Honey Garlic Chicken and Potato Bake

Chicken and potato bakes can be so beige. Not this one. Think honey, garlic and paprika in a sauce that goes sticky and gold at the edges, with potatoes, peppers and onions underneath soaking up every bit of it. That’s my Honey Garlic Chicken and Potato Bake. One dish, big flavor, barely any work.

Not cream. Not buttermilk. Regular milk, ¼ cup of it, whisked in with olive oil, honey, tomato paste and a genuinely unreasonable amount of garlic.

I know how that reads on a screen. What it does is take the sharp edge off the tomato paste and help the sauce cling to the chicken instead of sliding off into the dish and sulking at the bottom.

The rest is about as uncomplicated as dinner gets. Potatoes, onions and peppers in the bottom of a baking dish, marinated chicken laid on top, foil on, oven on. 40 minutes covered, 20 or so uncovered, done.

One dish. You will wash one dish. I want that on the record.

• Chicken breasts (4, boneless and skinless): They go on top, where they get the direct heat, while the potatoes get on with things underneath.
• Olive oil (¼ cup for the sauce, 2 tablespoons for the vegetables): Two amounts, 2 jobs. Don’t combine them, they’re not interchangeable here.
• Milk (¼ cup): The one you’re squinting at. It softens the tomato paste and helps the sauce stay put on the chicken. Nothing about this tastes like milk, I promise.
• Tomato paste (1 tablespoon): A small amount that gives the sauce body and color. This will not taste like tomato, so don’t brace for it.
• Honey (1 tablespoon): Enough to catch and caramelize at the edges. Not enough to make dinner sweet.
• Garlic (3 cloves, minced): Fresh, and minced properly fine so it spreads through the sauce instead of sitting in little clumps.
• Paprika (1 teaspoon for the sauce, 1 teaspoon for the vegetables): Sweet, not smoked. This is where most of the color comes from.
• Oregano (1 teaspoon for the sauce, ½ teaspoon for the vegetables): Dried is what you want.
• Salt (1 teaspoon each) and black pepper (½ teaspoon each): Seasoned separately on purpose. The vegetables need their own and won’t get enough from the marinade alone.
• Potatoes (5 medium, cut into chunks): Cut them roughly the same size. This is the only thing in this recipe worth being slightly annoying about.
• Onions (2 medium, sliced into rings): Rings, not chopped. They hold together and go soft and sweet under everything.
• Bell peppers (3 medium, sliced): Any colors. A mix looks nicest and I will know if you used 3 green ones.

Make the sauce: Whisk together the ¼ cup olive oil, ¼ cup milk, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 tablespoon honey, 3 minced garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. It’ll go thin and a sort of dusty orange, which is exactly right. Don’t worry about it looking thin, it thickens in the oven.

Marinate the chicken: Put the 4 chicken breasts in a bowl and pour over about half the sauce, turning them until they’re properly coated. 30 minutes on the counter, or covered in the fridge overnight if you’ve got your life together. Keep the other half of the sauce. You need it in a few minutes and it is very easy to absent mindedly pour the whole lot on the chicken.

Heat the oven: 400°F.

Season the vegetables: In a 9×13 inch baking dish, toss the potato chunks, onion rings and sliced peppers with the 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon oregano and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Spread them into an even layer rather than a mountain in the middle. Everything cooks at the same rate when it’s all at the same depth.

Build it: Lay the marinated chicken breasts on top of the vegetables and pour whatever sauce is left over the whole thing.

Bake covered: Foil on, tight, 40 minutes. The foil is trapping steam, and that steam is the only reason the potatoes get tender in a dish this full. Don’t be tempted to peek.

Bake uncovered: Foil off, another 20 to 25 minutes. This is the part where it starts looking like something. You’re waiting for the potatoes to give easily when you poke them with a knife and for the chicken to reach 165°F in the thickest part. Everything should be going gold around the edges. Want more color than that? Broiler, 2 to 3 minutes, and stand there watching it the entire time.

Rest: 5 minutes before serving. I know. Do it anyway.

Both get you chicken and potatoes in an oven, and they give you meaningfully different dinners.

This is a one dish bake. Deep dish, foil on for the first stretch, steam doing the work on the potatoes. You get soft, tender vegetables that have soaked up everything, and nothing dries out. You also get to leave the kitchen for 40 minutes, which is the part I care about most on a Tuesday.

A sheet pan version spreads it all out in one shallow layer with nothing over the top. More browning, crisper edges, better photos. But the potatoes need a head start, the chicken goes in later, and you’re back and forth to the oven the whole time.

I go the foil route on a weeknight and I don’t feel bad about it. If you’re after crisp, that’s my Parmesan Garlic Chicken and Potatoes Sheet Pan and it’s very good.

• Chicken thighs: Boneless skinless thighs work and they’re more forgiving if you get distracted. Same timing. Bone in need about 10 extra minutes once the foil comes off.
• Sweet potatoes: Swap half the regular ones. They soften faster, so cut those chunks bigger to even things out.
• More heat: ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes in the marinade, or swap the sweet paprika for hot and see how you feel about yourself.
• Other vegetables: Carrots go in at the start with the potatoes. Zucchini goes in when the foil comes off, because it cooks in about 8 minutes and will dissolve if you put it in early.
• Stickier: Brush another tablespoon of honey over the chicken when you take the foil off.

• Fridge: 4 days in an airtight container. The potatoes are arguably better on day 2, after a night sitting in all that sauce.
• Freezer: 3 months. Potatoes go slightly softer after freezing, which matters less in a dish that’s already soft. Thaw overnight in the fridge first.
• Reheating: 350°F for about 15 minutes with foil over the top so nothing dries out. A plate in the microwave is perfectly fine. Slice the chicken before you reheat it and it warms through faster and stays juicier.
• Make ahead: Marinate the chicken a full day in advance, and chop the vegetables the night before if you want. Keep the potatoes covered in water in the fridge so they don’t go brown, then drain them properly before they go in.

More chicken and potatoes:

• Chicken and Potato Skillet
• Parmesan Garlic Chicken and Potatoes Sheet Pan
• Moroccan Style Roast Chicken and Potatoes
• Slow Cooker Chicken and Potatoes
• BBQ Chicken and Potato Skillet
• Lemon Herb Chicken and Potatoes Skillet

More honey garlic:

• Baked Honey Garlic Chicken
• Honey Garlic Chicken Bites
• Honey Garlic Chicken Wings
• Hot Honey Chicken

To go with it:

• Quick Yeast Dinner Rolls
• Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes on Craving Home Cooked, if you somehow want more potatoes
• French Onion Chicken Bake on All My Cravings