Lemon Chicken with Asparagus and Potatoes
posted by Chungah on March 20, 2015
Crisp-tender chicken baked to absolute perfection. It’s truly an entire meal in a single skillet!
Most of my recipes here are quick and easy, a must for those busy weeknight meals. But this one here is extra extra easy – a no-fuss weeknight meal with your side dishes made right in the same pan.
MY OTHER RECIPES
Now the best part about this is how the potatoes get par-roasted first, and then finished off underneath the chicken, letting the chicken juices soak right in with all that lemony goodness.
And that’s it! Veggies and chicken made together in the same skillet – you save on dishes and you save on time. Double win!
Lemon Chicken with Asparagus and Potatoes
Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Crisp-tender chicken baked to absolute perfection. It’s truly an entire meal in a single skillet!
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups baby red potatoes, halved
- 1 pound asparagus, trimmed
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, combine olive oil, Dijon, lemon juice, lemon zest and thyme; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Using your fingers or a brush, work the mixture onto both sides of the chicken.
- Melt butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside.
- Add potatoes to the skillet; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Place into oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are easily pieced with a fork.* Add asparagus and chicken to the skillet.
- Place into oven and roast until the chicken is completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
*Cooking time will vary depending on the size and thickness of the potatoes.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
Servings Per Container 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories 263.0
Calories from Fat 167.4
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 18.6g
29%
Saturated Fat 5.7g
29%
Trans Fat 0.2g
Cholesterol 69.0mg
23%
Sodium 109.7mg
5%
Total Carbohydrate 9.0g
3%
Dietary Fiber 2.3g
9%
Sugars 1.6g
Protein 15.5g
31%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
This is the perfect meal spring, love the veggies roasted right in the pan!
Many of your recipes call for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. My family will eat only boneless, skinless chicken breasts. How should I adapt recipes for boneless, skinless chicken breasts?
You may have to extend cooking time as needed to ensure that the chicken is completely cooked through.
Making this recipe tonight and I have boneless thighs and green beans instead of asparagus. Like the ideas to double lemon coating!! We will see…..!
Love one pot meals. This one looks beautiful. Lemon is the most amazing ingredient…it adds so much to either a sweet or a savory dish.
Thank you for the nice recipe.
Yum! Trying this tonight!
So pretty! And I love skillet meals. EASY. 🙂
Delicious! Beautiful photos as well. I worry that my asparagus will overcook though.
The asparagus should not overcook but please feel free to adjust the cooking time as needed to suit your preferences.
my asparagus didn’t overcook, but I had larger asparagus. If you had really skinny asparagus, it might.
Love this skillet meal idea! It looks perfectly fresh and spring-y!
I love the way you cook! Just found your blog, and I’ve pinned every recipe I’ve seen so far. I need some new ideas, I’ve been cooking for almost 50 years! Write a cookbook…
Two cups of potato doesn’t really sound like enough for 4 people at dinner. I would serve two thighs to each guest. Would it be okay to add more potato? Looks like a nice dinner.
Oops? I hit send too quick. What are the flakes of green in your photos? I can see the thyme but wondering if that green leaf is basil or cilantro???
Yes, Louise, please feel free to add more potatoes as needed to suit your preferences, although you may have to adjust cooking time as needed. And the green garnishes are fresh chopped parsley leaves.
I think I will blanch the asparagus and add it last minute
Made this last night and it was incredible. So easy to make. I am going to make it again!
hi, this looks amazing and I’m prepping this tonight for a quick assemble tomorrow. Do you think it’s okay to put the chicken in the sauce tonight to marinate until cooking tomorrow? Thanks!
That sounds like a great idea but I can’t really answer with certainty as I have never tried this myself. Please use your best judgment.
It’s even better marinated over night!
This recipe is so easy and delicious. Just got up from the table and the flavors are just lingering in my mouth. Thank you for such a great recipe.
Thanks for the recipe, I tried it tonight and enjoyed it a lot. I made some adjustments by adding radishes and soy beans to the other veggies and using honey mustard instead of Dijon because I realized I had run out. But in the end it was great just to cook a meal and try something new.
I made this tonight, both hubby and I loved it. I think next time, I’ll double both the vegetables and the mustard-lemon mixture and really coat the chicken in it. Maybe try it with some chicken breasts? I ended up using my baster on the juices, just to get the full flavor all through the chicken & veggies.
In case I haven’t mentioned it, this was FANTASTIC! I’ve been sharing your website all over my facebook posts, so far I haven’t come across a recipe of yours that isn’t a 10 of 10!
This recipe doesn’t make a lot of sense… Am I browning the chicken then removing it from the skillet and adding the veggies then putting the veggies in the oven for THEN putting the chicken back in? So the asparagus is in the oven for nearly 40 mins?
Or
Am I browning the chicken adding the veggies and roasting it all together.. But for how long there are two times??
So confused
Love your recipes tho!
Kate, the chicken is first seared and set aside. Then potatoes are added to the empty skillet and par-roasted (this is explained in the body of the post). The potatoes need to be par-roasted first or else they will not cook through with the chicken due to a crowded pan. Does that make sense?
