One-Pan Chicken with Potatoes & Tarragon
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If mayonnaise is a page turner for you, this one may take a little convincing, but I urge you to stay with me.
Here’s why: with five minutes of prep you can have this dish ready for the oven (long before it reaches its 450ºF roasting temperature, too), and the result—incredibly juicy, evenly browned chicken plus well-seasoned potatoes showered with tarragon—will have you marveling. This dish is a small miracle.
The first time I made it, I threw everything in the pan, threw the pan in the oven, set the timer, passed on notes to Ben, who finished the process (i.e. sprinkled tarragon over top and fed the children) as I ran out the door. Several hours later, I returned home to a happy family and an empty skillet. Success.
The next time I made it, I savored every bite with the family. It’s happening again tonight, because: five minutes. It’s hard to beat.
Here’s what you need:
Here’s how you make it: Toss potatoes, onion, water, olive oil, salt, and pepper together in a skillet:
Coat bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs with a mixture of mayonnaise and mustard:
Place the chicken on top of the potatoes and roast at 450ºF for 45 minutes:
Sprinkle with tarragon out of the oven:
Serve immediately:
One-Pan Chicken with Potatoes & Tarragon
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
Description
This dish was inspired by a recipe in the March 2017 Bon Appetit that calls for marinating chicken thighs in mayonnaise (and a few other ingredients I did not have on hand), which encourages browning while keeping the meat juicy — it works!
There’s no marinating here, however — everything gets thrown into the pan at once, and 45 minutes later it emerges beautifully golden. A shower of herbs at the end adds some welcomed color and freshness.
Re: potatoes, I’ve been using a 1.5-ib bag of “Honey Golds—One Bite” that I find at my local grocery store. You can use fingerlings, too, but you should halve them lengthwise to ensure they cook through.
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds small potatoes, see notes above
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced, to yield about a cup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup water
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- A few tablespoons finely chopped herbs, such as tarragon, chives, or parsley
Instructions
- Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 450ºF. Place the potatoes, onion, olive oil, and water in a large skillet. Season all over with salt. Crack pepper over top to taste. Toss to combine.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the mayonnaise and the mustard. Add the chicken thighs and toss to coat on all sides. Season all over with salt and pepper. Nestle the thighs on top of/in between the potatoes. Crack more pepper over top if you wish.
- Transfer pan to the oven uncovered and cook for 45 minutes or until evenly golden, checking after 30 minutes to ensure everything is browning evenly — if the onions are getting too dark, add a few more tablespoons of water to the pan.
- Sprinkle tarragon or herb of choice all over the roasted chicken and potatoes. Transfer chicken to a platter. Toss potatoes with herbs and remaining juices in the pan. Taste. Adjust with more salt or pepper if necessary. Spoon potatoes around chicken on the platter. Serve.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
54 Comments on “One-Pan Chicken with Potatoes & Tarragon”
Tarragon is one of my favorite herbs. This one pot meal sound absolutely terrific.
Me, too 🙂
Oh, my! That’s what I’ making for dinner tonight. Thanks
🙂
I just had tarragon chicken salad today and was a huge fan! This looks like a great recipe, thanks for the idea!
Love tarragon chicken salad. If you like tarragon, you’ll love this 🙂
I’m a total believer when it comes to mayo ~ I cook fish with it and it turns out incredibly moist and tender, I can just taste this chicken now!
Sue, so great to hear this! I couldn’t agree more re fish and mayo. So good.
We absolutely LOVED this recipe and I can not wait to make it again!
Everything was moist, flavourful and extremely delicious. I found myself wanting to pick the bones clean….something I don’t usually think of doing with chicken thighs.
I must go back in your Archives and check to see if you have any other one pan offerings….
Susan
So happy to hear this, Susan! Thanks so much for writing in. There are a few other sheet pan suppers, most of which I did for Food52. Here are some links:
Moroccan Chicken and Rice
Sheet Pan Chicken and Cauliflower Shawarma
Sheet Pan Chicken and Cabbage
Sheet Pan Chicken and Brussels Sprouts
Baked Tofu with Coconut Kale
Made this for dinner tonight and it was DELICIOUS! Used bone in, skinless thighs and there was still quite a bit (a lot) of oil left in the pan. Next time I will cut the oil by half. This really came together soooooo easily and tasted amazing. Thank you for yet another great recipe!
So happy to hear this Anne! I think the oil definitely could be cut back or maybe even omitted? Let me know how it works out. Have a wonderful weekend!
This meal was delicious! I have to make a double batch next time. I omitted the oil, it wasn’t necessary. And for the first time ever, my platter looked just as good as the picture. Super easy and a real crowd pleaser. Thank you!!
Yay!! So happy to hear this. I’ll omit the oil next time, too 🙂
First, the pic got my attention…then went to the recipe. My wife and I both work and I do most of the dinner cooking. This is so easy and quick and…delicious !
Have to give it a try !
Thanks
This is one of the fastest meals I throw together!
I will try this! What would you suggest instead of tarragon?
Parsley would be great! Are you opposed to the anise flavor? I know some people really dislike that. Chives would be great, too.
Tried this recipe last night and REALLY enjoyed it !
Followed recipe but could have cooked chicken a little longer. Skin not quite that crispy.Chicken very moist.
So happy to hear this! The skin never gets too crispy unfortunately. It gets golden and bronzy and the meat is super juicy, but the skin doesn’t get really crisp. Alas!
