Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

 

Sometimes there's just nothing that will satisfy a craving for roasted meat and potatoes like, well ... roasted meat and potatoes.  This dish is full of flavor and is so incredibly simple to make.  Thyme, lemon, onions and a little white wine (chicken stock can be substituted) come together with a basic vinaigrette to beautifully and deliciously season the chicken and potatoes.

Everything cooks in one baking dish.  Your complete meal is ready to go without dirtying a ton of dishes.  We like this with a salad or some steamed green beans.

I like to use two or three large skin-on/bone-in chicken breasts (that I halve) for this.  But, you can cut up a whole chicken or utilize bone-in/skin-on thighs.  (I wouldn't recommend skinless and boneless unless you want dry meat.)

Yields 4 - 6 servings (depending on how many chicken pieces you use)


Ingredients:

2 - 3 pounds of chicken pieces (see recommendation above)
1 - 1 1/2 pound potatoes, cut into large chunks
1 - 2 onions, peeled and cut into large wedges
4 - 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
6 sprigs fresh thyme (or a pinch of dried thyme)
1 lemon, cut into 6 - 8 wedges
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup white wine or chicken stock
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the potatoes, chicken, lemon wedges, garlic and onions in a roasting pan or baking dish.  (The size of the vessel needed will depend on how many chicken pieces you have, but you'll want one on the larger side to ensure everything is spread out in an even layer for the most part.)

Combine the olive oil and vinegar in a small bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Pour mixture over the chicken and potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Toss/stir to coat thoroughly.  Be sure the chicken is positioned with the skin side up.  Scatter the thyme sprigs around. Splash on the wine or chicken stock evenly across the chicken and potatoes.

Cover with foil and roast for 20 minutes.  Remove foil, rotate pan in oven and continue roasting for an additional 30 - 40 minutes ... or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes have started to brown up nicely.  You can use a fork to flip the potatoes once or twice during roasting just so that they crisp up a little more evenly ... otherwise they mostly crisp on the bottom.  Also, you can spoon some of the cooking liquid onto the chicken once or twice to keep it ultra moist.   If you find that the bottom of the pan is looking dry at any time during the roasting process, splash in a little more wine or stock.

Remove from oven and serve with pan juices.