This 40 minute quick roast chicken traybake with lemon and chickpeas is one of my go-to weeknight meals. It’s packed with flavour, quick and easy to make and I only have one oven tray to wash up – result!
Quick roast chicken traybake with lemon and chickpeas
I’ve been making more traybake/sheet pan recipes since the lockdown started back in March. They are quick and easy to do and it’s all just a case of throwing stuff together and letting the oven do the work.
Now that’s my kind of cooking. Especially on a week night when I just can’t be bothered with kitchen multitasking and doing lots of washing up afterwords.
Ingredients for this chicken traybake
- chicken thighs
- garlic
- lemon
- cabbage (I used Savoy cabbage but whatever you have will do here)
- can of chickpeas (drained)
- fresh herbs – rosemary, sage, marjoram and parsley
- smoked paprika
- olive oil and seasoning
Chicken thighs
I like to use chicken thighs in a lot of my recipes. The thighs are packed with way more flavour than chicken breast meat. Chicken thighs are cheaper too so help with the old weekly budget business.
I like to buy chicken thighs with the bone in and the skin on them. Yes, you can buy chicken thighs ready boned and skinless but you are losing out on so much flavour doing that. Plus you do pay more for them when they are skinned and boned.
The bone exudes rich flavour and the fat on the skin is full of flavour too. I serve the chicken thighs as they are once cooked, with their crispy skin jackets.
If you don’t like the chicken skin simply remove after roasting.
Don’t want to serve these chicken thighs with the bones in? No problem. Either remove them using a sharp knife before roasting or once they are cooked and have imparted all their lovely flavour they are super easy to just whip out using a knife and fork before serving.
How to make roast chicken traybake
Chop the onion and mince the garlic. Toss these on to your oven tray/sheet pan and place the chicken thighs on top.
Season well and add herbs and olive oil. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile slice the lemon and blanch in boiling water for 1 minute and remove with slotted spoon. Add lemon to your baking tray along with the chopped cabbage and chickpeas.
Sprinkle with smoked paprika and pop it all back in the oven for another 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and drizzle over the lovely lomony garlic yogurt sauce.
Lemon Yogurt Sauce
I love lemons. That mouth puckering tang just lifts almost any dish and takes it from everyday to extraordinary.
While there are lemons already in this roasted chicken traybake I have ramped up the lemon flavour even more with my super simple yogurt sauce.
Greek yogurt
Preserved lemon (or fresh if you don’t have any preserved lemon)
Garlic
Using preserved lemons for the yogurt sauce gives such a fabulous kick of lemon flavour. Here are both of my ways for making Preserved Lemons. I do them in oil and also in the traditional salted method but much quicker than you usually find.
Quick And Easy Preserved Lemons In Salt
Substitutions
If you don’t have smoked paprika just use normal paprika. The smoked paprika does give a more gentle heat and a lovely smokiness to this roast chicken traybake though.
If you don’t have any preserved lemons (why haven’t you made any?) just use lemon juice for the lemon garlic sauce.
Fresh herbs. If you don’t have any to hand, don’t panic just use dried herbs instead. Check out the measurements in the recipe card. Dried herbs are much stronger in flavour than their fresh counterparts so you use a lot less.
No marjoram, use oregano instead.
How to serve this roast chicken traybake
I serve mine just as it is. That’s the great thing about a traybake/sheet pan recipe, everything is just there in one dish. You don’t have to think about adding any extras unless you really want to.
The chickpeas make this dish filling in it’s own right.
However, if you want a bit more substance then serve this chicken traybake with some couscous on the side. Couscous is super fast to make so you can whip that up while the chicken is in the oven.
Leftovers
Chop up any leftover roast chicken and mix this with the chickpeas, lemon etc into salad ingredients for a lunch the next day. Or serve in a wrap with some lettuce.
Can you freeze this chicken dish?
Yes, once cooled place any leftovers in a freezer proof bag or box and label clearly. Pop in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost thoroughly and heat till piping hot.
Looking for more super easy chicken recipes? Then check these out before you go;
Moroccan chicken with chickpeas
Easy chicken and asparagus risotto
Thai green chicken curry with coconut rice bowl
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Quick roast chicken traybake with lemon and chickpeas
Ingredients
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 8 chicken thighs (bone in skin on)
- 1 tbsp each of fresh rosemary, sage, marjoram and parsley (or 1 tsp each if dried herbs)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 400 g can of chickpeas drained
- 1 lemon sliced
- 1/2 cabbage chopped roughly
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
Yogurt sauce
- 4 tbsp Greek yogurt (or plain yogurt)
- 1 tsp minced rinsed (if in salt) preserved lemon
- 1 clove garlic minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C
- Place the onion, garlic and herbs on baking tray with the chicken thighs on top, add olive oil and bake in oven for 20 minutes
- Meanwhile blanch the lemon slices in boiling water for 1 minute then remove
- Add the lemon, chickpeas and cabbage to the tray with the chicken and sprinkle with half the paprika and return to oven for another 15 minutes
- Remove from oven (check chicken is cooked through) and drizzle over the yogurt sauce and sprinkle with remaining smoked paprika to serve
Yogurt sauce
- Mix all ingredients in a small bowl or in a mini food processor
Video
These are my favorite kinds of recipes – easy and full of interesting flavors. I have a jar of preserved lemons in the fridge, I made them using the lemon halved I had squeezed for other uses!
Hi Yael
Glad you like my recipes. Thanks for letting me know. Love using preserved lemons
K
Really lovely recipe, and child friendly! I didn’t tell her it was cabbage (until we’d finished, when she told me she hated cabbage, empty plate in front of her) and she loved the chick peas. Easy to whip up and very tasty.
Hi Jenny
So glad you liked the recipe and that it was such a hit with all the family. Especially the cabbage hater!
K