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, one-pan hot honey chicken and potatoes, 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 olive oil
- 1/2 cup 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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Another successful recipe from you. Every recipe I have tried and there’s been a lot have been amazing spot on. Directions are easy to follow. Every recipe comes out exactly like you say total perfection. I served to friends for dinner and everybody ate it up.
This will be a recipe I use often.
We’re so happy to hear that, Lee!
This recipe looks great, exactly what I was looking for!
How would I adjust the cooking time and temperature if I want to use skinless chicken legs and bake it covered?
Thanks!
Hi Leah, since chicken legs are also dark meat, just like thighs, there shouldn’t be a need for much change. Just be sure to let the chicken reach at least 185° internal temp when checked with a thermometer.
OMG! This was awesome.
Can I marinate chicken over night?
Yes.
Could I make with chicken breasts instead? If so, do I need to change anything with the cooking time or amount of chicken?
Yes, but only cook to 165°F so they don’t dry out.
Love your Greek Chicken and potatoes
I made a few changes- I cut the olive oil by 1/4 cup and add 1/2 cup of dry white wine. I mix half the marinade with the potatoes and half with the chicken. I roast the potatoes for 15 minutes at 425, then add the chicken on top and turn down to 375 until done. This is my week night go to! Thank you for an easy and absolutely easy recipe!
So glad you enjoyed, Janelle!
I love this dish, and it is one of my favorite Sip and Feast recipes! The chicken is delicious and moist, and the potatoes are nicely seasoned with the marinade and chicken juices. It requires minimal preparation, and you do not have to constantly monitor or stir the dish.
We’re happy to hear that, Deborah!
What should be the temperature if it is fan forced
If you’re referring to a convection oven, the temperature should be reduced by 25°F.
WOW! I could not wait to try out this recipe and so glad that I did. Had three boneless, skinless chicken thighs and three Yukon gold potatoes. Adjusted the marinade to a about one-third but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. I marinaded the chicken for just under an hour. The chicken was at 185 degrees in 55 minutes and potatoes were perfectly cooked. Such a deliciously tasty dish and will be in our rotation. Thanks Jim!
This recipe was so tasty and easy to make. It actually came out looking like the picture! I didn’t have Dijon mustard but it still tasted great with plain old yellow mustard.
I love this dish but the potatoes will not bake if you follow the recipe.
I did a parboil on the potatoes to remedy this.
Place the potatoes in a pot and bring to a low boil for 5 minutes, drain and resume the recipe.
The dish was ready on 45 minutes with a nice char and the potatoes were excellent.
Great Channel. Really respect the approach you take, great instruction and to the point.
Absolutely delicious! The chicken was perfect! I pulled it off the potatoes, tented it with foil and added about 10 more minutes to potatoes. Followed recipe exactly except substituted russet potatoes and didn’t have honey so used maple syrup and cut it back by a teaspoon. Thanks for a great recipe. A keeper. Thanks for the tips on variables. Look forward to trying more recipes.
The chicken came out perfectly. The potatoes were good but there was way too much liquid in the pan to be reabsorbed into the potatoes. I put the potatoes onna separate baking tray and roasted them for an additional 15 minutes at 375. Now they are perfect.
The instruction regarding soaking the potatoes then drying them needs better clarification. Why is this necessary and how does one dry the,?
Jim soaks them to remove some of the starch (he explains in the video), but it’s not necessary if you prefer to skip that step. To dry, simply strain through a strainer and blot with papertowels or a clean kitchen towel.
Just made this and it was amazing. I parboiled the potatoes in chicken stock, brought them from cold stock to boiling and left to boil for four minutes. This was perfect – they were creamy and delicious. The chicken actually cooked to 90c in 35 minutes with a beautiful char on top, so I’m glad I parboiled the potatoes. I made the marinade exactly as the recipe, it was perfect. I served with pan fried green beans which were delicious.
So glad you enjoyed!
I have had the pleasure of making this dish several times. I have made it in 4-8 serving format for home dinners, and have scaled it up for 25 guests and 35 guests for two hosted events. I love the channel, your production values are great, the advice, commentary,and family interactions are a joy.
Two copies of your cookbook were delivered last week. I am excited to work through it.
May the new year bring blessings to your family.
So happy you enjoyed, Paul, and thank you so much for ordering the book!
Hi Jim!
I really appreciate how you explain everything and make it sound very simple……I have made lots of your receipes and they are fantastic……..
Cannot wait to try this Greek lemon chicken dish! Thanx again for your great dishes and videos!
Thanks for the comment, Jan, and so glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
I’ve made many of your recipes and never been disappointed. My son and I watch your show together occasionally when he is visiting and he too has made your recipes. Knowing how much I truly enjoy your show he bought me your cookbook for Christmas this year. I’ve looked through it several times already, good job!
I can see it as being a “go to” cookbook.
We’re so happy to hear that, Tammy! We hope you get lots of use out of the book!
I wanted something different (other than our traditional West Indian dishes) and I came across this. It was easy to make and it was delicious. I also made his lemon rice. Dinenr was amazing.
So happy to hear that!
Thank you for sending James – I will make this for my Dad – sounds delicious.