This is a super easy tray bake is a fabulous recipe for dinner parties, or family dinners a like. The best part of it is naturally dairy free, gluten free and free from the top 9 food allergens.
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Ingredients:
8 Chicken Legs, with back attached bone-in and with skin on
5 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled
½ Cup Dill, fresh and chopped (divided in 2 equally)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, or Avocado Oil divided in half
¼ Cup Oregano, fresh chopped
2 teaspoons Sea Salt
½ teaspoon Black Pepper
½ teaspoon Paprika, mild
Zest of 1 Lemon, use one of the fresh lemons
10 Cloves Garlic, whole and trimmed
4 Lemons, whole
1 cup Water
Method:
Peel the yellow potatoes and cut them in wedges from end to end. The wedges should be around 1 inch thick. Place the potato wedges in a large bowl.
Preheat the oven to 475 F.
Chop the dill. Measure it into 2 portions of ¼ cup. Set one portion aside as garnish for after the chicken has finished cooking.
In a medium bowl mix ¼ cup chopped fresh dill, all of the sea salt, black pepper, mild paprika, zest of 1 lemon, and chopped fresh oregano.
Pat the chicken legs dry with a paper towel. Coat the chicken with half the olive oil. Pat half the herb and spice mixture all over the skin of the chicken on both sides. Place the chicken on the middle of the baking sheet.
Put the garlic cloves under the chicken.
Drizzle the rest of the olive oil over the potatoes in the large bowl from step one and stir until all are coated. Sprinkle the second half of the herbs and spices over the potatoes and mix with a spoon to evenly dust with herbs and spices. Place the potatoes around the outside edge of the baking sheet around the chicken.
Halve the three lemons that have zest still on them. Place them cut side up between chicken legs.
Pour ⅔ cup water in the base of the pan under the potatoes and chicken.
Place the chicken and potatoes on the baking sheet in the oven on the middle rack. Cook for 35-45 minutes or until the chicken legs have an internal temperature of 175 F.
When the chicken is cooked, remove the sheet pan from the oven. Squeeze the lemon that was zested earlier over the cooked chicken and potatoes. Sprinkle the rest of the fresh dill over the chicken and potatoes.Move the chicken to a serving dish.
Scrape the potatoes and garlic off the bottom of the pan if they are sticking and mix gently with the juices in the pan to coat. Squish the garlic and mix with the potatoes. Move the potatoes to a dish for serving. Sprinkle salt to taste on the potatoes, if needed.
Serve with a salad or steamed vegetables.
Notes:
Use the zest of one of the lemons for the herb mix. Save that lemon so it is the one that is squeezed over the chicken and potatoes after cooking.
You could also use half chickens or breasts. A longer cooking time will be needed. They should be bone in and skin on or they will burn or be really dry.
You can replace the water with no-salt chicken broth, if desired.
If using dried herbs reduce the amount to ⅓ of the amount in the recipe. ½ cup of fresh dill would be tablespoons of dried dill and ¼ cup of fresh oregano would end up as tablespoon of dried.
Yukon gold, yellow potatoes, or red potatoes can be used. A waxy potato is what is needed in this recipe.