Herb Roasted Chicken & Potatoes
I can’t think of many meals more satisfying to smell or to eat than roasted chicken. It’s one of those wonderful comfort foods that can be completely transformed every time you cook it. This particular rendition is very simple and very delicious.
Both the chicken and the potatoes are seasoned with a basic combination of fresh herbs, salt, and pepper. The potatoes are slightly cooked ahead of time to help them match the cook time of the thighs, and the chicken is brown before going into the oven to guarantee a delicious and crispy skin.There is absolutely nothing complicated about preparing this dish. Which makes savoring its’ scrumptiousness all the more enjoyable!
Try it tomorrow!
Herb Roasted Chicken & Potatoes
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Ingredients
- 8 - 12 Chicken Thighs (Bone in and skin on)
- 4 - 10 Potatoes (the number depends on the size of the potatoes)
- 1/4 cup minced fresh herbs (I used rosemary and thyme)
- 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- the juice of one large lemon
- salt
- pepper
Directions
| Step 1 | |
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Rinse your potatoes and peel 'em like you're in the army. Cut them into fairly uniform chunks, and plop them into a bowl of water. They can hang out here until you're ready to boil them. Feel free to do this earlier in the day. The potatoes will be fine in their bath for quite awhile.  | |
| Step 2 | |
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When you're ready dump the potatoes (water and all) into a big pot. Add enough salt to the water to give them some nice flavor, and turn on the heat to high. Check the potatoes often once they are really boiling because you do not want them soft enough to mash. You only want them to be barely fork tender. Remember that they'll be roasting for another half hour or so in the oven.  | |
| Step 3 | |
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Once you think they're ready, drain the potatoes and let them wait until you're roasting pan is ready for their grand entrance. *Don't mind my brussel sprout scraps in the sink*  | |
| Step 4 | |
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While the potatoes are boiling, get your herbs ready. I made a nice little pile of rosemary leaves.  | |
| Step 5 | |
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Then I added a pile of thyme right on top.  | |
| Step 6 | |
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Now mince up the whole gang! I used an exclamation mark on purpose because I find this part extremely fun and quite satisfying.  | |
| Step 7 | |
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This is by no means an exact science. I measured mine just to give you a rough idea of how much to end up with. I had almost exactly 1/4 cup. *Don't mind the glass of wine in the background*  | |
| Step 8 | |
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Now on to the chicken! We love thighs, but I'm sure this would be delicious with drumsticks or breasts. I dumped the thighs into a big bowl with paper towels and patted them dry. Oh! This is also the time to preheat your oven to 450.  | |
| Step 9 | |
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Next I get rid of the paper towels, and flip everybody upside down. Season them with plenty of salt, plenty of pepper and plenty of the minced herbs.  | |
| Step 10 | |
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Now give them all a flip and season the skin side with lots of everything as well. Remember this will be the delicious crispy skin, so you don't want to skimp on the seasonings here.  | |
| Step 11 | |
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Heat the olive oil and the butter in a big skillet over medium high heat.  | |
| Step 12 | |
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Once the pan is all hot and bubbly add some of your thighs skin-side down. Give them all plenty of room so that they brown rather than steam.  | |
| Step 13 | |
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Expect to do this in several batches depending on how many pieces you have.  | |
| Step 14 | |
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Each thigh will take about four or five minutes to brown over medium high heat. Once they're all nice and brown, you should end up with a tasty looking (if not slightly raw) plate of chicken.  | |
| Step 15 | |
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Dump your drained potatoes into the hot chicken grease and add the rest of your chopped herbs and a hefty sprinkle of salt.  | |
| Step 16 | |
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Toss them in the fat and seasonings until every chunk is thoroughly coated in all the tasty goodness. Now spread them out into a single layer that covers the bottom of the pan.  | |
| Step 17 | |
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Now lay all of your browned thighs on top of the potatoes...  | |
| Step 18 | |
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Squeeze one large lemon over everything...  | |
| Step 19 | |
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And pop the whole shebang into your preheated oven! Leave it alone for 25-30 minutes. When the timer goes off pull out a pan of deliciousness that looks like this! *It smells even better than it looks btw*  | |
| Step 20 | |
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We always serve it with something green on the side (like these brussels sprouts) to pretend like this is healthier than it is, but this would be plenty of meal without any additions. I hope your family enjoys this dish as much as we always do! | |
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