Chicken Tray Bake

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Simple tray bakes are the best quick meal hack for any parent: put everything on a tray and bake it... Easy. 

Paprika, lemon and chicken thighs are a marriage made in “roast heaven”! So at the heart of this tray-bake is this winning flavour combo. The potatoes add a starchy carbohydrate to make this a meal-in-one. However, see my tray bake guidelines below as you could substitute with other options. The cherry tomatoes add real sweetness and make the juices taste amazing, so I would personally use those (as I do here). This is a brilliant family meal, which should could everyone well fed - with minimum effort.

Serves 4 adults, or 6-8 children depending on appetite

 

Mimi’s tray bakes ~

  1. Add a starchy carbohydrate; such as, sweet potatoes, potatoes, butternut squash and pumpkin to make the dish filling

  2. Choose 1-2-3 vegetables: asparagus, fennel, broccoli, to make the tray bake a complete meal: saving time, prep, cooking and most importantly washing up!

  3. Generally roasting green vegetables can bring out their more bitter notes and this may not be your preference

  4. Consider the cooking time for each ingredient you use and prep accordingly: this will even out cooking times

& that is it, you are ready to get started…

Tray bakes really are the easiest meal,

they works for the whole family & once you get started you’ll be making them often

 

Paprika Chicken, Lemon and Oregano Tray Bake

  • 8 organic chicken thighs, skin on/ bone in (1 kg approx)

  • 700g-800g potatoes quartered

  • 1 organic unwaxed lemon, halved

  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika (not spicy)

  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano

  • 1 large punnet cherry tomatoes (700g approx)

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

  • thyme sprigs (1 per chicken piece)

  • black pepper, freshly ground to season

  • Serve with a sprinkling of fresh herbs, chopped: e.g. dill, parsley, mint, or basil

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Preheat the oven to 190C (fan oven). Prep the potatoes: wash, trim (I don’t peel as there is so much nutrition under the skin), quarter and in a bowl toss in 1 tablespoon olive oil.

In a mixing bowl bowl toss the chicken thighs and halved lemon with olive oil, sweet paprika, dried oregano and lightly season with a little black pepper.

Then take a lines baking tray: place the eight chicken thighs (skin side up) on the tray, with the lemon halves. Scatter the potatoes and cherry tomatoes around the chicken pieces; making sure the chicken skin is visible (so that it can crisp up during cooking).

 

Place in the preheated oven and cook at 190C (fan oven) for 10 mins; then lower the temperature of the oven to 180C (fan oven) for a further 50 minutes. A total of 1 hours cooking time. If you get time - check halfway and baste the chicken pieces with the juices in the bottom of the tray. Once the chicken is completely cooked through, remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes.

I serve this on a big platter, squeezing over the juices from the cooked lemons and scattering with fresh herbs.

 
tray bake, chickenMiriam Cooper