Mediterranean Baked Chicken Dinner – this is a midweek chicken dinner idea that’s one of those “throw it all in a pan” recipes with high returns for minimal effort. With chicken, potatoes, onion and cherry tomatoes, you’ll love how everything sucks up the tasty lemon garlic sauce in this sheet pan dinner!
Mediterranean Baked Chicken Dinner
This is a chicken sheet pan dinner that ticks a lot of boxes for midweek cooking:
complete meal – no need to bother with side salads
low effort prep – no finely chopping anything, no fiddly assemble, just throw it all in a pan
no need to watch over it – pop it in the oven, set the timer and walk away;
no gourmet or hard to find ingredients – plus plenty of substitutions
IT’S TOTALLY DELICIOUS!!! The tasty Mediterranean sauce is not only very, very tasty in its own right, it also keeps everything nice and moist while it’s in the oven (you will love how juicy the chicken is).
I especially love how the potatoes suck up the sauce as they bake. It reminds me of Greek Lemon Potatoes (but a lot less effort!).
What you need for this Chicken Dinner
Here’s what you need for this one pan Mediterranean Baked Chicken Dinner:
Chicken – thighs and drumsticks (bone in, skin on = juicy flesh and golden skin!)
Lemons, lots of garlic, paprika and oregano – to make the tasty Mediterranean sauce;
Honey and mustard – to thicken/sweeten/flavour the sauce;
Potatoes, onion and cherry tomatoes
Customise it!
I’ve used onions, potatoes and cherry tomatoes here but you could really use whatever vegetables you have.
Zucchini, pumpkin, sweet potato, corn cobs spring to mind as ideal substitutions. Rummage around in your fridge and see what you’ve got!
Also, in there spirit of Mediterranean food, I’ve used oregano and garlic here. Try it with rosemary or thyme instead, or give it a Middle Eastern spin by adding a touch of cumin and coriander!
How to make this One Pan Chicken Dinner
Obscenely simple: mix Sauce, toss in chicken, optional marinade, toss it all in a pan and bake.
OK, I skipped one step here. 😇 I add cherry tomatoes partway through the bake time so they don’t turn into unidentifiable mush. But if you’re ok with extremely squishy tomatoes, just add them right in at the beginning!
And here’s what you end up with in this one pan Mediterranean Chicken Dinner:
1. Very, very juicy chicken infused with Mediterranean flavours -the chicken isn’t submerged in sauce because we want the skin to go nice and golden. But the underside is partially in the sauce / steamed which keeps it ultra juicy.
2. Juicy pops of cherry tomatoes and potatoes that suck up the lemon garlic sauce:
Another nice thing about this chicken dinner is that marinating is optional. It definitely adds flavour if you can marinate overnight because then the chicken is flavoured all the way through.
However, there is plenty of sauce in this recipe – enough to mop and dunk and douse every bite you take. So it’s fine to make even without marinating! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Mediterranean Chicken Dinner
Ingredients
Marinade / Sauce
- 1kg / 2lb bone in, skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) lemon juice
- 6 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard (Optional – Note 2)
- 2 tbsp honey or 1 tbsp sugar (or maple or other sweetener)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1.5 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp EACH salt and pepper
Bake
- 5 smallish potatoes (7.5cm/3" wide) , quartered (Note 3)
- 2 red onions , quartered
- 1 cup (250ml) chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 250g/8oz cherry tomatoes (whole)
- 1/2 tsp EACH salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp Olive oil (or oil spray)
- Fresh oregano , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Mix Marinade ingredients in a bowl, then add chicken and toss to coat. If time permits, marinate for 24 hours, otherwise proceed to next step.
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Place potatoes and onion in baking pan, top with chicken. Pour over the chicken stock then marinade from the bowl.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven.
- Scatter over cherry tomatoes, drizzle everything with 1 tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for a further 30 – 35 minutes until chicken is golden and potatoes are cooked.
- Remove from oven, garnish with fresh oregano if using and serve!
Recipe Notes:
- Marinating – benefits from marinating but not critical. Sauce has so much flavour (and there’s lots of it) it compensates;
- Pan size – ingredients should fit snugly. If they are too spaced out, too much of the liquid will evaporate while baking and you won’t end up with much sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published November 2015, updated March 2020 with new photos, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
More Dinner in One Pot!
