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.
This post may contain affiliate links. Our disclosure policy.
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.
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email and we'll send it to you. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week!
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
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email and we’ll send it to you. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week!
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.
Follow Me
The Sip and Feast Cookbook
- 100+ recipes
- Essential tools and ingredients
- Entertaining ides
- Stunning photography
If you’ve enjoyed this Easy Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes Recipe, give it a 5-star rating.
Watch us on YouTube, follow along on our Facebook Page, and become a Patreon member to receive access to exclusive full-meal videos and content.
Could you use boneless chicken breasts instead?
You can use breasts but just cook them until they reach 165°F otherwise they will dry out.
This was the best chicken and potatoes.My family was over the moon and extra TLC for the yellow potatoes.
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Jean!
This dish was a hit with all 5 of us. Easy to make and bake. And it even looks delicious!
We’re so happy you all enjoyed, Mike!
Would it work with boneless skinless thighs please?
Yes, you can use boneless skinless thighs.
Video cut off before I could see final product! But I will try recipe! Lemon the best flavor enhancer in cooking👍
Hi Rande, the video shouldn’t have cut off – were you watching here on the website or on YouTube?
Looks delicious
I made this tonight and followed the recipe almost exactly, I did par boil the potatoes. The marinate is insanely delicious and the chicken came out yummy. Next time I will leave the potatoes under the broiler to brown up more and use a bit less marinate on the potatoes..
So glad you enjoyed!
I made the entire marinade and used 1/2 of it for a Greek salad of red onion, cucumbers, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, and a little bit of lettuce and cilantro and let it all sit in the fridge for a few hours I then used the other 1/2 of marinade to make 1/2 chicken and potatos serving in your recipe since there are only 2 of us. Such a great Sunday lunch!!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Darren!
Do you have a cook book? I would love to buy it
Hi Judy, our first cookbook is available for preorder here: https://www.sipandfeast.com/cookbook/
Can you use chicken breasts? Does it alter the cook time?
Hi Jennifer, you can use breasts but just cook them until they reach 165°F otherwise they will dry out.
Delicious. I placed equal amount of marinade over chicken and potatoes (in separate baggies) 5 hours before baking.
So glad you enjoyed, Susan!
Delicious! Keep creating beautiful food .
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Katherine!
Flavorful, very tasty
So glad you enjoyed!
i like to cook the potatoes a while cool a little and than bake they dont tak as long and seem to brown better
Can i use a whole cutup chicken rather than just thighs
Yes, you can.
For the first time I had the hardest time getting a recipe to print..even after I submitted my email 2X..
I love your recipes and style of cooking..
Hi Camille, sorry to hear you had trouble printing. If you can email us and provide details on what type of problem you were having, I can look into it for you.
I wonder if you could get by with half as much oil I made the recipe exactly as dictated although I had to take some liberty with the herbs, but there was so much liquid left in the baking dish after the chicken cooked off that the potatoes basically boiled so they didn’t really absorb as much flavor so I’m just trying to think what else could be done And all I could think of is reduce to how much oil is used otherwise great recipe I sprinkled some feta cheese on my potatoes when they were done
This was really good! My kids liked it and I’ll be making it again for sure.
So happy you all enjoyed, Christie!
Excelente
So glad you enjoyed!
i’ve made this three times already. The potatoes were so delicious. They were infused with the greek marinade as they were cooking.
So glad you enjoyed, Susan!