticed that these days the beef stock I buy doesn’t have the same colour it used to have so I sometimes have to do a colour boost with soy sauce (next point).

• Dark soy sauce – A little trick I use to add colour and flavour to simple gravies, very helpful when you’re making a gravy without the benefit of drippings from a roast. The gravy is quite pale without it, but just 1 teaspoon of dark soy totally transforms it into a rich brown colour. It does not taste Asian-y!! I promise, no one can even taste soy sauce in it at all. 🙂 But it’s optional. (Note: regular soy sauce or all-purpose soy sauce will not darken the colour of the gravy).

• Flour – Just plain flour / all-purpose flour. This is what thickens the gravy.

• Pepper – I like to use a nice amount of pepper for the gravy, feel free to cut back if you want.

• No salt – There is enough salt between the stock and what washes off the vegetables.

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How to make One-Pan Chicken and Gravy with Potatoes and Vegetables

Try to minimise touching the chicken skin once you sprinkle the seasoning on, so it coats it evenly rather than having some smeared bald batches. 🙂

1. Toss vegetables – Put the vegetables, oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl and toss to coat. Then pour that in a roasting pan – mine is 35 x 26cm/13.8 x 10.2″. (You could just do this tossing in the pan, but the vegetables get coated more evenly in a bowl, and we re-use that bowl for the chicken and gravy anyway so we aren’t creating avoidable washing up!)

   If your pan is larger then the gravy will probably end up thicker as it will reduce more, easily adjusted just by mixing in a little hot water. If yours is much smaller the gravy might be a little thinner when it’s hot out of the oven but don’t worry, it thickens quite quickly as it cools.

2. Coat chicken – Put the chicken in the same bowl and drizzle with oil, coating both sides. Then I kind of use the chicken to wipe the bowl clean of residual oil from the vegetables. Then sprinkle the chicken with the Seasoning – use some on the flesh side but most on the skin. Spread as needed to get it over all the skin but try to avoid touching it too much as you’ll rub the seasoning off.

3. Place chicken on top of the vegetables. Tuck the flappy skin under the sides and bundle the chicken up.

4. Gravy – In the same bowl, whisk the flour with about 1/2 cup of the beef stock until lump free. Then add the remaining stock and gravy ingredients and whisk.

   Don’t try to whisk the flour with all the liquid in one go – you’ll end up with a gazillion pesky little flour lumps!🤯

5. Pour the gravy into the pan, down the side – don’t pour it over the chicken and wash off all the tasty seasoning!

6. Bake 45 minutes – Drizzle chicken with a little olive oil (about 1/2 teaspoon per chicken) then bake for 45 minutes at 200°C/390°F (180°C fan-forced) until the chicken is nicely browned on the tops and the gravy is bubbling.

   No stirring, no turning required – unless you have a patchy oven and you want to rotate the pan partway through for evening browning of the chicken.

7. Peas and stir gravy – Remove the chicken onto a plate. Add the thawed peas into the pan then stir using a rubber spatula, being sure to get right into the corners of the pan where the gravy will be thicker. Mix to make the liquid comes together into a smooth gravy.

   Note: Frozen peas are already cooked, so they just need to be warmed through. When this is fresh out of the oven, there is plenty of heat in the pan to warm them through.

And that’s it, dinner is served! You’ve got tasty seasoned roast chicken pieces, potatoes, carrots, onions and peas all smothered in a beautiful rich gravy that you’ve just made entirely in one pan. How good is that??!

Shout out to Jane* on Instagram, who planted the seed for this recipe when she commented on my vegetable-absent Baked Chicken and Gravy asking, “Do you think I could add vegetables to this?”

To which I responded, “Yes! Great idea!” then proceeded to bombard her with a stream of thoughts and instructions as the recipe started taking shape in my head, right then and there.

Poor Jane. I don’t think she was expecting quite such a barrage in response to one simple question. And she’s probably going to be even more surprised to see that I’ve turned it into an actual recipe AND I’m writing about her here. 🤣

But isn’t it wonderful that this recipe exists all because of one innocent little question she asked? 🙂 – Nagi x

* Changed name for privacy. I get that not everybody wants to put their life online!

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Watch how to make it

Life of Jaffle

Jaffle and his best mate Charlie, on a play-date! Inside:

Outside:

In Jaffle’s bedroom (yes, he still sleeps in the shower):

At work:

And later that evening after Charlie’s left for the day:

Ahhh bliss! Got to pour myself a RED wine and relax on my WHITE sofa for the first time since Jaffle arrived!!! 🤣