By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus marinating
- Rating
- 5(10,568)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Your typical sheet-pan chicken recipe roasts everything together on a pan at once. This version pairs potatoes with the poultry, and tops everything off with fresh herbs and arugula, making it a true one-pan meal, salad included. A savory yogurt sauce adds a creamy touch, but it’s optional if you’re not a yogurt sauce fan. Feel free to double the recipe if you’re feeding a crowd, though make sure to use two sheet pans so that everything is spread out in one layer, which is critical for browning.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1½pounds chicken thighs and drumsticks
- 1¼pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes, halved and cut into ½-inch slices
- 2½teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed
- ½teaspoon black pepper, more as needed
- 2tablespoons harissa (or use another thick hot sauce, such as sriracha)
- ½teaspoon ground cumin
- 4½tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
- 2leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- ½teaspoon lemon zest (from ½ lemon)
- ⅓cup plain yogurt (do not use Greek yogurt)
- 1small garlic clove
- 2ounces baby arugula
- Chopped fresh dill, as needed
- Lemon juice, as needed
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Combine chicken and potatoes in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together harissa, cumin and 3 tablespoons oil. Pour over chicken and potatoes and toss to combine. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours in the refrigerator.
Step
2
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine leeks, lemon zest, a pinch of salt and the remaining 1½ tablespoons oil.
Step
3
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange chicken and potatoes on a large rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Roast 15 minutes. Toss potatoes lightly. Scatter leeks over pan. Roast until chicken and potatoes are cooked through and everything is golden and slightly crisped, 25 to 30 minutes longer.
Step
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While chicken cooks, place yogurt in a small bowl. Grate garlic over yogurt and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step
5
To serve, spoon yogurt over chicken and vegetables in the pan. Scatter arugula and dill over mixture. Drizzle with oil and lemon juice and serve.
Ratings
5
out of 5
10,568
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Cooking Notes
AlisonK
Very good. Had to substitute spinach for arugula and am eager to try when I have arugula. Otherwise all worked well according to the recipe. I have a tip for the dill: you can freeze fresh dill. Just snip it as you would for a recipe and spread on a sheet of plastic wrap, with wide margins. Roll the plastic up like a jelly roll and close the ends with twist ties. It's easy to remove just what you need for a dish. It's almost as good as fresh and certainly better than dried.
LeslieMac
Fantastic! I double up on the chicken, using skinless/boneless breasts, so I have leftovers to throw into pasta, salads, tacos throughout the week. I also use baby spinach in place of arugula. Throw it UNDER the chicken & potatoes after you take the pan out of the oven and it just wilts and absorbs the marinade and chicken juices. Mmm.
Alexandra Lightning
Have made this wonderful recipe many times. I always seem to find another little tweak for it every time I make it. One thing that's good is to mix about a tablespoon of chopped dill into the garlic yogurt sauce and add a good squeeze of lemon juice. I always use Greek yogurt because there is no reason not to that I can discern, and it's the only kind of yogurt I have at hand. I serve this yogurt/garlic/dill sauce on the side rather than spoon it over the crispy chicken skin.
Kathy
Would only marinate chicken overnight, not the potatoes. They turned brown when exposed to air.
Started potatoes 10 mins before chicken and they were nice and crispy. Put the leeks on top for last 20 mins and they didn't burn like some others reported.
Dish on whole was highly praised and delicious
Jane
I have made this dish twice, with excellent results both times. However, on the second occasion I made some adjustments: I used a combination of skinless, boneless breasts and thighs. I used medium potatoes, and cut them into wedges (eighths), which made it easy to arrange the potatoes around the chicken. (The wedges also crisped and browned nicely, which was harder to achieve with potato slices.) And I added the dill and lemon juice to the garlicky yogurt. Easy, delicious, impressive--a winner!
Brian Abelson
Sublime! I substituted a baking sheet for a sheet pan. The lack of a ridge on the sheet meant that oil dripped to the bottom of the oven, causing a grease fire which I extinguished with 2.5 to 3 cups of water (this amount may vary based on the size of your oven and the intensity of the fire). I found that the fire added a delightful smokiness to the potatoes while the water used to extinguish it created steam in the oven, resulting in deliciously moist chicken. Would recommend!
not being dramatic
How do I say this without being dramatic...
This is the best dinner I've ever made. I cook frequently, I consider it a hobby. This meal was simple, healthy, and so incredibly tasty. I'd eat this every night of my life.
Kevin Osinski
Loved it, but proportions were strange. 1 1/2 lb bone-in chicken for 4 servings? I used 4 leg-thighs, which came to something over 3 lb. I used 12 oz of arugula and spread it as a serving bed for the potatoes, leeks and chicken. The pan drippings made a nice dressing for the greens.
The yogurt sauce could also be doubled or tripled. 1/3 cup over 4 servings is only one heaping tbsp each. I added some dill to the sauce.
With 2 tbsp of harissa this was quite spicy, but we loved it.
