One-Pan Greek Lemon Chicken with Sweet Potatoes & Cauliflower
Ingredients
Chicken & Fall Vegetables
- 4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- 1/2 large head cauliflower cut into medium florets
- 1 –2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into approximately 1-inch / 2.5-cm cubes
- 2 leeks white and light green parts, cleaned well and cut into thick rounds
- 4 carrots peeled and cut into thick diagonal pieces
- 1 medium red onion cut into wedges
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- 4 garlic cloves sliced
- 4 Tbsp extra-virgin Greek olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp dried Greek oregano
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- Sea salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Lemon-Mustard Mixture
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp extra-virgin Greek olive oil
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
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Preheat the oven. Heat the oven to 425°F / 220°C.
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Prepare the vegetables. Place the cauliflower, sweet potatoes, leeks, carrots and red onion on a large rimmed sheet pan or in a shallow roasting pan. Toss with about half of the olive oil, the oregano, paprika, salt and pepper. Spread into a relatively even layer.
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Give the vegetables a head start. Roast for 15 minutes. This helps the sweet potatoes and carrots begin to soften and encourages the cauliflower to caramelize rather than steam.
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Prepare the chicken. While the vegetables roast, pat the chicken thighs very dry with paper towels. Rub them with the remaining olive oil and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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Add the chicken. Remove the pan from the oven. Toss or turn the vegetables briefly, then nestle the chicken thighs among them, skin-side up. Scatter the sliced garlic and lemon wedges around the pan.
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Make the lemon-mustard mixture. Whisk together the fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Spoon or drizzle the mixture over the chicken and vegetables, taking care not to completely soak the chicken skin so that it can become crisp.
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Roast. Return the pan to the oven and roast for 35–45 minutes, or until the chicken is deeply golden, the vegetables are tender and caramelized, and the thickest part of the chicken reaches at least 165°F / 74°C internally.
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Finish and serve. Scatter the fresh dill and parsley over the chicken and vegetables just before serving. Spoon the lemony pan juices over everything and serve hot.
Notes
Diane’s Tips
Don’t crowd the pan. The cauliflower and sweet potatoes need contact with the hot pan and enough room around them to caramelize. If your sheet pan is small, use the largest roasting pan you have.
Cut the sweet potatoes evenly. Approximately 1-inch / 2.5-cm cubes are ideal. Much larger pieces may not become tender by the time the chicken is done.
Dry chicken = crispier skin. Patting the chicken thoroughly dry before seasoning makes a noticeable difference.
Keep some sauce off the skin. Drizzle most of the lemon-mustard mixture around the chicken and over the vegetables rather than saturating the skin.
Use the pan juices. The mixture of lemon, olive oil, mustard, chicken juices and caramelized vegetables at the bottom of the pan is one of the best parts of this dish. Spoon it over each serving.
For extra browning. If the chicken is cooked but you’d like the skin or cauliflower a little darker, place the pan under the broiler for 2–3 minutes, watching carefully.
Ingredient Notes
Cauliflower: Roasting brings out cauliflower’s natural sweetness and gives its edges a nutty, caramelized flavor that works especially well with lemon, oregano and garlic.
Sweet potatoes: They add color, substance and a gentle sweetness that balances the acidity of the lemon and mustard.
Leeks: Wash them very well, as dirt can hide between their layers. Their mild onion flavor becomes beautifully sweet when roasted.
Greek oregano: Greek oregano has a particularly assertive, earthy aroma that is central to the flavor profile of this dish.
Extra-virgin Greek olive oil: Olive oil isn’t merely a cooking fat here; it is one of the primary flavors and helps the vegetables caramelize while carrying the oregano, lemon and garlic throughout the dish.
For more on the herbs that define Greek cooking, see Essential Herbs in Greek Cooking: From Oregano to Dill.
What to Serve with Greek Lemon Chicken
This is essentially a complete meal on one pan, so it doesn’t need much alongside it. A simple green salad, bitter seasonal greens or a bowl of thick Greek yogurt would all work beautifully. Good crusty bread is also useful for soaking up the lemony pan juices.
Greek Wine Pairing: Nemea Agiorgitiko
I would pour a glass of Agiorgitiko from Nemea with this chicken. Nemea, in the northeastern Peloponnese, is Greece’s great homeland for Agiorgitiko, a wonderfully food-friendly red grape. Look for a fresh, medium-bodied Nemea rather than a heavily oaked bottling. Its ripe red-fruit character and gentle spice are lovely with the paprika, oregano and caramelized sweet potatoes, while its generally supple tannins won’t overwhelm the chicken. There’s enough freshness in the wine to stand up to all that lemon, too.
This is the kind of autumn dinner I love: put everything in one pan, let the oven do most of the work, open a nice bottle of Nemea and settle in.
If You Like This Recipe…
If you love the ease and bright Greek flavors of this one-pan dinner, try these recipes next:
- Greek Sheet-Pan Lemon Roasted Chicken and Potatoes — A classic combination of golden roasted chicken, potatoes, lemon, garlic, olive oil and oregano, all cooked together in one pan.
- Low-Carb Sheet-Pan Chicken Drumsticks with Oranges, Onions and Rosemary — An easy Mediterranean sheet-pan chicken recipe with orange, rosemary, mustard and Greek olive oil.
- One-Pot Greek Lemon Chicken with Potatoes, Mushrooms & Peas — Another easy Greek lemon chicken dinner, with potatoes, mushrooms, peas, dill and a touch of honey.
Make-Ahead & Storage
The vegetables can be cleaned and cut several hours ahead and refrigerated separately. For the best texture, roast the chicken just before serving.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in a hot oven rather than the microwave when possible so the chicken skin and roasted vegetables regain some of their texture.