Fall-off-the-bone tender chicken and roasted potatoes in a garlicky lemon sauce make one of the best (and easiest) one-pan chicken dinners you’ll ever eat: Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes.
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Greek Lemon Chicken – super easy and so flavorful
When it comes to chicken dinners, this easy Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes is up there with other favorites, like Italian baked chicken and potatoes, chicken vesuvio, and chicken scarpariello.
This one is super easy to make, packed with delicious flavors, and the buttery soft potatoes are just out of this world – very similar to the potatoes in my Greek slow roasted leg of lamb.
Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes can be served on it’s own but is also great alongside some Italian garlic broccoli, spanakorizo, stewed green beans with tomato sauce or a Greek salad.
Featured Comment
One reader, Marie, commented: “My love for Greek Chicken came from my hometown of Chicago, where I grew up on the wonderful Greek restaurants that served this wonderful, flavorful dish.
This recipe is very detailed but easy to make and has all the ingredients for my favorite Greek Chicken dish. Truly an authentic mouth-watering experience!
If I could give it more than 5 Stars, I would!! ★★★★★”
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Chicken. I recommend using bone-in skin-on chicken thighs for Greek Lemon Chicken. The skin becomes perfectly crisp and helps keep the chicken super juicy. If the thighs have too much overhanging skin, give them a trim before using.
- Potatoes. I prefer to use Yukon gold potatoes for this recipe. Their texture holds up particularly well to the roasting process.
- Lemon. Lemon is a key ingredient in this dish and many other Greek dishes, like my lemon rice, so I suggest using fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
- Marinade. I’m using a blend of dried thyme, dried Greek oregano, Dijon mustard, honey, olive oil, and garlic for the marinade. It’s easy to make and so much better than any store-bought marinade! If you can’t find Greek oregano, you can use Sicilian or Italian oregano.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
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How to make it
- To a blender, add 8 cloves of garlic, 3/4 cup of olive oil, 1/2 cup of lemon juice, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of Greek dried oregano, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, 2 teaspoons of fine sea salt, and 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and blend until smooth. In a large bowl or in a sealable bag, place 8 large chicken thighs and pour the marinade over the chicken and mix to incorporate. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and set the rack to the middle level. Peel and cut 5 medium-sized Yukon gold potatoes into large chunks. Soak the potatoes in cold water or give them a quick rinse to remove some of the starch making sure to dry them before using. Pour half of the used marinade on the potatoes and use your hands to thoroughly coat them and spread them out into an even layer.
- Place the chicken thighs on top of the potatoes, skin side up, and drizzle the remaining marinade on the chicken.
- Bake the chicken in the oven for 10 minutes then turn the heat down to 375°F and continue to bake for another 45-55 minutes or until the chicken reaches at least 185°F internally when checked with a thermometer. Note: if the potatoes are still a bit hard, transfer the chicken to a plate covered with tented foil, raise the oven temperature to 425°F, and return the potatoes to the oven and cook until tender and brown. Allow the chicken to sit lightly tented with foil for 10-15 minutes before serving so the chicken and potatoes reabsorb the pan juices. Garnish with fresh oregano and lemon wedges and enjoy!
Top tips
- Overcrowding. While this is meant to be a one pan dish, if you don’t have enough room in your pan, use two baking dishes instead. You want to avoid overcrowding the pan to most effectively roast the chicken.
- Broiling the chicken. If you find your chicken thighs aren’t browned enough, place under the broiler for the last few minutes to crisp up the skin, but watch carefully to prevent burning.
- Let it sit! While it is tempting to immediately dig into Greek lemon chicken and potatoes, it will be far better if you allow it to sit for 10-15 minutes. This allows the chicken and potatoes to reabsorb the delicious pan juices.
More Greek-inspired one-pan meals
If you’re a fan of Greek flavors, give these other awesome recipes a try!
Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 8 cloves garlic
- 3/4 cup (180ml) olive oil
- 1/2 cup (120ml) lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon Greek dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Remaining ingredients
- 8 large chicken thighs overlapping skin trimmed
- 5 medium Yukon Gold potatoes peeled, cut into large chunks, and soaked in water then dried
- 1 sprig fresh oregano optional, for garnish
- 5 slices lemon optional, for garnish
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Instructions
- Blend the marinade ingredients until smooth. Place the chicken along with all of the marinade in a sealable bag and refrigerated for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 425°F and set rack to the middle level.
- Add the potatoes to a baking dish and pour half of the used marinade on top of them. With your hands, thoroughly coat the potatoes with the marinade. Spread the potatoes out into an even layer.