Life of Dozer
This is a 3 seater lounge – or one Dozer. 🙄
Made this last night and it was amazing!!! My partner and I couldn’t believe how much flavour there was! The chicken was so succulent and I’m so glad I went out to the butcher to get the skin on thighs. Thank you Nagi! xx
Wahoo!! Sounds like you nailed it Rachel!! N x
absolutely love this. made it a few times now, this time no macaroni available but I had tons of bow tie pasta. worked a treat. Thanks for the recipe.
This was a winner. I added carrots and corn which both worked really well. One to repeat!
Sounds great Magda, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! N x
Loved this! Making it for the second time! Lots of left over gravy so froze it for round two!
Perfect Tamara!!! N x
Hi Nagi. Could I make this in a slow cooker?
Not this one Tanya, you need the oven heat to get that golden crispy chicken skin 🙂 N x
Thanks for the reply Nagi. Have a blessed Easter weekend
This was so delicious. I cheated of course, browned the chicken first and made the dish on the stove top. Afterwards I put the sauce in another saucepan and added some powdered chicken soup to make a lovely golden gravy. All those flavours really shone through.
Sounds great Riette!! N x
OMG, this was amazing. This recipe was packed with flavour. The whole family loved, loved, loved it. Can’t wait to make it again.
I’m so glad it was a hit Gaby, that’s fantastic! N x
We made this last night as part of our Covid-19 simple meal plan. It was wonderful. I doubled the recipe and the leftovers should be even better. As another commentee said, the potatoes were a bit bland. Easy enough to fix next time. Wish I could post a picture is it is a really pretty meal just out of the oven. Thank you for this great recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Gary!! N x
We made this last night as part of our Covid-19 simple meal plan. It was wonderful. I doubled the recipe and the leftovers should be even better. As another commentee said, the potatoes were a bit bland/mushy. This may have been because I used what the store had, not what I would have chosen. We like the sweet red baby potatoes. Easy enough to fix next time. Wish I could post a picture as it is a really pretty meal just out of the oven. Thank you for this great recipe.
I’m making this tonight. Can I freeze it?
100% yes
Chicken was delicious! I felt the potatoes were a little bland. Next time I will make an extra batch of marinade so I can really cover the veggies.
Hello we are making your recipe and noticed that your video puts the chicken in the roasting pan first then fills the pan with potatoes, onions, etc.. However, your directions Step #3 “Place potatoes and onion in baking pan, top with chicken.”. We followed the directions and are waiting to eat this delicious sounding dinner. We would like to know if you recommend placing the chicken first or placing the chicken on top of the potatoes and onions. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe! It’s an easy, healthy and delicious dinner meal!! My hubby and I truly enjoyed it.
That’s awesome Shelley, thanks so much for letting me know!!
I’ve made this three times so far. DELICIOUS. This recipe is a keeper.
I’m so glad you love it Janet! N x
Made this last weekend. Tasted amazing! Will definitely be making again. Thank you so much.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Julie! N x
I made this last night and I have to say it was delicious! I may have cut the vegetables a little unevenly which caused some of them to be a little undercooked. I used sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot and zucchini! I even used two types of chicken, thigh with bone in and chicken breast. The sauce in this dish was delish!! Thanks Nagi!!
Hi Lisa, yes you want the vegetables to all be evenly chopped so they cooked evenly – I’m glad you still enjoyed it though ❤️
Love love love this flavour. This is a perfect family gathering menu as I can prepare meat the day before. I will cook it for the next family gathering!!
Thank you,Nagi for wonderful recipes!! Xxx
I’m so glad you love it Kumi! That’s awesome to hear – N x
I have reviewed everything we did, three times. I am so sorry this was a fail for us. I think is because we used breasts.
Sorry you had a fail – I do say in the notes that breast isn’t recommended for this dish unfortunately – N x
Is there a big difference in using maple syrup over honey?
Hi Patti – not a big difference, both taste similar 🙂
Was so easy to prepare and delicious! Packed this with lunches for the week! Thanks and I love how I had all the staples in my pantry.
Wahoo – perfect Agill! N x
Thanks again for a wonderful, easy and delicious recipe! I added olives, capsicum and zucchini as I needed to use them up and turned out so lovely.
Yum, that sounds fantastic Francene!! N x