This Spanish chicken bake is full of gorgeous Mediterranean flavours that your family will love!
There's juicy chicken thighs with a crispy skin, spicy chorizo sausage for a kick and chunks of vegetables cooking in the juices.
Add to that a whole head of garlic, roasted until sweet and plenty of hot lemon wedges to squeeze over the dish and you have a delicious dinner for the whole family.
The best bit? All you need to do is some chopping and then let the oven do the work - perfect for busy evenings.
Bon appétit!
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Why you will love this easy chicken bake
Everyone needs what I call a lazy dinner from time to time. Busy work days and busy family days means we can't spend our lives in the kitchen but we still want a healthy and tasty meal.
This dish is great because:
- chicken thighs are really tasty, keep moist and are really economical to feed a family
- easy to customise with your family's favourite vegetables
- no cooking required just chop the vegetables and throw them in the roasting tin
- the lemon and garlic flavour the sauce made from the dish juices, so everything keeps tasty and juicy
- you only need to peel the onions so there's no laborious prep!
What are the ingredients?
For this Mediterranean chicken bake I have used a variety of vegetables but there's plenty more you could choose.
- peppers - I prefer the sweetness of red ones but use what you have
- onions and garlic - roasting these really brings out the natural sweetness
- lemons add to the flavour of the chichen and the potatoes really taken on the flavour - perfect for serving with the finished dish for your diners to squeeze over the chicken
- potatoes - new or old potatoes, with their skins left on for taste and nutrition, will get crispy edges from cooking in the fat from the chicken
You will also need:
- olive oil - for a Mediterranean flavour and no need to be virgin or extra virgin as it's roasting in the oven
- ring of chorizo sausage which will caramelise in the oven and add a spicy taste
- chicken thighs - these won't dry out in the oven and cooking them on the bone mean the meat stays juicy and tender
- dried tarragon - beacause it's just the perfect partner for chicken and is beautifully aromatic
How to make this Spanish Chicken bake
- Take a couple of bulbs of garlic, peel off any loose outher layers and slice off the top to expose the cloves. There's no need to separate into cloves.
- Slice two lemons into wedges.
- Sometimes chicken thighs can have excess fat and skin so I like to trim off the excess. I allow about two thighs per adult portion.
- Cut the potatoes into chunks of about an inch or a couple of centimetres. This is to ensure that everything is perfectly cooked at the same time. The potatoes will cook from the juices but still have enough exposed edges for crispy edges.
- Peel the onions and cut into wedges - this is the only bit of peeling there is in the recipe!
- Cut the peppers into roungh 1 inch chunks, discarding the seeds and membranes.
- Cut off the rope ends and clice the chorizo on the angle into pieces.
- Put the chicken thighs in a large oven tin with the onions and potatoes scattered around.
- Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and give it a stir to coat the ingredients.
- Season the chicken with salt and black pepper.
- Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes at 180C/350F/160FAN/Gas4.
- Add the sliced chorizo and peppers and give a good stir.
- Place the lemon and garlic on the top, sprinkle with tarragon and season.
- Roast for further 20 minutes until the chicken and vegetables are cooked.
Squeeze the hot lemon over the chicken and chorizo and pop the sweet, roasted garlic from their papery skins and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Chorizo is a smoked Spanish or Portuguese cured pork sausage flavoured smoked red peppers. It often comes in different spice strengths.
It's great to add to dishes as it gives out a rich spicy oil whichis great for cooking and flavouring other ingredients.
You could try monkfish with chorizo, which is another really easy dish. Or try mussels with chorizo or seared scallops with chorizo.
You could use preserved lemons if you don't have fresh one. These will almost completely break down when cooked, leaving a delicious sauce.
I often freeze lemon in wedges if I think I won't use them in time, so you could also add these at the start of cooking directly from the freezer.
Other vegetables that work will are tomatoes, mushrooms, courgettes, aubergines and fennel.
If you don't want to use chicken thighs then chicken portions would work well but will need a slightly longer cooking time. Breast meat can be used but add the chicken with the peppers and lemons or you will risk overcooking it.
This easy chicken bake is perfect for preparing in advance. Prepare the vegetables in two different pots, (i.e. the potatoes and onions in one and the rest in another), then assemble and cook.
If you have any leftover simply reheat within 2 days. You could also freeze the leftover but use within a month.
More poultry recipes to try
📋 Recipe
Spanish Chicken Bake with Chorizo
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs
- 1 chorizo ring
- 2 onions wedged
- 4 potatoes rough chunked
- 2 peppers chunked
- 2 lemons wedged
- 2 bulbs of garlic with tops sliced off
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- seasoning
- 2 teaspoon dried tarragon
Instructions
- Put the chicken, onions and potatoes in a large oven tin and drizzle with oil and season.
- Cook at 180C/160FAN/350F for 30 minutes.
- Add peppers, chorizo, garlic and lemon. Season and sprinkle with the tarragon.
- Bake for another 20-30 minutes.
Notes
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article.
Amanda
Thanks Lisa. The chorizo makes anything taste good doesn't it!
Lisa @ Tiny Kitchen Capers
This is my kind of dish! Love everything in it especially the chorizo!
Amanda
Thanks Beth. I really love these one dish dinners as I hate clearing up! I don't mind all the chopping though!
Amanda
Thanks so much Mireille. I do have a thing for garlic! I love how it goes all soft and sweet when it's roasted.
Mireille | The Tortilla Channel
Amanda, love this recipe! What is not to love when you have chicken, garlic (lots and lots of it) and chorizo. This should be really great ?
Beth
I love this but would certainly not call it lazy! It looks absolutely delicious! Just bursting with flavor! The roasted garlic and chorizo?? Yum!