Greek Style Chicken Traybake

Name: Greek Style Chicken Traybake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 3 onions; 2 peppers ((capsicum) any colour ); 6 cloves garlic; 2 tbsps olive oil; 2 tsps dried oregano; 6 chicken thighs; 1 lemon; 18 cherry tomatoes ((grape tomatoes)); 75 g feta cheese; 18 olives; sml bunch fresh mint; salt and pepper

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I’m off to Larnaca, Cyprus in a few days and thinking about the trip has got me all excited for Greek flavours. I love feta cheese and olives and all the grilled meats and can’t wait to make my way through all the mezze that Cyprus has to offer. With that in mind I decided to create a dish based on all of those fabulous Greek ingredients. This Greek Style Chicken Traybake is comforting enough for winter but still full of all the vibrant flavours that remind you of summertime in Greece (Cyprus).

The great thing about traybakes is that they are a one pot dish (which means less washing up). This Greek Style Chicken Traybake is no different. You cook and serve it all in the same dish and just add different ingredients at different times throughout the cooking process.

It’s so easy to make. You start by preheating the oven to 180C (350F). Then, roughly chop the onions and peppers into large chunks and arrange them in the bottom of a roasting pan. Peel the garlic cloves and add them whole to the pan too. Drizzle with half of the olive oil and sprinkle over half of the oregano. Then, stir well to make sure that everything is fully coated in the oil and herbs.

Place the chicken thighs on top of the onions and peppers and brush each one with some of the olive oil. Slice the lemon into wedges and arrange between the chicken thighs. Season the whole dish well and cook in the oven for 35-40 mins. Remove two or three times during this period to baste the chicken with the juices from the pan. This means that you spoon some of the cooking juices from the bottom of the pan over the chicken thighs. It keeps them from drying out and makes them juicier.

After 35-40 minutes remove the pan and add the cherry tomatoes and olives. Drizzle the whole dish with any remaining olive oil and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

Once the chicken skin is beautifully brown and the vegetables are roasted and soft it’s time to add the final touches. Remove the dish from the oven and crumble the feta all over it. Top with some of the fresh mint leaves, season with some cracked black pepper and the Greek Style Chicken Traybake is ready to eat.

I like to serve it straight from the dish with a large spoonful of tzatziki. It’s a traditional Greek dip made with yoghurt, garlic and cucumber. You can make it while the traybake is cooking and it works so well with the rest of the dish that it’s really worth the little bit of extra effort.

You could always use chicken breasts if you’re not a fan of the dark meat. Just adjust the cooking time so that they don’t dry out. Maybe 5-10 minutes less than the chicken thighs, until they are cooked all the way through and no longer pink in the centre.

In fact, you could use most proteins in this dish as long as you allow for different cooking times. You could serve the dish with fish (salmon or roasted cod for example). You could do lamb shanks or pork chops too. Most of the flavours in this Greek Style Chicken Traybake would work with heaps of other options. let me know what you think in the comments and I’ll be back in a few days to tell you all about our trip to Larnaca!