Here’s a fabulous chicken and potato dish that comes together quickly and is all baked in one pan! It’s a Portuguese flavoured chicken that’s roasted on a bed of garlicky lemon potatoes that soaks up all the glorious chicken drippings. Fast prep. Big flavours!
Last year I shared a Nando’s Portuguese Chicken and Rice recipe that was such an unexpected hit, it was only a matter of time before I did a potato version. And here it is – only took me a year!
The chicken is slathered in a Portuguese Peri Peri spice rub that only calls for pantry staples, then it’s roasted on a bed of sliced potatoes tossed in a good amount of garlic and lemon. The chicken bakes up beautifully golden and the potatoes soak up the chicken juices and end up tasting like Greek Lemon Potatoes!
I really hate to play favourites with food…but I really think this might trump the chicken and rice version.
I love how the chicken and potatoes have their own distinct flavour, rather than everything in the pan tasting the same.
Lots of tasty lemony broth to douse over everything and mop up with bread!
Ingredients in Portuguese Chicken and Potato Bake
Here’s what you need to make this chicken and potato bake.
1. The Chicken, Potatoes, and Vegetables
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Chicken cut – The chicken used here is bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. The skin helps the spice paste caramelise beautifully in the oven, and the chicken releases a good amount of juices that get absorbed by the potatoes and make a tasty sauce.
Other suitable cuts – Drumsticks and Marylands (chicken leg quarters) are also ideal; quantities and adjusted bake times are in the recipe card. Boneless cuts – Breast and boneless thighs also work, but need less oven time and a quick blast under the grill/broiler to brown. Directions for these are in the recipe card too.
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Potatoes – Use a waxy variety if you can. In Australia, washed potatoes are typically all-rounders that lean waxy; red potatoes or baby potatoes (new potatoes) also work well. White washed potatoes tend to be waxy and dirty potatoes tend to be starchy — a good general rule of thumb.
Yukon Gold are ideal if you’re in the States. Waxy potatoes hold their shape better so they won’t break as easily when you scoop them up. That said, this recipe will work fine with starchy potatoes too — the potatoes will just be a little more delicate.
Don’t use sweet potatoes — they will turn into mush.
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Red onion and capsicum – These add vegetables and flavour to the dish. Capsicum in particular brings a lot to this bake. If you want to dial up the vegetables, you can reduce the amount of potato and add carrots instead.
2. The Flavours
The Portuguese chicken is flavoured with a spice blend rather than a pureed Peri Peri marinade. Quicker and pantry friendly, it’s a shameless copycat of the Nando’s Peri Peri dry rub.
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Simple Portuguese seasoning for chicken (Nando’s copycat) – All pantry staples:
- Herbs and spices – Paprika, garlic powder (substitute fresh garlic), dried oregano, coriander, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper for a touch of warmth (feel free to omit). The brown sugar is a bit of a secret ingredient here — it makes the chicken caramelise beautifully.
- Wet ingredients (to make a paste so it coats the chicken) – Olive oil and lemon juice (substitute with white or red wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar). The lemon juice cuts down on the oil and adds a bit of tang that balances the flavours.
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Lemon juice, dried oregano, and garlic (lots!) – For flavouring the potato bake with a tasty garlicky, lemony flavour — Greek Lemon Potato vibes! It also gives the potatoes their own distinct flavour so everything in the pan doesn’t taste the same.
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Olive oil – Extra virgin olive oil adds the most flavour here, but regular olive oil works fine too.
How to Make One-Pan Portuguese Chicken and Potato Bake
This recipe has a nice flow to it — chop the veg, pile into the pan, toss with seasonings, then give it a head start in the oven while you prepare the Portuguese spice mix and coat the chicken. Once the chicken is in, there’s nothing left to do except set the table for dinner.
The end result is golden, spiced chicken sitting on a bed of tender, lemony potatoes that have soaked up every bit of flavour from the pan — a complete, satisfying meal with barely any washing up.
