Juicy Oven Baked Chicken & Potatoes with Warm Mediterranean Spices 🍗🥔

A tender, flavor-packed oven dish with buttery potatoes and incredibly juicy chicken.

This is one of those comforting Tunisian-style meals that fills the whole kitchen with the most amazing aroma. It’s not crispy — it’s beautifully juicy. The potatoes turn soft and buttery, the chicken stays tender, and the spiced olive oil sauce makes it perfect for dipping fresh bread.

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 2.5 kg potatoes, peeled and cut as desired
• 5 tomatoes, quartered
• 3 onions (red or white), halved
• 3 long peppers, slit open
• 10 garlic cloves (some whole, some sliced)

Chicken

• 4 chicken thighs (skin removed)

Marinade

• Olive oil (generous amount)
• 3 tsp Ras el Hanout
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• ½ tsp cumin
• 4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper

For the chicken

• 3 tsp paprika powder

Instructions

1. Prepare the vegetables
   Place potatoes, tomatoes, onions, peppers and whole garlic cloves in a large baking dish.
2. Make the marinade
   Mix olive oil with Ras el Hanout, rosemary, cumin, turmeric, salt and pepper.
3. Season the vegetables
   Pour most of the marinade over the vegetables and mix well until everything is coated.
4. Prepare the chicken
   Take the remaining marinade and mix in paprika powder.
   Rub the chicken with it and place sliced garlic on top of the meat.
5. Add extra moisture
   Add a little water to the bowl that contained the marinade, swirl it around to pick up the remaining spices, and pour it into the baking dish.
   This creates extra sauce and keeps everything beautifully juicy.
6. Assemble
   Place the chicken on top of the vegetables.
7. Bake covered
   Cover with baking paper and foil.
   Bake at 220°C (428°F) for 40 minutes.
8. Finish uncovered
   Remove the cover and bake another 30 minutes, until:
   
   • Chicken is fully cooked
   • Potatoes are butter-soft
   • Everything looks tender and juicy

Check occasionally to prevent overcooking.

Serving

Serve with:

• Fresh baguette to dip into the flavorful sauce
  or
• Steamed rice

I personally love eating it with bread — dipping it into that warm, spiced sauce is everything. It’s simple, comforting, and always tastes like home.