Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.
Baked Greek chicken and potatoes is an easy dinner recipe with just 10 minutes of prep! Both the juicy chicken and the crispy potatoes are flavored with herbs, lemon, and garlic for a healthy meal that’s full of fresh Mediterranean flavor.
Table of Contents
- What is Greek Chicken?
- Ingredients
- How to Make Greek Chicken and Potatoes
- What to Serve with Authentic Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes
- Preparation and Storage Tips
- Recipe Variations
- Tips for the Best Greek Chicken and Potatoes Recipe
- More Mediterranean Chicken Recipes to Try
- Greek Chicken and Potatoes Recipe
Use one big sheet pan or two smaller pans to prepare a Greek chicken dinner in minutes! Whether you prefer chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or other chicken parts, the simple seasoning and marinade delivers perfectly tender and juicy baked chicken with golden, crispy roasted potatoes every time.
What is Greek Chicken?
Greek chicken is any chicken that has been flavored with a classic Greek seasoning or marinade — usually including olive oil, garlic, red wine vinegar, lemon, and oregano. For a creamy touch, some recipes also add Greek yogurt.
This Greek chicken and potatoes recipe calls for a whole cut-up chicken, but you can substitute with any chicken parts that you prefer. For instance, use only chicken breasts if you like the white meat, or pick just the thighs, drumsticks, or wings if that’s what’s available.
You’ll definitely want to leave the skin on the chicken for roasting (which adds flavor to the meat and helps to keep the meat moist and juicy), but you can remove the skin before serving. Here, I’ve shown chicken breasts and chicken thighs, since those are our favorites.
Is Greek Chicken healthy?
This recipe offers a relatively low-calorie lean source of protein. You can remove the skin from the chicken after roasting if you’re looking to reduce the fat and calories.
This recipe is not Keto-friendly or low-carb, thanks to the potatoes. One fourth of the recipe has 497 calories, 23 grams of fat, 24 grams of carbohydrates, and 47 grams of protein. This is just an estimate, and assumes that you consume all of the marinade. Inevitably, there will be some marinade left in the pan or in the bowl if you don’t need it all, so the nutrition stats will vary greatly.
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for Greek chicken marinade. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Onion and lemons: these serve as “roasting rack” for the chicken, infusing the meat with fresh flavor as it roasts.
- Red wine vinegar: for bright, acidic tang.
- Honey: to sweeten the marinade.
- Olive oil: the fat the forms the base of the marinade. It helps transfer the flavor to the meat, and helps the meat brown in the oven.
- Garlic: for savory flavor.
- Oregano: for classic Greek, earthy flavor.
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper: to enhance the other flavors in the dish.
- Chicken: use a whole cut-up chicken, or pick your favorite bone-in, skin-on parts — such as just chicken breast or just chicken thighs.
- Potatoes: I use baby red potatoes, but you can sub with yukon gold potatoes.
How to Make Greek Chicken and Potatoes
You can’t beat the ease of a sheet pan supper, and this Mediterranean roasted chicken and potatoes will not disappoint! It’s crisp, juicy, and full of fresh flavor. I’ve included the detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the quick version:
- Arrange chicken parts on top of sliced lemons and onions.
- Whisk together the Greek chicken marinade.
- Brush half of the marinade onto the chicken.
- Bake the chicken.
- Toss the diced potatoes with the remaining marinade. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add them to the same baking sheet (or to a separate pan), and roast alongside the chicken during the final 25-30 minutes.
What to Serve with Authentic Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes
A one pan meal is perfect for busy weeknights! Here are some sides that pair nicely with the crispy Greek chicken and tender potatoes:
- Amish Green Beans with Brown Butter, Three Bean Salad, or Roasted Green Beans
- House Salad with Candied Pecans, Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette, a Classic Caesar Salad, Mixed Greens with Dijon Vinaigrette, or a Wedge Salad
- Garlic Roasted Broccoli or Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower
- Marinated Vegetable Salad
- Cucumber, Tomato, and Onion Salad or Creamy Cucumber Salad with Dill
- Sauteed Spinach with Garlic
- 3-Ingredient Roasted Yellow Squash
- Sauteed Zucchini or Zucchini Fritters
- Sauteed Asparagus with Lemon, Garlic, and Almonds
- Couscous Salad
If you’re just serving the chicken on its own (without the potatoes), it’s delicious over rice, on a Greek salad, or tucked inside pita bread with fresh vegetables, marinated cucumbers, pickled red onions, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and homemade Tzatziki sauce.