- Place the chicken thighs on the top of the potatoes, skin side up.
- Drizzle the remaining marinade onto the chicken. Bake the chicken for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to 375°F and continue to bake for another 45-55 minutes or until the chicken reaches at least 185°F internal temp when checked with a thermometer. Note: If the potatoes are still a bit hard, simply remove the chicken pieces to a plate and tent with foil. Raise the oven temp to 425°F and return the potatoes back to the oven and cook until tender and brown.
- Let the chicken sit lightly tented for 10-15 minutes before serving so that the chicken and potatoes will reabsorb the juices. Serve with garnish of fresh oregano and lemon wedges. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use two baking dishes if you can not fit everything in one. Avoid overcrowding to more effectively roast the chicken.
- If needed, broil the chicken during the last few minutes to crisp the skin.
- If the potatoes are still firm, remove the chicken pieces and place them on a plate, covering them loosely with foil to keep warm. Increase the oven temperature to 425°F, then return the potatoes to the oven and roast until they are tender and golden brown.
- Let the chicken sit for 10-15 minutes before eating. This will help the chicken reabsorb all the pan juices.
- Leftovers can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be reheated in the oven or microwave.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made this today and it was SO good! I had some thighs that were bigger than the others so I temped them individually and took them out as they were ready. When they were all to temperature, I put them all back on the potatoes and put the entire pan under the broiler for a few minutes. Delicious! The only modification I made was to add carrots to the potatoes. I am 100% Greek and the next time I will also add celery. My Mom often added celery to dishes like this. I can’t wait to try that!
We’re so happy you enjoyed the dish, Effie, and thanks for sharing the information about the celery and carrots!
Another great recipe! How would you adjust the baking time for boneless, skinless chicken thighs? Thank you!
Hi Tim, you shouldn’t need to adjust the cook time for boneless skinless thighs – if you cook to 185°F internal temperature, you’ll be good.
I just made the marinade but will not be making the dish until tomorrow. Can the chicken marinate overnight in the refrigerator?
Yes, overnight is fine.
Fabulous tasty and easy dish, second time cooking it and this time i par boiled the potatoes first, which gave softer and crispier roast potatoes than the first time. Nailed it now, and this is truly a family favourite, as well as a perfect entertaining dish when accompanied with some fresh green veg. ευχαριστώ πολύ!
So happy to hear that, Amanda!
Really good recipe. Was a hit with my entire family. If I were to make any critiques it would be to salt the potatoes. Otherwise, a win!
We’re glad you enjoyed, Talin!
Made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! Followed instructions exactly and it was very easy. A big hit with my family. It will be going into our rotation. Never a fail with any of your recipes that I have made. Looking forward to your cook book.
.
So glad you all enjoyed, Rosalie!
Hi what can I use in place of Greek oregano
Dried Italian or Sicilian oregano is fine.
I made this last night and my wife and I LOVED it. Very easy and absolutely delicious. The taste tester is right, don’t skip the sauce.
So glad you enjoyed, Tom!
Hi what can I use in place of Greek oregano
Dried Sicilian or Italian oregano is fine.
Normal oregano will be fine. They are very similar.
Another awesome main dish for weeknights or entertaining. Even though I dried the potatoes off before putting them in the casserole dish, they didn’t crisp up as much as I had hoped. Still delicious though. We loved the lemon flavors in the marinade and I was happy with the ease of making this dish. Can’t wait for your cookbook to come out!
We’re so happy you liked this one, Ceejay, and appreciate your comment!
Jim’s recipes never disappoint and this one is another winner! It’s absolutely delicious and I love easy clean up with a one pan meal! Thanks Jim and Tara!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Stacey!
Made this last night it’s delicious and so easy. Im keeping this recipe for future cooking.
We’re so happy you enjoyed!
What small blender are you using? I’m shopping for one but not sure what to look for.
Hi Julie, it’s the Ninja blender that comes with the smaller single serving attachment (it’s in the shop linked here on the website; look in the Jim’s Kitchen Tools category).
Absolutely Divine! Best Chicken recipe I have ever made! Thank you James. Looking forward to trying out more of your recipes!
We’re so happy to hear that, Tina!
I have difficulty finding thighs with skin on and do not always want to buy a whole chicken.
Please provide more recipes with skinless chicken thighs
Hi Beverly, we have plenty of recipes using boneless skinless chicken thighs and you can definitely use them in recipes that call for bone-in skin-on thighs.