Roast chicken thighs with leeks and potatoes

Name: Roast chicken thighs with leeks and potatoes
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 8 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in (about 1.2kg); 800g floury potatoes such as Maris Piper, cut into 3cm chunks; 3 leeks (about 600g), trimmed, washed and cut into 3cm pieces; 8 garlic cloves, skins left on; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 2 teaspoons dried thyme; 1 lemon, cut into quarters; 1 teaspoon salt; Half a teaspoon black pepper; 200ml hot chicken stock (made from a cube is fine); To serve: 200g green beans, ends trimmed

Chicken thighs roasted on a bed of leeks, potatoes and whole garlic until the skin is crisp and the leeks turn soft and sweet in the juices. One tin, very little washing up.

AI-generated photograph: Two golden crisp-skinned chicken thighs on soft roast leeks and potatoes on a warm stoneware plate, a roasted lemon half, glossy pan juices and bright green beans

1 hour
Prep 15 minutes
Cook 45 minutes
Serves 4

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

Gluten free
Dairy free

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in (about 1.2kg)
800g floury potatoes such as Maris Piper, cut into 3cm chunks
3 leeks (about 600g), trimmed, washed and cut into 3cm pieces
8 garlic cloves, skins left on
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 lemon, cut into quarters
1 teaspoon salt
Half a teaspoon black pepper
200ml hot chicken stock (made from a cube is fine)
To serve: 200g green beans, ends trimmed

Let's cook

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan). Use your largest roasting tin, so everything sits in one layer and roasts rather than steams.
Put the potatoes, leeks and garlic cloves in the tin. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil, half the thyme and half the salt, and toss with your hands until everything is coated.
Rub the chicken thighs with the last tablespoon of oil, the rest of the thyme and salt, and the pepper. Sit them skin side up on top of the vegetables and tuck the lemon quarters in between. Wash your hands after handling raw chicken.
Roast for 25 minutes. Take the tin out and pour the stock around the chicken, not over it, so the skin stays dry and crisp. Roast for 20 minutes more.
Check the chicken is cooked through: cut into the thickest thigh next to the bone. The juices should run clear with no pink meat left, or a food thermometer should read at least 75C. If not, roast for 5 to 10 minutes more and check again.
While the chicken finishes, boil the green beans for 4 minutes until just tender, then drain.
Let the tin rest for 5 minutes. Squeeze the soft garlic out of its skins and the juice out of the roasted lemon into the pan juices and stir them through the vegetables.
Spoon the leeks and potatoes onto warm plates, set 2 thighs on each and pour over a little of the juices. Put the green beans alongside.

Tips

Bone-in thighs stay juicy and cost less than breasts, and they are hard to overcook.
Dry the chicken skin with kitchen paper before oiling it for the crispest skin.
Wash leeks well after cutting: soil hides between the layers. Swish the pieces in a bowl of cold water and lift them out.

Swaps

Boneless thighs: they cook faster, so roast the vegetables alone for 15 minutes first, then add the chicken for 25 to 30 minutes.
Add 2 carrots, cut into chunks, with the potatoes for more colour.

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1.2kg chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
800g maris piper potatoes
3 leeks
8 garlic cloves
2 tsp dried thyme
1 lemon
200ml chicken stock
200g green beans

Left off, as most kitchens have them: olive oil, salt, black pepper.

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