This easy Greek chicken and potatoes recipe is a family favorite! The secret is in the lemon-garlic marinade.
Why This is My Go-To Greek Chicken Recipe
- It’s easy to make, and you can’t go wrong with chicken and potatoes.
- The lemon garlic marinade can be used right away or, if you have the time let the chicken bask in the flavors for a few hours or overnight.
- The leftovers are even better the next day.
Greek chicken makes an appearance on my dinner table pretty frequently. In many forms. From tender Souvlaki skewers to chicken gyros 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 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)!
Key Ingredients
- Chicken: For the best flavor, use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces. You can also break down a whole small chicken into pieces to use in this recipe.
- Potatoes: I prefer to use Yukon Gold for color and their tender, creamy texture. Make sure you cut them into thin wedges so they cook with the chicken.
- Onion: I prefer yellow onion, but white will work as well.
- Lemon-garlic marinade: 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, rosemary or oregano, and a pinch of nutmeg.
- Chicken broth: You can use homemade chicken stock or store-bought. If you use store-bought, opt for a low-sodium variety.
- Lemon slices: You can’t have enough lemons in a Greek chicken recipe! Lemon slices act as a pretty garnish, but as they bake over the chicken, they also impart great flavor.
- Fresh parsley: A little green and something bright to finish a dish is always a good idea. Afterall, we eat with our eyes first.
- Kalamata olives: I use pitted olives. They are an optional ingredient, but I love the briny flavor they add to this recipe.
How to Make Greek Chicken
- Get Ready: Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375°F.
- Season the chicken: Season 3 pounds of chicken pieces with kosher salt on all sides and underneath the skin.
- Prepare the potatoes: Slice 4 large Yukon Gold potatoes and 1 yellow onion into thin wedges and arrange in a 9×13 baking dish. Season with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Make the marinade: In a bowl or measuring cup, add 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 8-12 minced garlic cloves, 1 1/2 tablespoons dried rosemary, and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. You can use dried oregano instead of rosemary if that’s what you have on hand.
- Put everything together: Arrange the chicken pieces in the baking dish. Pour the chicken broth into the dish, then pour the marinade evenly over the chicken and potatoes. Arrange lemon slices on top.
- Bake: Place the uncovered baking dish in the oven for 45 to 60 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked through; it should read 165°F on an instant-read thermometer. Depending upon the size of your chicken pieces and potato wedges, you may need an extra 20 minutes. To get more color on the chicken, place the pan under the broiler briefly to allow the chicken skin to gain additional color. Watch carefully so it doesn’t burn. When finished, remove from the oven, add Kalamata olives and fresh parsley.
Make it a Greek Feast!
In my house, Greek chicken is served with a traditional Greek salad for something fresh. It’s one of the easiest salads to make, which is a win in my book, and everyone loves it. A side of Tzatziki sauce for something creamy and fresh baked pita bread is a must.
You can make it from scratch, but I won’t tell anyone if you pick it up from the store. No judgement here! If you’re gluten-free, and bread is off the table, then serve it with Spankorizo, my Greek spinach rice.
This easy Greek chicken recipe is a family favorite. The secret is in the lemon-garlic 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 pounds chicken pieces, bone in and skin on (I used 2 smaller breasts and 3 legs)
- kosher salt
- 4 gold potatoes, about 2 lb, scrubbed clean, cut into thin wedges
- 1 medium yellow onion, halved then sliced
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 6 to 12 pitted kalamata olives, optional
- fresh parsley, to garnish
For the Lemon-Garlic Marinade
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil I used Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 8-12 fresh garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary or dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Sides (optional)
Instructions
- Get ready: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Season chicken: Pat chicken dry and season generously, including under the skin, with salt.
- Prepare the potatoes: Arrange the potato wedges and onions in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Season with salt and 1 tsp black pepper.
- Assemble the dish: Add the chicken pieces to the pan with the potatoes, tuck the lemon slices around the chicken pieces, and pour the chicken broth over the chicken.
- Make the marinade: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, rosemary, and nutmeg. Pour evenly over the chicken and potatoes.
- Bake: Place the uncovered dish in the heated oven and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165° and the potatoes are tender. Depending upon the size of your potato wedges and chicken pieces, you may need a little more time. If the potatoes are not fully cooked through, raise the oven temperature to 425°F and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. To get more color on the chicken, place the pan under the broiler briefly, allowing the chicken skins to gain additional color. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn.
- Garnish and serve: Remove from heat and add kalamata olives, if you like. Garnish with a little bit of fresh parsley.
Video
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.
