Lemon Chicken with Potatoes and Chickpeas
I trace this back to an e-mail from my friend, in which she was on a mission to find a sheet pan chicken recipe that actually had crispy skin, and found it in a pan of chicken thighs with lemon and onion. I, too, am a crispy chicken skin skeptic; it’s not that I don’t believe it gets crisp, but I find it rarely stays that way once it has rested or when other ingredients join the party. But, curiosity got the better of me. I added potatoes (because potatoes with chicken and lemon are excellent) and chickpeas (I’m honestly less clear on why, but it felt right) to a baking dish (not sheet pan) and despite all of my changes, was still entirely delighted with the outcome.
The chicken thighs are utterly crisp on top and the lemon, onion, garlic, oregano, and olive oil underneath collect the chicken drippings and swirl it into a delicious sauce that perfumes the potato wedges and chickpeas as they roast. Rind-on lemon slices, something I often find to be an unwelcome interruption in dishes, are fantastic here, mellowed by the oil and general brothiness and sweetened by the onion. In one round, I tried to remove the chickpeas to simplify the dish and (I could not make this up) received an irritated text from a kid: “Dad said you’re making the chicken without the chickpeas — why? I like them.” Unwilling to cross a child's demanding legumes, they’ve stayed.
Ingredients:
- 2 lemons, halved
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 medium-large bone-in chicken thighs (about 2.25 pounds total)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus an additional drizzle
- 1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 pound yukon gold potatoes (about 3 medium), unpeeled, each cut into 8 wedges
- Big handful chopped flat-leaf parsley, to finish