Tammy
Great recipe. First time I scattered the arugula over but that created some pretty lackluster arugula the next day when I re-heated the dish. Next time I put the hot chicken and potatoes on top of room temperature arugula and we had perfectly wilted greens, and no soggy left over greens. .
Liz
Excellent. Served it for dinner guests. I used six chicken thighs and a few more potatoes, so increased proportions of marinade and sauce accordingly. Based on all the comments, I 1) divided the recipe between two sheet pans for nice browning and crisping, 2) added the leeks when there were about 15 minutes left, 3) added some dill and lemon juice to the delicious yogurt sauce (perfect accompaniment), 4) served the chicken and potatoes on top of the arugula.
AEC
I used Greek yogurt because it's what I had on hand. However, I whisked a few tablespoons of milk into the Greek yogurt to thin it out. With the addition of the milk, the yogurt now has the right consistency of what the recipe requires.
Melissa
all I had in the refrig were boneless, skinless breasts, so covered the pan for the first 20 minutes ~ oh my were they moist and tasty. Everyone loved them. Next time will use thighs for an even tastier meal. We used much more yougurt, garlic and arugula, just because, and chopped the garlic ~ grating it was just too odd. An excellent meal!
Sarah S
I used boneless thighs and drumsticks and doubled the recipe, and used a mixture of cubed yukon golds and halved baby red potatoes. I substituted sriracha for harissa, served chicken and potatoes over a bed of arugula with lemon juice squeezed on it, and incorporated the dill into the garlic yogurt sauce. This dish was easy and amazing. My whole family declared worthy of a once a week dinner.
Sarah
I had only a harissa spice blend from the excellent World Spice here in Seattle. I tossed a couple of tablespoons of that with some kosher salt over the chicken thighs in the morning and let them dry out in the fridge all day. I think the dry spices plus the drying out in the fridge made the chicken skin extra crispy. Also aggressively spacing the ingredients in the sheet pan. I used two to ensure crisping and browning. This is a perfect recipe. We all loved it.
tom
Just made this exactly as described and it was spectacular. We marinated chicken and potatoes for 5 hours and the flavors were outstanding. Really easy to make and tasted so good - this will be a staple in our household.
Sandra
This is absolutely scrumptious! Thank You, Melissa!
Mariana O.
This was DELICIOUS. A big hit, thank you!!
Liz
I didn’t d not have leeks. I sliced shallots instead. Recipe was delicious. I’ll make another time with leeks.
Leigh-Ann
I was a bit of a skeptic, but here I am, about to cook this for the second time in a week. It was truly wonderful!
Didi Thompson,CA
This was easy and fabulous, we loved it. I made extra yogurt sauce just in case. I had no leeks and subbed shallots and half a large onion cut into thin wedges. The arugula touch was perfect. Ming this again for company. Thank you Melissa, always love your articles and recipes
Mata
OMG! I wouldn’t change a thing. It got rave reviews from all our guests. Harissa is a must ingredient! Even kids loved it!
Brad
Excellent dish! I swapped the bone-in/skin-on with boneless skinless thighs, and it went smashingly.
Alexandre D
This was delicious! 2 tablespoons of harissa seemed a bit much so I used a little more than 2 tablespoons of sriracha instead - which is a little less spicy (at least to my palate). The bright, peppery arugula works really well here so I wouldn’t recommend substituting baby spinach. Just garnish with the herbs, yogurt and arugula once plated - this way you won’t have to reheat those mushy arugula leaves if there are any leftovers.One question remains : why not using Greek yogurt here? IT WORKS!
GG
Used 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, TJs leeks and arugula. Delicious. Need to marinade 2 hours before you want to eat. Sauce as written is not enough for 4 people. Need to double.
GG
Definitely a winner. Just remember to start the marinade 2 hours before you want to eat. Need to make more sauce as suggested by others. Used 4 skinless chicken thighs and 3 Idaho potatoes cut into triangles and roasted on heavy duty aluminum foil and 2 TJ’s leeks arugula.
Pam Pappano
This was delicious! I used boneless, skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks. My son doen't like yogurt, so I used greek yogurt, served on the side. Great recipe!
Jessica
Delicious! This recipe got raves from everyone who ate it. I used sriracha, boneless skinless breasts and baby spinach as substitutions. I took the suggestion of some other readers and put the baby spinach under the chicken at the end, also mixed the lemon and dill directly into the yogurt (served on the side), and put the potatoes in at the end of the marinade. I used tiny little new potatoes, so did not need to slice or wedge -- perfect!
marci
This was a lovely symphony of textures & flavors I would’ve never thought to combine. Made exactly as the recipe requested except only had Greek yoghurt (but when dolluped on the thighs hot out of the oven, it softens up just fine).Got better & better with each bite! A keeper!
jval
Picky family actually ate chicken! Needed way more than 1.5 pounds, though. Made 6 thighs. Easily could have eaten 8. Forgot the Harissa sauce so did a rub of garlic powder and chili powder with olive oil. Cook the full 45-50 minutes.
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