This easy baked Greek chicken and potatoes is a family favorite! The secret is in the lemon-garlic sauce which doubles up as a marinade. Whether you choose to marinate the chicken for a couple of hours (I usually don’t) or cook it right away, the flavors will surprise you in the best way possible.
Greek chicken makes an appearance on my dinner table pretty frequently. In many forms. From tender Souvlaki skewers to Greek chicken gyro or a quick skillet chicken covered in a tasty yogurt chicken marinade.
Ah, but if it’s a special, comforting meal we need, Greek chicken and potatoes it is!
This easy Greek chicken recipe hits all the right flavor notes, thanks to a couple of Greek spices and a tasty lemon-garlic sauce that can also double as a marinade (although, luckily, you don’t have to marinate this chicken for hours, it can go right in the oven)!
Ingredients for this Greek Chicken Recipe
- Chicken- 3 pounds of chicken. For best flavor, use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces. You can also portion a whole small chicken into pieces to use in this recipe.
- Potatoes- 4 gold potatoes scrubbed clean and cut into wedges (Greek-style roasted potatoes are typically cut into wedges).
- Onion- 1 medium yellow onion, halved and cut into wedges to mimic the look of the potatoes
- Lemon-Garlic Sauce- This is where all the glorious flavor in this Greek chicken recipe comes from. The sauce is made of Greek extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, loads of garlic (anywhere from 8 to 12 garlic cloves, minced), 1 1/2 tablespoons dry rosemary (or dry oregano), and a pinch of nutmeg. Tip: this can also act as your Greek chicken marinade, if you want to work ahead and marinate the chicken in the fridge for a few hours.
- Chicken broth- anywhere from 1/2 cup to 1 cup chicken broth poured in the pan helps cook the potatoes to tender perfect and it also keeps the chicken tender and juicy while baking.
- Lemon slices- Can’t have enough lemons in a Greek chicken dinner! Lemon slices act as a pretty garnish but as they bake over the chicken, they also impart great flavor.
- Garnish- fresh parsley and a few pitted kalamata olives two optional ingredients that add a good pop of color and some more Greek flavor are
How to Make Greek Chicken: Step-by-Step
Time needed: 1 hour and 15 minutes
How to make Greek chicken (print-friendly recipe with exact measurements below)
- Heat oven and season the chicken
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Arrange a rack right in the middle.
Season the chicken with kosher salt on all sides. Tip: for best flavor, make sure to lift up the chicken skins and season underneath.
- Arrange potatoes and onions in baking dish
Slice the potatoes and onions into wedges. Arrange them in your baking dish. Season with kosher salt and black pepper
- Make the lemon garlic sauce
In a bowl or a measuring cup, add extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, dried rosemary and nutmeg (you can also use a bit of dried oregano instead of rosemary).
- Add chicken, sauce, and broth to the baking pan
Arrange the chicken pieces in the baking dish or pan. Pour the lemon garlic sauce evenly all over the chicken and potatoes. Arrange lemon slices on top. From one side of the pan, add in about 1 cup chicken broth (but do not pour over the chicken)
- Bake!
Bake in heated oven uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the chicken and potatoes are tender. (Chicken’s internal temperature should register at 165 degrees F). NOTE: If the potatoes are not fully done at this point, you can raise the oven temperature to 425°F and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes (make sure to remove the chicken breast pieces that are fully cooked so they don’t get dry). To get more color on the chicken, place the pan under the broiler briefly to allow the chicken skins to gain more color (watch carefully).If you like, place the pan under the broiler briefly to allow the chicken skins to gain more color (watch carefully).
Greek Chicken Marinade Option
Like I said earlier, in this recipe, you do not need to marinate the chicken for hours in advance. But if you like, you can apply the lemon garlic sauce to the chicken a few hours before you are ready to bake it and keep it in the fridge. Marinade ingredients (same as lemon-garlic sauce ingredients used here):
- 1/4 cup Greek extra virgin olive oil (I used Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 8 to 12 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dried rosemary or dried oregano (or if you like, a bit of each)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
To marinate the chicken, mix all the above together and pour it over the chicken (lift chicken skins up to get some goodness underneath). Cover and leave in the fridge for a couple hours or so.