This is brilliant! My husband hates mayonnaise because he was raised on Miracle Whip and even after 35 years I can’t convince him that there’s a major difference! I just need to make this when he’s not looking! Congratulations on the cookbook!!!
Thank you, Mimi!! Yes, you must make it while the husband is out 🙂 I love this one—so easy and good.
This looks so delicious. and meal prep time of 5 minutes? This is going to be made this week! I have potatoes, I have chicken (though I will try it with half breasts, half thighs as that is what I have), mayo (will not tell the husband that it is there :D) and mustard. Will have to look for tarragon though… any suggestions what I can sub? thyme perhaps?
Thyme would be great — you could actually tuck some thyme sprigs under the chicken or nestle them around the potatoes. Chives at the end would be nice, too. Woohoo!
Happy to report that thyme works. Chicken was so flavorful and I couldn’t taste the mustard (not a big fan, but I do like it for cooking). We had this for dinner tonight, with carrot salad on the side. Even my toddler ate it! Thanks!
Woohoo! So happy to hear this, Tweety. Toddler approved = HUGE success 🙂
Cara made this tonight, Ali, along with your asparagus tarting and lemon blueberry muffins.
My buying your cookbook for her is one of the best gifts ever! Thanks for helping my daughter enjoy cooking and eat well in college.
Diane
*tartine-dumb autocorrect!
Diane, I’m so happy to hear this!! Nothing makes me happier than knowing she’s getting good use out of it. Truly. Thank YOU!!
Tried this dish and it turned out excellent. The only drawback was that the potatoes stuck to the bottom of the brasier. (We do like our potatoes crispy) Any tips for the potatoes? We used a Le Creuset Brasier. After reading the comments about using less oil I decide to just wipe olive oil on the brasier, placed the ingredients inside and sprayed a bit of olive oil on top. The dish browned evenly and the chicken turned out awesome. We topped the dish with thyme. Thank you for the great dish. Tom
So happy to hear this, Tom! Everything except the sticking that is 🙂 In terms of sticking, I find butter works better as a nonstick barrier. Sometimes (mostly for things like bread), I’ll butter a dish well even if I then add olive oil. Olive oil for whatever reason, doesn’t provide that nonstick barrier. In terms of crispy potatoes: you may want to try a different vessel — something wider than a Le Creuset braiser will allow everything to spread out and might encourage the potatoes to crisp up a bit more.
I went back in the archives for a one pot meal and am so glad I did! We had some delicious potatoes ready to be used from the farmers market and herbs in the garden so I only needed to buy chicken! Thanks again.
So happy to hear this, Kate!
Hi Alexandra, Was wondering what size/name of the all-clad pan you used for this recipe? Thank you, Tom
Hi Tom. It’s called an “everyday” pan … unfortunately I don’t think they make it anymore. It’s 11 inches across. The 5-qt Le Creuset braiser is a similar shape, and I own and love it, but it is very heavy … like all Le Creuset gear. I can’t recommend the size and shape of each of these pans, however. They’re great for both roasting and stovetop.
Awww thanks, Margie 🙂 🙂 🙂
This was easy to prepare and really delicious. I liked that there was not the additional step of having to brown the chicken first. Will definitely make again in the future!
So nice to hear this, Benita! I love NOT browning chicken.
Delicious and quick. A keeper!
Wonderful to hear this, Rebecca!
This looks delicious!! Could you also do it with a mix of chicken wings and thighs? Thank you!
Yes, absolutely!
I’m obsessed! So easy and fast without sacrificing flavor. If I’m gonna cook on a weeknight after working a 9.5 hour day, THIS is exactly what I want to be eating. Homey and delicious and so *adaptable* with amazing returns for low effort. If I have a bottle of white wine open I’ll use that instead of the 1/2 cup water and it’s just glorious. I eat this and always feel I’m eating *well*, even on a weeknight. Thank you!
So great to hear this, Danielle! I am so going to try subbing wine for the water. Sounds amazing. Thanks so much for writing!
This looks so good! I love Tarragon but it’s hard to find fresh, what do you think about adding some dried tarragon to the mayo mixture with the chicken so it doesn’t burn and may be a little at the end of the cooking time? I also like the idea of Thyme I do have some fresh in the yard.
Hi Susanna! I’m leaning towards the fresh thyme! But I thnk a pinch of dried tarragon is a great idea, too. Go for it!
This may be a silly question but can the chicken be boneless? I would love a mixture of breasts and thighs to satisfy all the family.
Hi Kim! I think it can, but I think you’ll need to reduce the cooking time. One option is to start the potatoes 20 minutes before; then add the chicken and remove it all when the chicken is done.
Great recipe! I skipped the mayo because my husband hates mayo in all forms. Also I had a spatchcock whole chicken (on sale for under $5 at my supermarket) so I used that. I put the potatoes in a cast iron skillet and put the chicken on top on a rack that rested on the skillet. This made space between the chicken and the potatoes so none of the potatoes got soggy. Delicious!
Amazing! Great to read all of this, Sonia. Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of your notes. The chicken on top of rack on top of skillet over potatoes is brilliant 🙂 🙂 🙂
What do you think about using a spatchcocked chicken instead of thighs? I’d use a roasting pan instead of a skillet.
Go for it!
Wow wow wow! Another favorite. I loved how fast this was and how juicy and yummy! I didn’t change a thing. It’s perfect! The onions caramelized and were extra yummy. Thank you Ali!
Great to hear, Rachel! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