Chef Dean
Greek Lamb Chops with Oregano
Tender lamb chops kissed by flame and perfumed with wild oregano, lemon, and garlic. This is Easter lamb the way generations of Greek families have celebrated it, honest and unapologetic.
Culinary Explorer
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Greek Sheet Pan Chicken
Created by
Bone-in chicken thighs roasted golden and crisp on a bed of burst cherry tomatoes, briny kalamata olives, and sweet red onion, finished with crumbled feta and fresh oregano. Weeknight cooking that tastes like a long Greek summer.
Main Dishes
Greek
Weeknight
Sheet Pan
15 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr total
Yield4 servings
Start with the chicken. Bone-in, skin-on thighs from a bird that lived well. The bones conduct heat into the meat while the skin renders slowly into something golden and shattering. Boneless breasts cannot give you this.
The tomatoes matter almost as much. In summer, use whatever is ripest at your farmers market: Sungolds, Sweet 100s, or any cherry variety that smells like a tomato should smell before you even cut it. Out of season, good grape tomatoes roast well and concentrate into something nearly as sweet. The high heat bursts them open and their juices mingle with the olives and olive oil into a sauce you did not have to make.
This is the kind of cooking I believe in. One pan. Ingredients that know each other. Almost no technique to speak of, because the technique is in the sourcing. Find a farmer raising chickens on pasture. Buy olives packed in brine, not canned in water. Use olive oil you would happily drizzle on bread. Then get out of the way and let the oven do the work.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Quantity
6 (about 3 pounds)
cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes
Quantity
2 pints
kalamata olives
Quantity
1 cup
pitted
red onion
Quantity
1 medium
cut into wedges
garlic cloves
Quantity
6
smashed
extra-virgin olive oil
Quantity
1/4 cup, plus more for finishing
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
2 tablespoons
dried oregano
Quantity
1 tablespoon
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground
feta cheese
Quantity
4 ounces
crumbled
fresh oregano leaves
Quantity
2 tablespoons
lemon wedges
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs | 6 (about 3 pounds) |
| cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes | 2 pints |
| kalamata olivespitted | 1 cup |
| red onioncut into wedges | 1 medium |
| garlic clovessmashed | 6 |
| extra-virgin olive oil | 1/4 cup, plus more for finishing |
| fresh lemon juice | 2 tablespoons |
| dried oregano | 1 tablespoon |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon |
| black pepperfreshly ground | 1/2 teaspoon |
| feta cheesecrumbled | 4 ounces |
| fresh oregano leaves | 2 tablespoons |
| lemon wedges | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Large rimmed sheet pan (18x13 inches)
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the chicken
Remove chicken thighs from the refrigerator thirty minutes before cooking. Pat them completely dry with paper towels. Dry skin is the whole secret to crispness. Season generously on both sides with salt and pepper, pressing the seasoning into the flesh.
Room temperature chicken cooks more evenly. Cold meat straight from the refrigerator seizes in the oven and the center stays underdone while the edges overcook. - 2
Heat the oven
Position a rack in the upper third of your oven and preheat to 425 degrees. The high heat and proximity to the top element will crisp the chicken skin while the vegetables roast beneath.
- 3
Prepare the vegetables
Scatter the cherry tomatoes, olives, red onion wedges, and smashed garlic on a large rimmed sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice, sprinkle with dried oregano, and toss everything with your hands until well coated. Spread into a single layer, leaving space for the chicken.
- 4
Arrange the chicken
Nestle the chicken thighs skin-side up among the vegetables. The thighs should sit directly on the pan, not perched on tomatoes, so the skin can render and crisp against the hot metal. Drizzle a little more oil over the chicken skin.
Do not crowd the pan. If your sheet pan feels full, use two. Crowded food steams instead of roasts. - 5
Roast until golden
Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken skin is deeply golden and crisp, the tomatoes have burst and released their juices, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reads 165 degrees. The onions should be soft with charred edges.
- 6
Add the feta
Scatter the crumbled feta over the vegetables during the last five minutes of roasting. The cheese should warm and soften slightly but not melt entirely. It should hold its shape while becoming creamy at the edges.
- 7
Finish and serve
Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for five minutes. Scatter fresh oregano leaves over everything. Drizzle with more olive oil if you have good oil, and you should. Serve directly from the pan with lemon wedges alongside. Crusty bread to soak up the juices is not optional.
Chef Tips
- •Seek out chicken thighs from pasture-raised birds. The fat is yellower, the flavor deeper, and the farmer is doing the right thing. It costs more. It is worth more.
- •True kalamata olives come from the Kalamata region of Greece and have a specific almond shape and purple-black color. They should taste briny and slightly fruity, never metallic. Buy them from the olive bar if your market has one.
- •If your tomatoes are out of season, do not apologize for it. Roasting concentrates their sugars and improves even mediocre specimens. But make this dish again in August with market tomatoes, and you will taste the difference.
- •Save the pan juices. Every drop. Spoon them over the chicken, soak them up with bread, or toss them with pasta the next day.
Advance Preparation
- •Chicken can be seasoned up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated uncovered. The dry-brining improves flavor and the exposed skin dries out for better crisping.
- •Vegetables can be prepped and stored separately for up to one day. Toss with oil and lemon just before roasting.
- •Leftovers keep refrigerated for three days. The skin will not crisp again, but the meat reheats beautifully and makes excellent salads or grain bowls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 430g)
Calories
785 calories
Total Fat
54 g
Saturated Fat
15 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
34 g
Cholesterol
230 mg
Sodium
990 mg
Total Carbohydrates
14 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
58 g
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