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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Followed every detail of recipe. As others stated, 60 minutes at 350F in reliable gas oven totally insufficient. Outcome was barely edible. Not worth a second effort.
This was quite delicious! I cut up a whole fryer and browned it well in olive oil, lots of S&P. For sauce I added fresh rosemary from my garden, some chopped porcini and some Pinot Grigio . (Can’t help it, I’m Italian!) Set oven 375 on convection. I tossed the potatoes (cut in 3/4” wedges) in some evoo, S&P, fresh rosemary & bit of garlic and roasted them separately because we like them a bit crisp and browned.
Roasted everything for about 75-80 mins. Chicken skin nice and crisp. Potatoes browned and delicious. So this recipe was great to tweak to our tastes.
Sounds wonderful!! Thank you for sharing!!
I am a visual person so was looking for the video but every link I follow takes me nowhere, help please (I’m sure it’s user error:-))
Hello! I’m so sorry you’re having issues with the video. We just looked into it, and everything seems okay on our end. It may be the browser you’re using… some browsers block pop ups which for some reason also blocks instructional videos. You may need to try a different one, or adjust some settings on your end.
60 minutes at 350 F and the bone-in chicken was not done and the baby potatoes were rock hard.
I’ll do it again…but will adjust time and temperature to get it cooked.
I’m sorry to hear that, Erik. Thanks for the feedback!
The taste was very enjoyable, although I encountered the issues that many others seem to have reported. I browned the chicken for 10-11 minutes total on the stove top prior to baking, but even with that extra cooking time, the chicken still wasn’t done after 60 min at 350 degrees. Also, the potatoes were still hard. So, we baked an extra 10 minutes, which finished the chicken, but not all the potatoes. Seems like they just need quite a bit more time/heat tucked away under the chicken.
It takes quite a bit of effort and is incredibly bland, we won’t make it again.
I appreciate you giving the recipe a try, Lee. Thanks for the feedback!
Sauté fresh spinach drizzle the lemon garlic sauce over it , yummy healthy side with chicken and potato’s
Great idea!
I baked this at 425 degrees for 45 min, then broiled for 15 min, chicken and potatoes turned out perfect! 350 is way too low. I also made the tsaziki sauce and it was excellent!
Thanks for sharing, Jen!
I make this recipe regularly for my family of 7. Even my littlest ones rave about it! So simple and full of flavor.
Thank you so much, Paige! I love getting thumbs up from the littles!!!
Thanks for the great recipe! I used oregano instead of rosemary and purple and red potatoes! Great!
Thanks for sharing your adaptations! So glad you enjoyed it!
This was an amazing supper. The gold potatoes really took on a wonderful taste. I used red onion and it was a beautiful presentation. A treat for both the eye and pallet.
So glad you enjoyed it, Regina!
I enjoyed making this! I baked it covered at 375 and then removed the cover and broiled it for 10-15 minutes. You have to watch it though. Skin was crispy and meat was tender and juicy! Potatoes were cooked perfectly. Simple delicious.
Sounds yummy! Thanks for sharing, Leslie!
Chicken was great but I also had an issue with the potatoes. Cooked the chicken in 1 hour and had to cook the potatoes for an extra 30 mins (1.5 hours total) and did the last 30 at 400 to try to speed the process along. Even after that, they were still hard so I gave up and just didn’t eat the potatoes. I was monitoring the oven temperature the whole time with a thermometer and it was stablle. next time I will cook the potatoes ahead of time or just omit them all together
1 hour at 350C in a normal oven is not enough time as previous poster says. Most likely the OP has a convection oven. Because after cooking for one hour at 350, the potatoes are still hard and the chicken doesn’t reach 165F. The chicken was fresh and was placed in my oven after it reached 350.
Convection ovens shouldn’t be used for timing recipes. There is no other explanation other than the OP has the wrong time or the wrong temp.
Suzy, Hi!
I have made this a few times and it’s always so delicious and comforting. The nutmeg truly warms things up and takes it to another level. Thank you so much! We served it with rice, and some greek salad on the side.
For those experiencing trouble with the potatoes – it is indeed an oven issue. To combat this, I simply par-cook my potatoes in the microwave for about 10 mins, prior to using in the recipe. I do the same when making the Fasolakia and the Egyptian potatoes recipes 🙂
Thanks for sharing, Lee. So glad to hear it
Super tasty and easy to make! I used chicken thighs because that’s what I had. I did the marinade option, because I could. Made it on BBQ using direct heat in a cast iron pan. Tried indirect heat first, but it wasn’t even bubbling after 15 minutes, so I moved it to direct heat, and it worked much better. Grilled the chicken directly for a few minutes at the end to crisp things up. Super lemony, garlicky, and tasty!
Awesome!! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
We made a version of this tonight and it was excellent!! I used fresh rosemary, fresh lemon thyme, and dried oregano as the herbs. I didn’t do potatoes either. As it’s summer, I baked it on the BBQ. It was served with couscous cooked with sun-dried tomatoes. We topped the couscous with the onions and juices. Excellent ??
Thanks for sharing, Justice!