Nutrition
Calories: 194.4kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 3.4gFat: 9.5gSaturated Fat: 1.4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6.6gCholesterol: 1.2mgSodium: 154.9mgPotassium: 573.1mgFiber: 3.8gSugar: 2.6gVitamin A: 26.7IUVitamin C: 38.7mgCalcium: 40.2mgIron: 1.4mg
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This post originally appeared on The Mediterranean Dish in 2017 and has been recently updated with new information and media for readers’ benefit. Enjoy!
This, and all your recipes, look amazing. I have yet to try them, but am excited to do so as I have recently started a Mediterranean Lifestyle (a/k/a Diet). One question: When using the lemon garlic sauce as a marinade for the chicken, do you add salt and pepper (and how much?) to the marinade itself or do you salt and pepper the chicken before marinating it? Thank you for sharing your recipes and knowledge!
Hope you enjoy it! As stated in step #2 of the recipe, the chicken is first patted dry and then a bit of salt is added directly to it. Enjoy
I was not a huge fan of this recipe. The potatoes were not fully cooked, even though I cut them in smaller pieces than quarters. They also did not have much flavor. There was also too much rosemary; it even overpowered the garlic. Maybe use half of the rosemary called for in the recipe and make up the other half with oregano? Also the nutmeg was completely lost with all of the other flavors.
Thank you for sharing. If you’re not a big fan of rosemary, you can sure use all oregano or mix a bit of oregano and rosemary. However, cooking time varies from one oven to another; we have not had this issue with the potatoes being un-dercooked in the many times the recipe was tested.
Was just stopping by to share how much the family LOVED this chicken dinner! The flavors were everything we wanted.
amazing flavours! Such an easy meal and hit in my family. Thank you
That’s great to hear! Thanks so much!
I will try this recipe tonight. Thank you Suzy for sharing this recipe. You are beautiful!
Aww! Thank you, Cristina! That is very sweet! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Doing this tonight!
Hope you enjoy!
I made this tonight, but didn’t add the olives. The flavors were there but I had an issue. After cooking for 45 min. I covered and out back in for another 15 min. I cooked it for an hour and the chicken was done but potatoes and onions were not cooked. What went wrong?
Hi Janet, thanks for sharing. In this recipe, the chicken and potatoes are baked uncovered for the full 45 minutes to 1 hour. That usually works out for me producing both really tender chicken and well cooked potatoes and onions. I am not sure what might have been the issue to be honest…but ovens do vary. One thing would be to cut the potatoes smaller, that might help.
Hi Suzy
I cooked Greek Lemon Chicken with potatoes and and it was sooooo good ? I will definitely cook it again. I love your recipes.
Thank you for sharing ?
My pleasure! So glad you enjoyed it!
Suzy, I have made this for over 30 years, got the recipe from a Greek woman who had a small restaurant. Your recipe is spot on. I do add artichoke hearts to my dish as well. And lots of crusty bread to soak up the incredible juices.
YUM!! Thank you so much, Nancy!
Oh boy, this was so good! Had lamb chops to use instead. The potatoes turned out beautifully! Decided to grill the chops rather than do them with the potatoes.
But will definitely be making this again, with chicken.
Also, made the tzatziki and the pita recipes for tonight’s dinner. It was a good meal!!!
Thanks so much!!
That sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Sandra!
This is a DO OVER! We love the recipe! Question: We don’t eat the skin. Can we used boneless, skinless chicken and just add a bit more chicken broth to the pan? I accidentally bought fresh mint at the store, instead of parsley, but it was good too. The whole house smelled so good while baking!!!!!!!!
Sure, Christina! That works, too! 🙂
this is the first recipe I tried from you website and I am sold. Love Love!! thank you for making it easy to follow and simple but delicous ingredients. I made some slight changes, I used skinless chicken breast and fingerling potatoes cut in half. We had leftovers , which the next day I warmed the potatoes chicken mixture and put it on top of a greek salad for lunch.
I am so so glad! Thanks for giving it a try!
Thanks Suzy,
We just made this dish last night. Love it!
Gregorio
I am so glad! Thanks for sharing
So freaking good! I just loved the flavor of this meal. Thanks!
Thanks, Stephanie! So glad you enjoyed it!
The flavors in this meal come together so perfectly. We love it.
Thank you, Laura!
Yummy! This is a standard favorite. LOVE this for dinner and then the leftovers for lunch the next day. So so good.
Can this be used with boneless skin on chicken thighs? If yes what would the cooking time be?
Absolutely! It’s hard to give you an exact cooking time here. Just keep in mind that the boneless thighs will cook faster. They are finished once they have an internal temp of 165 degrees F.