Hi Chungah,
I gotta agree with Kate on this. I took the asparagus out when it started to go too soft for my taste but left a few spears in to test your recipe. I have brilliant fresh local asparagus to work with, and after 25 minutes, they were going distinctly mushy. I prefer a more “al dente” texture. Anyway, by the 48-minute mark the thighs still needed an extra 10 minutes and the asparagus was positively gelatinous. The lemon-dijon coating was fantastic, though. Thanks!
Beth, I’m so glad you tried this recipe. But I have to ask, how big were your chicken thighs? The thighs should have been cooked through at the 25 minute-mark without any problems, leaving the asparagus cooked through and tender. But if you used abnormally huge thighs that take 50 minutes of cooking time, it’s no surprise that the asparagus ended up gelatinous. After all, they were cooking for an entire hour!
Sometimes my chicken takes a little longer to cook as well. I just keep the asparagus whole in case I need to remove them from the pot. Sometimes everything is done at the perfect time, depends on the size of the thigh.
Great recipe – Bone in chicken thighs are my families favorite so I will be giving this a try. Thanks!
love the simplicity of this dish, and not to mention chicken thighs are my favorite! (the skin especially) Need to try this asap!
I used boneless to save some calories. It wasn’t as pretty but it sure still tasted great!
Anyone having to cook chicken longer – I had mine in oven for 40 min, you might try just cooking it a little longer in the skillet at the beginning I agree asparagus was overdone so would wait and add it to the pan maybe for the last 15 min or so, otherwise a good recipe
Bev, if you have huge chicken thighs that require more cooking time than stated in the recipe, it will certainly be too long for your asparagus. Please make the adjustments accordingly to ensure that your asparagus is not overcooked.
loved the veggies in this recipe, but i didn’t get much lemon flavor! might try doubling that as some reviewers suggested.
I’ve never moved a skillet from stove to oven. Does the lid go on or off in the oven ?
Nope, no lid needed here. Recipes typically state to add a lid when needed.
Made this tonight…..so, so good!!! Made extra marinade and coated the potatoes with it. The family devoured the meal!!! Thanks for the recipe, will definitely make this again!!!!
Thank you for another AMAZING recipe! My husband can be a pretty picky eater, but he always loves your recipes. I can’t wait for the cookbook 🙂
This recipe looks so yummy; I’ll be making it for dinner tomorrow. Do you have any recommendations on how you would reheat the chicken for a “day after meal”?? I find that chicken always gets dried out or has an off taste when I reheat it in the microwave…I’d love to know if you have any tips. Thanks! And keep posting delicious recipes please. I love your blog!
Lauralee, we prefer to reheat using a small convection oven at 400 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Hope that helps!
I made this tonight and it was delicious. I don’t have an oven proof skillet, so I seared the chicken in a pan on the stove, took it out and added the potatoes for a minute so they got some of the juices and butter from the pan. Then I transferred the potatoes to a baking dish and put them in the oven for 20 minutes and then added the chicken and asparagus until the chicken was done. It came out perfect. Love your recipes, thanks!
I do the cooking in my home and this has to rank amongst the best chicken dish I have ever made.
If you are using boneless chicken how many oz or lbs do I use?
Amanda, one half breast (usually breasts are split) would typically be equal to 2-3 thighs.
Love the idea of this, but I can’t stand the flavor or aroma of mustard. Sorry. Must be a defective gene. What can I use in its place? Is the mustard there only for flavor or is it needed as an emulsifier and/or tenderizer? I’m afraid if I just leave it out the chicken will be an oily mess. Thoughts?
You can omit the mustard as needed.
I just made this recipe tonight. The thighs I used ended up needing another 5 minutes, but that was it. It was SO GOOD. The potatoes were the best I’ve ever had. It’s been added to our family favorite’s list for sure!
I love this recipe! I have made 5 times in a month! I added sliced yellow onion in with the potatoes and I have also swapped the asparagus for zucchini a couple times. It’s great both ways! It’s our new favorite dish! Double the sauce! I baste a little extra on top before putting the chicken in the oven.
Healthy Update!!!! So this is my new favorite recipe! I make this for my boyfriend and I almost twice a week (my grocery store sells the chicken in portions of 10 so I cook half and then marinate the other half and cook it the next day). I have played with the recipe a lot. I know always add sweet yellow onions in with the potatoes and I also swap out the asparagus with zucchini or just put both in. I also don’t throw the veggies in until I put the chicken back in. So I started a diet and really wanted to lighten this meal up. I swapped the potatoes with cauliflower, cooked the same time and still with the onions. I swapped the chicken to boneless skinless (I couldn’t bring myself to try breast, but that would be healthier). I also left out the butter and used evoo instead. It was amazing!!! I also season everything with salt, pepper, garlic powder and lemon pepper seasoning and of course DOUBLE THAT SAUCE!
What would be a good substitute for the mustard? It sounds delicious but mustard makes me sick!
You can omit the mustard as needed to suit your preferences.
Made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious.
This flavor was wonderful and all the components cooked perfectly……..BUT it DESPERATELY needed some kind of sauce! It was very dry (despite the chicken being moist and flavorful.
Next time, I think I will make more of the marinade, put half aside, then use it to pour over the finished product.
This is incredible! Especially when asparagus and new potatoes are in season. Wow, will be making this again for sure. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve made this dish multiple times now and it’s perfect every time. Thank you!
how can i print this ??
You can click on “PRINT RECIPE” located in the recipe box. It’s in blue. You can’t miss it!