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Prep ahead: You can make the marinade up to 1 week in advance. You can even marinate the chicken for up to 12 hours before adding it to the baking sheet, if you like.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- How to Freeze: I recommend pulling off the skin and freezing the cooked chicken meat without the skin. The skin will not have the same crispy texture when it’s thawed. Wrapped tightly, the cooked chicken will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. I don’t recommend freezing the potatoes, since they will have a mushy texture when thawed.
- How to Reheat: Place on a baking sheet and warm in a 350°F oven just until heated through, being careful not to overcook the chicken or it will become dry. You can also microwave individual pieces of chicken on high for 1-2 minutes, or until heated through.
Recipe Variations
- Instead of a whole cut-up chicken, substitute with 3-4 pounds of your favorite chicken parts. For instance, use only chicken breasts, only thighs, or only drumsticks if that’s what you like best. Here I’ve shown a combination of our two favorites — chicken breasts and chicken thighs.
- Omit the potatoes and just roast the chicken on its own. You’ll only need half as much marinade, so you can cut those ingredients in half.
- Oregano is a classic Greek herb, but parsley, rosemary, and thyme would also be delicious in this marinade.
- Even if you don’t want to eat the skin, I highly recommend using bone-in, skin-on chicken for this recipe. The skin and bones add so much flavor to the meat (even if you pull the skin off after cooking), and the skin keeps the meat exceptionally moist and juicy! If you must, you can substitute with boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs — it just won’t taste quite as good. You’ll also need to decrease the baking time for boneless chicken pieces by about 15 minutes (give or take, depending on the size of your chicken).
Tips for the Best Greek Chicken and Potatoes Recipe
- Use a very large rimmed baking sheet so that you can fit the chicken and potatoes comfortably on one tray. If using a smaller sheet pan, you’ll likely need to put the potatoes on their own separate tray.
- The honey in the marinade helps the chicken skin brown in the oven. Control how dark and crispy your meat gets by loosely shielding the chicken with foil when it reaches the desired color.
- Total cooking time will vary depending on the size and thickness of your chicken. I recommend using a meat thermometer to know when your chicken is perfectly done. The meat is cooked through when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- If you’re only roasting chicken thighs (or other smaller parts), reduce the total roasting time. For instance, bone-in chicken thighs will only need about 30-35 minutes in the oven, so you can add the potatoes to the pan at the same time.
- Garnish the finished dish with herbs like fresh parsley, thyme, oregano, and dill, and with fresh lemon wedges.
More Mediterranean Chicken Recipes to Try
Chicken Souvlaki
58 minutes mins
Crock Pot Chicken Gyros
3 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Chicken Shawarma {Grilled or Roasted}
3 hours hrs 48 minutes mins
Greek Chicken and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 whole cut up chicken, bone-in, skin-on (or about 3-4 lbs. of bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces of your choice)
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 2 lemons, thinly sliced into rounds
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano (or about 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano)
- 1 lb. baby red potatoes, quartered
- Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Line a very large rimmed baking sheet with foil (for easy clean-up) and spray with nonstick cooking spray or brush with olive oil. If you don't have an extra large baking sheet, you might need to use two separate smaller baking sheets to accommodate both the potatoes and the chicken.
- Arrange lemon slices and onion slices on half of the prepared baking sheet. Pat chicken dry; arrange (skin-side up) on top of the lemons and onions.
- In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, vinegar, honey, olive oil, garlic, and oregano. Set aside half of the marinade in a bowl. Spoon or brush the remaining sauce over the chicken. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper.
- Roast chicken for 45 minutes – 1 hour, or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. If the chicken starts to get too dark on top while it’s still cooking, shield loosely with foil.
- When there are about 30 minutes left in the chicken's cooking time, toss the potatoes with the remaining dressing. Spread the potatoes in a single layer on the other half of the baking sheet (or on a separate baking sheet). Season with salt and pepper.
- Return the pan to the oven for 25-30 more minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F and the potatoes are fork tender and crispy.
Notes
- Use a very large rimmed baking sheet so that you can fit the chicken and potatoes comfortably on one tray. If using a smaller sheet pan, you’ll likely need to put the potatoes on their own separate tray.
- The honey in the marinade helps the chicken skin brown in the oven. Control how dark and crispy your meat gets by loosely shielding the chicken with foil when it reaches the desired color.
- Total cooking time will vary depending on the size and thickness of your chicken. I recommend using a meat thermometer to know when your chicken is perfectly done. The meat is cooked through when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- If you’re only roasting chicken thighs (or other smaller parts), reduce the total roasting time. For instance, bone-in chicken thighs will only need about 30-35 minutes in the oven, so you can add the potatoes to the pan at the same time.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in June, 2020. The photos were updated in March, 2023.
