A Greek taverna classic, kotopoulo lemonato me patates, baked in the oven the traditional way. Crispy-skinned chicken thighs and golden roasted potatoes in a lemon, garlic and oregano sauce — almost entirely hands-off. About an hour from start to finish. Comfortably serves 2 with leftovers.
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (or 2 large)
- 500 g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 3–4 cm chunks
- 1 large lemon (zest of half, juice of all)
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- 80 ml white wine (optional — see notes)
- Chicken stock, hot (enough to come ~1 cm up the side of the pan — see step 5)
- ½ tsp salt — taste before serving, stock is salty
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- Small handful parsley, chopped (optional, to serve)
- Black olives and/or crumbled feta (optional, to serve)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Set it to 200 °C (180 °C fan) / 400 °F. Take the chicken out of the fridge so it warms up a bit while you prep.
- Prep the ingredients. Pat the chicken thighs very dry with paper towel — dry skin is what makes crispy skin. Peel and cut the potatoes into 3–4 cm chunks. Smash the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and roughly chop. Zest half the lemon and set the zest aside for the finish; juice the whole lemon.
- Build the tray. In a roasting tray or oven-safe pan, toss the potatoes with the garlic, 2 tbsp of the olive oil, the oregano, lemon juice, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Spread them out in a single layer.
- Add the chicken. Nestle the chicken thighs skin-side up on top of the potatoes. Rub the skins with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Pour in the liquid. Pour in the wine (if using) and then enough hot stock to come about 1 cm up the side of the pan. The exact volume depends on the pan — a wide flat tray needs more (200–250 ml), a deeper pan with high sides needs less (100–150 ml). The chicken should sit clearly above the liquid; the potatoes can be partly submerged but not fully covered. Pour from the side so you don’t wet the chicken skin.
- Roast. Slide the tray into the oven and roast for 45–55 minutes, until the chicken is deeply golden and cooked through (juices run clear, or 75 °C / 165 °F at the bone) and the potatoes are tender and crispy-edged. Around the 25-minute mark, give the potatoes a stir if you can — just slide a spoon under them without disturbing the chicken. Most of the liquid should be visibly gone by this point; if it’s not, see notes.
- Crisp the skin (optional but worth it). If the chicken skin isn’t as crisp as you’d like, switch the oven to grill/broil for the last 2–4 minutes. Watch it like a hawk — it goes from golden to burnt fast.
- Rest & serve. Take the tray out and let it sit for 5 minutes — the juices settle and the chicken stays juicy. Scatter over the lemon zest and parsley. Serve straight from the tray, with olives and/or crumbled feta on the side and bread to mop up the lemony juices.
Notes & tips
- Bone-in skin-on is best for flavor and juicy meat. Boneless skin-on thighs work too — reduce the roast time to about 35 minutes. Skinless boneless will work but you lose the crispy-skin magic and the fat that flavors the potatoes; add an extra tablespoon of olive oil if going that route.
- Potato choice matters. You want waxy, not floury — they need to hold their shape during the roast. Any boiling/all-purpose potato is perfect; mashing potatoes will turn to mush.
- The 1 cm liquid rule is the important one. Too much liquid and the potatoes braise instead of roast — soggy skin, no crispy edges. If at the 30-minute mark there’s still a lot of liquid and the potatoes are mostly submerged, ladle most of it off into a jug (save it as sauce), bump the oven up to 220 °C / 200 °C fan, and finish for another 15–20 minutes.
- For extra-crispy skin: brown the chicken thighs skin-side down in an oiled pan for 4–5 minutes on the stovetop before transferring to the tray. Worth it for a special dinner; skip it on a weeknight — the oven gets the skin plenty crispy on its own. If your oven-safe pan can do both stovetop and oven, do this in the same pan.
- Lemon: Greek versions are generous with lemon. Use the juice of the whole large lemon; if you like things really zingy, squeeze a little extra over each plate at the table.
- White wine isn’t traditional in every version, but it adds a lovely depth. If skipping it, a teaspoon of white wine vinegar splashed in with the stock gets you part of the way there.
- Tray size: the chicken and potatoes should fit in a single layer with a bit of breathing room. If they’re packed in tight they’ll steam instead of roast.
- Fan setting: fan/convection is better for this — it circulates hot air, speeds up evaporation, and browns more evenly. Use 180 °C fan for the main roast.
- Make it a feast: a simple cucumber-tomato-feta salad on the side turns this into a proper Greek dinner. Or just bread and the tray, no shame.
- Leftovers are excellent — the potatoes soak up even more flavor overnight.
Kali órexi! 🍋