Chef Dimitra
Cypriot Afelia (Αφέλια)
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Attiki Kotopoulo me Patates sto Fourno (Κοτόπουλο με Πατάτες στο Φούρνο)
Created by
Attiki's lemon-oregano tray roast: chicken browned above, potatoes cut large below, drinking olive oil, garlic, lemon, and all the Sunday pan juices.
Main Dishes
Greek
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Sheet Pan
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 20 min cook•1 hr 45 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
Kotopoulo me patates sto fourno is the Attiki home-oven tray roast: chicken, potatoes, lemon, oregano, garlic, and olive oil, all cooked together until the potatoes taste almost more important than the meat. In Athens houses and the villages around it, this is the pan that comes to the table on Sunday and still works on a tired weeknight if you start early enough.
The dish is itself because the potatoes sit low and large in the pan, where the chicken fat, lemon, and olive oil gather. Cut them too small and they surrender. Put them on top and they dry. Keep them underneath and they drink, turning soft inside, browned at the edges, sharp with lemon but rounded by oil.
I don't fuss with this one. Good chicken, waxy potatoes, real oregano, and enough oil to do its work. My mother Sofia made the same tray in Thessaloniki when the house was full, though she would have argued with me about the paprika and then eaten the corner potatoes first. A recipe written down is a recipe saved, even when everyone thinks they already know it.
Kotopoulo me patates sto fourno belongs to the rise of the household oven in twentieth-century urban Greece, when the Sunday roast moved from communal bakery ovens into home kitchens. In Attiki and much of the mainland, the familiar register is lemon, dried oregano, garlic, and olive oil, while some island and northern households make nearby versions with tomato, mustard, or different local herbs. The shared principle is older than the appliance: meat and potatoes cooked in one pan so nothing good is lost.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole chicken or bone-in chicken pieces
Quantity
1.6kg
whole chicken cut into 8 pieces, or mixed bone-in pieces
waxy potatoes
Quantity
1.2kg
peeled and cut into large wedges
extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil
Quantity
120ml
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
90ml
warm water or light chicken stock
Quantity
180ml
garlic cloves
Quantity
5
crushed
dried Greek oregano (rigani)
Quantity
2 teaspoons
sweet paprika
Quantity
1 teaspoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
14g
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
lemon
Quantity
1
cut into wedges, for serving
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole chicken or bone-in chicken pieceswhole chicken cut into 8 pieces, or mixed bone-in pieces | 1.6kg |
| waxy potatoespeeled and cut into large wedges | 1.2kg |
| extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil | 120ml |
| fresh lemon juice | 90ml |
| warm water or light chicken stock | 180ml |
| garlic clovescrushed | 5 |
| dried Greek oregano (rigani) | 2 teaspoons |
| sweet paprika | 1 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt | 14g |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| lemoncut into wedges, for serving | 1 |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •wide metal tapsi or roasting pan, about 35 x 25cm
- •instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 200C. Choose a wide metal tapsi or roasting pan where the potatoes can sit mostly in one layer. Crowded potatoes steam and go pale. A tray roast wants space, oil, and direct heat.
- 2
Season the tray
Put the potato wedges in the pan with the olive oil, lemon juice, warm water or stock, garlic, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper. Turn them well with your hands so every cut face is slicked. The wedges should be large, because small pieces collapse before the chicken is ready.
- 3
Set the chicken
Nestle the chicken pieces skin-side up among the potatoes, not buried under them. Spoon some of the lemon oil over the skin. Keep the potatoes low in the pan, where the fat and juices collect. This is the method that decides the dish: the potatoes must drink from the bottom while the chicken browns above.
- 4
Roast and baste
Roast for 45 minutes, then baste the chicken and turn the potatoes carefully. If the pan looks dry, add 60ml hot water around the edges, not over the chicken skin. Continue roasting for 25 to 35 minutes, until the chicken is deep golden and the potatoes are tender with caramelized edges.
- 5
Rest the tray
Take the pan from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes. The juices settle, the potatoes hold together, and the lemon comes back up clean instead of tasting boiled. Taste the pan juices and add a final squeeze of lemon only if they need brightness.
- 6
Serve from pan
Serve straight from the tapsi, with lemon wedges and parsley if you like. Spoon the green-gold pan juices over each plate. This is not a neat little portion dish. It belongs in the middle of the table, where everyone takes the potato with the best browned corner.
Chef Tips
- •Use bone-in chicken. Boneless breasts dry before the potatoes have time to become themselves, and then everyone pretends the sauce fixed it. It didn't.
- •Waxy potatoes hold their shape better than floury ones. Cut them into large wedges, not little cubes, so they can roast for the full time without falling apart.
- •If your oregano smells like dust, buy a new packet. Dried Greek oregano should be strong enough that you smell it as soon as your fingers crush it.
- •Serve with a bitter green salad, horta, or feta if it isn't a fasting day. Bread is not optional in my house, because the pan juices are half the supper.
Advance Preparation
- •Cut the potatoes up to 2 hours ahead and hold them covered in cold water, then drain and dry them well before seasoning.
- •The chicken can be seasoned in the pan up to 4 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring it out 30 minutes before roasting.
- •Leftovers keep for 3 days refrigerated. Reheat uncovered in a 180C oven so the potatoes regain their edges.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 420g)
Calories
800 calories
Total Fat
45 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
34 g
Cholesterol
150 mg
Sodium
1300 mg
Total Carbohydrates
45 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
50 g
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