Baked Chicken and Leeks

This sheet pan Baked Chicken and Leeks is a delicious and filling easy dinner recipe. With creamy diced potatoes, bright and lemony leeks, and juicy roasted marinated chicken and onions. Served with a garlicky greek yogurt sauce (and a glass of white wine). It's a perfect chicken recipe for a busy weeknight or slow weekend.

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• Ingredients
• Step by step instructions
• How to prep leeks
• Tips and tricks
• Storage and reheating
• FAQs
• More chicken recipes
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredients

Below are the ingredients needed to make this baked chicken and leeks recipe, and some rationale / description behind them. I am fully aware this may look like a lot, but I promise the list is longer than it seems and a lot of this you’ll likely already have in your kitchen. 

• Boneless skinless chicken thighs: These are my preferred chicken for this dish because they cook in a perfect amount of time and are so juicy. While bone-in skin-on chicken thighs are known for having more flavor and moisture from the bone, the marinade in this recipe and the way it’s cooked help it stay flavorful and juicy. 
  • You can use chicken breasts or bone-in skin-on chicken thighs. Chicken breast takes a shorter amount of time to cook, whereas bone-in skin-on chicken thighs take longer, so be mindful of that when spacing everything out. 
• Garlic: Plenty of chopped garlic cloves to go in the marinade, and a bit is used in the garlic sauce. You can increase or decrease this based on your preference. 
• Lemon juice & zest: The juice balances the marinade with some acidity. The zest goes on the leeks.
• Worcestershire sauce: a little sauce with tons of flavor - molasses, vinegar, anchovies, all loaded in here. Just a little bit goes a long way. You can use soy sauce instead if needed.
• Dijon mustard: Mustard not only helps the seasoning stick to the chicken but brings a little tangy flavor.
• Spices: a mixture of dried oregano, dried thyme, and smoked paprika is used in the marinade. 
• Olive oil: The base of the marinade - regular olive oil is fine here because it’ll be baked at a relatively high temperature. 
• Onion: A half of a yellow onion is sliced up thin and baked with the chicken, the flavors meld together when marinating and baking, and it’s so good. 
• Potatoes: Any of your favorite potatoes work well here, as long as they are cut into 1-inch chunks. like to use red potatoes in this dish for the variety of color on the plate.
• Leeks: This recipe uses two large leeks, the white through light green parts. To me (although not a technically correct description), leeks are somewhere between an onion and an herb. They’re a member of the onion family, so have a similiar flavor, however are more mild.
• Greek yogurt: Full fat / whole milk plain greek yogurt is used to make a simple yogurt sauce with garlic.
• Parsley: A little fresh parsley sprinkled over top to serve adds a fresh finishing touch. Just about any soft fresh herbs would do the trick here - cilantro, mint, etc.!
• Kosher salt: always kosher salt, not sea salt, not table salt, not coarse salt. I use diamond crystal - it's important to know the differences between salts.

Step by step instructions

These sheet pan chicken thighs come together pretty easily, steps are listed out below.

Overview: marinate the chicken and onions. Then bake the potatoes half way, then add the chicken and let that cook 80% of the way, and then add the leeks. Serve with garlicky yogurt.

1. Marinate the chicken. Pat your chicken dry. In a large bowl, combine the chicken and sliced onions with the marinade ingredients – olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, dried oregano, dried thyme, smoked paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper. Cover and let it sit at room temp for at least 30 minutes. 

While that is marinating, prep the rest of the ingredients.

2. Bake the potatoes. Lay the potatoes out on a large parchment paper lined baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle them with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. 

3. Add the chicken. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, give the potatoes a toss, and push them to one side. Add the marinated chicken and onions right on the baking sheet with all the juices, and return it all to the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes. 

4. Season the leeks. In a small bowl, toss leeks, olive oil, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt together.  

5. Add the leeks & finish baking. Remove the baking sheet from the oven once more, scatter the leek mixture over top of the potatoes. Return to the oven and bake for 15 more minutes until the leeks are tender and golden brown, and the chicken is cooked through. 

6. Make the yogurt sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the greek yogurt, grated garlic, and kosher salt. 

Serve with yogurt on the base of the plate, with chicken, potatoes, and leeks on top, sprinkled with fresh parsley. You can also pour some of the pan juices over top.

How to prep leeks

Cleaning leeks well is very important – dirt and grime gets hidden in all the crevices and layers. 

• To prepare and clean leeks, cut off the parts you’re not using (in this case, cut off the root and dark green stems).
• Then slice them in half, then into half moons.
• Transfer them in a colander and rinse well under cold water, opening all the pieces up and cleaning thoroughly.
• You could alternatively do this in a bowl of water. 

Tips and tricks

Some notes on this one-pan meal of baked chicken thighs with leeks and potatoes below. 

• Pat your chicken dry with paper towels before you marinate it. This will help make sure everything sticks. 
• If time allows, marinate them for hours! Marinating chicken thighs helps make them tender and so flavorful. However, if you marinate for hours, do so covered in the fridge. Then, about 30 minutes before you are going to bake them, take them out of the fridge to come down to room temperature.
• Toss the chicken periodically as it marinates. The liquid will all go to the bottom of the bowl so you want to mix a few times to re-distribute. 
• Use thermometers - both a meat thermometer and oven thermometer, to ensure everything is at the right temperature. Cook time of the chicken will vary based on the size of the meat, so having a thermometer is very helpful. To check the temperature, put the thermometer in the thickest part of the chicken.
• Cut the potatoes into pieces the same size so they bake at the same rate. 
• If you want everything a little crisper, broil it at the end for a few minutes.
• Make the yogurt sauce more of a drizzle by adding a dash or two of water until it’s thinned out to a drizzly consistency. 
• You could make this dish in a cast-iron skillet or roasting pan - you would simply put the potatoes on the bottom, add the chicken on top of the potatoes, and then put the leeks scattered on top of it all.

Storage and reheating

Storing and reheating this roast chicken dish is pretty standard! Instructions below.

• Storage: let the dish cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Store the greek yogurt sauce separately. 
• Reheating: warm in the microwave in 1-2 minute increments until warmed through. 

FAQs

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