When ready, add the chicken to the potatoes and onions and follow the recipe for baking instructions.
What to Serve with Greek Chicken?
This baked chicken and potatoes doesn’t require much to turn into a fun Greek feast. Serve it with a side of Greek salad and Tzatziki sauce. If you like, add some warm pita bread. That’s it!
Watch the video for this Greek chicken recipe:
More chicken recipes you might like: grilled whole chicken, and baked cornish game hen.
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Greek Chicken and Potatoes Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves up to 6
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This easy Greek chicken and potatoes recipe is a family favorite. The secret is in the lemon-garlic sauce, which doubles up as a marinade. Whether you choose to marinate the chicken for a couple of hours (I usually don’t) or cook it right away, the flavors will surprise you in the best way possible.
Ingredients
For Chicken and Potatoes
- 3 lb chicken pieces, bone in and skin on (I used 2 smaller breasts and 3 legs)
- Salt
- 4 gold potatoes (about 2 lb), scrubbed clean, cut into thin wedges
- 1 medium yellow onion, halved then sliced
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 6 to 12 pitted quality kalamata olives, optional
- Fresh parsley, for garnish
For the Lemon-Garlic Sauce (can also be used as marinade)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 12 fresh garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 tbsp dried rosemary (or dried oregano)
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Sides (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Pat chicken dry and season generously with salt (lift the skins and apply salt underneath as well). (see optional step in notes)
- Arrange potato wedges and onions in the bottom of a baking dish or pan. Season with salt and 1 tsp black pepper. Add the chicken pieces (see optional step in notes).
- Make the lemon-garlic sauce. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil with lemon juice, minced garlic, rosemary, and nutmeg. Pour evenly over the chicken and potatoes.
- Arrange lemon slices on top. Pour chicken broth into the pan from one side (do not pour broth over the chicken).
- Bake in heated oven uncovered for 45 to 1 hour or until chicken and potatoes are tender. NOTE: If the potatoes are not fully done at this point, you can raise the oven temperature to 425°F and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes (make sure to remove the chicken breast pieces that are fully cooked so they don’t get dry). To get more color on the chicken, place the pan under the broiler briefly to allow the chicken skins to gain more color (watch carefully).
- Remove from heat and add kalamata olives, if you like. Garnish with a little bit of fresh parsley.
- Serve with Greek salad Taztaziki sauce and a side of pita bread, if you like. Enjoy!
Notes
- Optional Step: If you’d like to get even more crisp and color on the chicken pieces, sear the chicken pieces in a bit of extra virgin olive oil before adding them to the potato pan (do this step before step #4). To do this, simply heat about 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken skin-side down to brown (about 5 t0 7 minutes,) then flip over and sear briefly, another 3 minutes or so. Transfer from skillet to the prepared pan with the potatoes. This step is not necessary if you plan to broil the chicken briefly at the end.
- To marinate the chicken in advance: if you have the time and want to use the lemon-garlic sauce as a marinade for the Greek chicken, you can. Simply add the lemon-garlic sauce it to the chicken a couple hours in advance, cover and refrigerate. When you’re ready to bake, add the marinated chicken to the potatoes and onions and follow the recipe from there.
- Visit Our Online Shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including olive oils and spices used in this recipe.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Greek
This post originally appeared on The Mediterranean Dish in 2017 and has been recently updated with new information and media for readers benefit. Enjoy!
Followed every detail of recipe. As others stated, 60 minutes at 350F in reliable gas oven totally insufficient. Outcome was barely edible. Not worth a second effort.
This was quite delicious! I cut up a whole fryer and browned it well in olive oil, lots of S&P. For sauce I added fresh rosemary from my garden, some chopped porcini and some Pinot Grigio . (Can’t help it, I’m Italian!) Set oven 375 on convection. I tossed the potatoes (cut in 3/4” wedges) in some evoo, S&P, fresh rosemary & bit of garlic and roasted them separately because we like them a bit crisp and browned.
Roasted everything for about 75-80 mins. Chicken skin nice and crisp. Potatoes browned and delicious. So this recipe was great to tweak to our tastes.
Sounds wonderful!! Thank you for sharing!!
