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!
Can the marinade be used as the sauce? Or should I discard it after marinating and make a new sauce to pour over the chicken? Thanks!
Hi, Maria. I always discard this marinade since it had raw chicken sitting in it for a bit.
Marinade goes in the dish here though, no? Seems like a waste to make a new one as it cooks with the dish.
i learn more about the mediterranean dish…..excillent
Awww! Thanks, Danilo!
Fabulous recipe, but really didn’t need the broth , will omit next time
Yet another absolute winner from Suzy! I just followed orders, as I do first time with a recipe, and I was very satisfied with the result. Did brown for a brief moment under the broiler for aesthetics and next time would slice the olive garnish so that a piece can go with every bite. Don’t short change the garlic!
Wow! What a deeply satisfying meal on every level. I love garlic but when I saw the amount in the sauce, I was like…are you sure?? Ok let’s do it I’m in 😂
The end result is definitely garlicky but the lemon really cuts through it, as do the herbs & spices, resulting in what can only be described as a heavenly dish 💜
This is going into my favourite go to recipes of all time, just mwah
Garlic is LIFE! lol!
Chicken wasn’t nearly cooked enough after 45 minutes at 350. No browning, red on the inside and bloody. The garlic also started to burn at about this time so clearly something is wrong with the times and temps.
Agree. I bumped up the oven to 400 F after 40 miniutes and let it cook for 40 minutes more.
Enjoyed the dinner and will make it again.
Great dish as usual! It is so tasty and so Mediterranean! A super way to be on a diet and get the best out of it.
Thank you Suzy, you are the very best!
Excellent!
Thanks, Miska!
This one was actually a huge miss for me, I am sorry to say, as I’ve made and enjoyed so many other recipe from this site! I did half the recipe, and opted to use the oregano instead of the rosemary. There was too much liquid in the bottom of the pan, but somehow the potatoes also didn’t cook after an hour and were crunchy (perhaps what I think are thin slices and what’s recommended are different?) in an undercooked way and not a roasted potatoes way. The chicken got no colour and broiling it after helped a bit, but burned the garlic so I had to pull it before I got a good browning. My husband hated the texture of the chicken, finding it both mushy and rubbery (I was ok with it, but it wasn’t ideal). Love the idea of the flavours but this dish just was not it for us.
Thank you for the feedback, Tori.
I had the exact same experience. I don’t think the oven temp is high enough on this recipe. And all the flavor from the broth and marinade fell to the bottom and didn’t stick to anything when it was served. And the olive flavor didn’t get mixed in being added last.
I microwaved the potatoes for 2 minutes. same for a few baby carrots. used only 2 tblsp of broth. 1 hr at 350. delicious!!!
Cooked this recipe at 360 degrees F and the chicken was only cooked to 135 degrees, so I had to turn the oven up to 400 and cook for another 15 minutes to get chicken to 165 degrees. Almost all of the broth was still left in the pan–I had hoped it would reduced to more of a tart syrupy sauce. On the positive side, I really liked the addition of the nutmeg with the herbs in the lemon sauce.
Thanks for the feedback, Linda.
Roasted the potatoes for about 20 or 30 minutes in the broth first. Then removed the broth and placed on the chicken. Worked great. Thanks to all the commenters for the extra tips.
I made this recipe and used chicken boneless/skinless chicken breasts. I loved it other than the fact that boneless/skinless can be a bit dry, especially as leftovers. The only thing that I’d like to know is the sodium content as that is not included in the nutrition facts listed. We did not serve with any sides other than some fresh steamed broccoli. We didn’t use any Kalamata olives as we didn’t have any in the pantry at the time. We also cut the garlic half the garlic, however my husband decided that it wasn’t quite enough. Thanks for putting out an amazing reipe!
Hi, Jennifer. I’m sorry that the sodium count is not available. I’ll check on this and see if we can add that via the program we currently use. With sodium numbers, it really will vary for individual taste and the kind of salt and amount used, so it is tricky.
Either parboil the potatatoes for 5-8 mins. or cover the whole dish for the same amount of time.
Simple and delicious. I’m pleased I didn’t read the comments first. Added some extra garlic cloves to the potaos.. Just wish oven temps were in celsius as well, most of the world doesn’t use it.
Thanks for the feedback, Warren. So glad you enjoyed the recipe!