I am a visual person so was looking for the video but every link I follow takes me nowhere, help please (I’m sure it’s user error:-))
Hello! I’m so sorry you’re having issues with the video. We just looked into it, and everything seems okay on our end. It may be the browser you’re using… some browsers block pop ups which for some reason also blocks instructional videos. You may need to try a different one, or adjust some settings on your end.
60 minutes at 350 F and the bone-in chicken was not done and the baby potatoes were rock hard.
I’ll do it again…but will adjust time and temperature to get it cooked.
I’m sorry to hear that, Erik. Thanks for the feedback!
The taste was very enjoyable, although I encountered the issues that many others seem to have reported. I browned the chicken for 10-11 minutes total on the stove top prior to baking, but even with that extra cooking time, the chicken still wasn’t done after 60 min at 350 degrees. Also, the potatoes were still hard. So, we baked an extra 10 minutes, which finished the chicken, but not all the potatoes. Seems like they just need quite a bit more time/heat tucked away under the chicken.
It takes quite a bit of effort and is incredibly bland, we won’t make it again.
I appreciate you giving the recipe a try, Lee. Thanks for the feedback!
Sauté fresh spinach drizzle the lemon garlic sauce over it , yummy healthy side with chicken and potato’s
Great idea!
I baked this at 425 degrees for 45 min, then broiled for 15 min, chicken and potatoes turned out perfect! 350 is way too low. I also made the tsaziki sauce and it was excellent!
Thanks for sharing, Jen!
I make this recipe regularly for my family of 7. Even my littlest ones rave about it! So simple and full of flavor.
Thank you so much, Paige! I love getting thumbs up from the littles!!!
Thanks for the great recipe! I used oregano instead of rosemary and purple and red potatoes! Great!
Thanks for sharing your adaptations! So glad you enjoyed it!
This was an amazing supper. The gold potatoes really took on a wonderful taste. I used red onion and it was a beautiful presentation. A treat for both the eye and pallet.
So glad you enjoyed it, Regina!
I enjoyed making this! I baked it covered at 375 and then removed the cover and broiled it for 10-15 minutes. You have to watch it though. Skin was crispy and meat was tender and juicy! Potatoes were cooked perfectly. Simple delicious.
Sounds yummy! Thanks for sharing, Leslie!
Chicken was great but I also had an issue with the potatoes. Cooked the chicken in 1 hour and had to cook the potatoes for an extra 30 mins (1.5 hours total) and did the last 30 at 400 to try to speed the process along. Even after that, they were still hard so I gave up and just didn’t eat the potatoes. I was monitoring the oven temperature the whole time with a thermometer and it was stablle. next time I will cook the potatoes ahead of time or just omit them all together
1 hour at 350C in a normal oven is not enough time as previous poster says. Most likely the OP has a convection oven. Because after cooking for one hour at 350, the potatoes are still hard and the chicken doesn’t reach 165F. The chicken was fresh and was placed in my oven after it reached 350.
Convection ovens shouldn’t be used for timing recipes. There is no other explanation other than the OP has the wrong time or the wrong temp.
Suzy, Hi!
I have made this a few times and it’s always so delicious and comforting. The nutmeg truly warms things up and takes it to another level. Thank you so much! We served it with rice, and some greek salad on the side.
For those experiencing trouble with the potatoes – it is indeed an oven issue. To combat this, I simply par-cook my potatoes in the microwave for about 10 mins, prior to using in the recipe. I do the same when making the Fasolakia and the Egyptian potatoes recipes 🙂
Thanks for sharing, Lee. So glad to hear it
Super tasty and easy to make! I used chicken thighs because that’s what I had. I did the marinade option, because I could. Made it on BBQ using direct heat in a cast iron pan. Tried indirect heat first, but it wasn’t even bubbling after 15 minutes, so I moved it to direct heat, and it worked much better. Grilled the chicken directly for a few minutes at the end to crisp things up. Super lemony, garlicky, and tasty!
Awesome!! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
We made a version of this tonight and it was excellent!! I used fresh rosemary, fresh lemon thyme, and dried oregano as the herbs. I didn’t do potatoes either. As it’s summer, I baked it on the BBQ. It was served with couscous cooked with sun-dried tomatoes. We topped the couscous with the onions and juices. Excellent ??
Thanks for sharing, Justice!