Chicken Potato Bake is like a chicken potato casserole tossed in garlic and olive oil, baked to a golden brown, and topped with stretchy, melty cheese. It's my go-to recipe for when I need inexpensive, no-fuss, quick dinner ideas!
This might seem kind of crazy, but I often sit down to do my meal plan for the upcoming week, and I am stumped.
Well, I think it is a similar phenomenon as the one that causes Thing 1 and Thing 2 to meander into our fully stocked kitchen, look through the pantry and fridge, and declare that there is nothing to eat!
I have come to realize that I can never go wrong with baked recipes with potatoes and chicken for dinner. No one complains and everyone practically licks their plate (and the casserole dish too!).
Whenever I get that meal planning 'block', or whatever you want to call it, I pull up one or two of my go-to dishes, plop them in the meal planner, and somehow that jump-starts my brain so that I can finish the entire meal plan.
This Chicken Potato Bake is one of those go-to dishes. I have served it more times than I can remember, and every time it is a big hit in the family.
🥘 Ingredients Needed for Baked Chicken and Potatoes
In this recipe, I baked boneless chicken thighs in the oven along with the potatoes. If you don't have chicken thighs, you can substitute chicken breasts in this recipe.
For the potatoes, you can choose between russet potatoes, red potatoes, or white potatoes. No need to peel them! Just wash them and cut into ¾ inch cubes. I keep the skin on because it adds texture and its also contains a lot of the nutrition.
Potatoes tossed in garlic and olive oil and baked to a golden brown right in the same dish with tender, juicy chicken thighs guarantees a successful meal every time. The melty mozzarella cheese on top then seals the deal!
Add a side salad or some steamed veggies like my easy roasted Brussels sprouts and dinner is complete!
The cheese in this recipe brings all the ingredients together and gives the casserole with chicken and potatoes that delicious crusty look. I found that using freshly shredded mozzarella works best. However, if you don't have fresh mozzarella, using store-bought mozzarella will taste good too.
It only takes this chicken and potato casserole about 25 minutes to finish cooking. I serve it right after I remove it from the oven and I can still hear the sizzling! When I remove it from the oven, it fills the whole house with a delicious baked chicken and potato aroma.
This aroma is so heavenly that I don't even have to call everyone to the dinner table. The aroma brings everyone running to the dinner table!
📖 Variations
- Add some dried rosemary or thyme to change up the flavor profile.
- Some red pepper flakes or a pinch of cayenne is a great way to spice it up!
- We like to add some paprika or even smoked paprika as well.
- Seasoned salt is another great way to amp up the flavor in this dish.
- Cook up some bacon, cut it into pieces, and then mix it in with the potatoes right before adding the chicken into the pan. YUM!
- To add some additional nutrition, mix in about 8 ounces of sliced mushrooms with the potatoes before baking them.
I find that dinner recipes with potatoes are just so versatile and perfect for busy weeknights. What are your favorite potato bake recipes?
If you like baked recipes with potatoes and chicken, check out my other family favorites, like this Chicken Tray Bake with Potatoes! And see more easy chicken recipes below.
One of my family's favorites is this bright, lemony Breaded Lemon Pepper Chicken. So flavorful yet so delicious! And it's oven-baked instead of fried so it's a lot healthier than fried chicken.
Chicken Potato Bake
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Chicken Potato Bake
Ingredients
- 4 medium potatoes, cut into ¾ inch/2 cm cubes (russet, white, and red are all good choices, no need to peel)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs (I like to use thighs)
- ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- parsley (optional, freshly chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F/220 degrees C.
- Place the potato cubes in a large bowl, add the garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss to coat.4 medium potatoes, cut into ¾ inch/2 cm cubes, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1.5 tablespoons olive oil, ⅛ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- Spray a large (9x13) baking dish with non stick spray. Spread potato mixture in dish and bake about 15 minutes.
- Remove baking dish from oven and place the chicken pieces in the dish, nestling them down into the potato mixture a bit. If desired, brush the top of each chicken piece with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- Bake 20-25 minutes, until chicken is cooked and potatoes are browned.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top, return to the oven and bake for a few more minutes to melt the cheese.¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- When serving, sprinkle chopped parsley on top (if desired).parsley
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate. The nutritional values for your final dish may vary based on measuring differences and products used.
Tools used for this recipe:
Happy cooking!
Michele
My family loves this recipe! I use the small tri-colored potatoes and throw in some chopped onions. I’ve tried many different things with this dish but the last time I cut up some broccoli into small florets and used dry Italian seasoning mix with minced garlic, olive oil, a little season salt and it came out fantastic! The kids love the flavor and I sprinkled some parmigiana cheese over it before the mozzarella topping. YUM! My daughter wants me to keep it in our “rotation” LOL! Thanks for this amazing, easy dish!
Kristin King
That's great to hear! So glad your family loves this, and thanks for sharing your variation idea!
Teri Walker
I did as directed but used my freshly made Garlic herbed butter on the chicken and baked it all!
Smelled amazing and I added slightly steamed broccoli for the last 10 min.
I omitted the mozzarella
It was a hit!
Thank you
I love one pan meals!!!
Kristin King
So glad you like this! 🙂
Debbi
I tried this last night and when putting the uncooked chicken (diced up) into the almost cooked potatoes - it just felt wrong. But I did it.
This wasn't the best recipe we have tried - we will need to look around again. I used Everything bagel spices along with salt and pepper - so that had a good taste to it. But my family said not to make this again.... and I agree.
Thanks for your recipe!
Kristin King
Not sure why it felt wrong, as long as your chicken is fully cooked before you serve it there will be no issue. The reason for starting hte potatoes first is that they need longer to cook through, and if you have the chicken in from the beginning it will end up overcooked and dry. Interesting idea to use the Everything Bagel spice mix - I will try that! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Phyllis
Still trying to wrap my head around someone telling you her family said never make this again but thanks for the recipe. Don’t understand why she even replied. I appreciate you taking the time to post the recipe. I added the bacon and red chili flakes and it was very good. I did brush the chicken with a bit of oil. I did have to cook the potatoes longer but only becuz of my oven. Thank you for an easy tasty recipe!
Kristin King
So glad to hear that you liked this! I love your variation ideas, thanks for sharing. I appreciate you stopping by! 🙂
Lynne
I made this last night. It was a hit! I added cut up slices of ham in with the potatoes to start with and also added some fajita seasoning. It was delicious. Served with a salad. Perfect. 👌🏻
Kristin King
Oh, great idea! So glad you enjoyed this!
Addie
Definitely needed to take it up a notch with spice otherwise it was too bland for my liking.
Rather than using whole chicken piece, II cubed the chicken and tossed it in the bowl used to season the potatoes ( while potatoes were cooking) so it would have some of that olive oilon it.. I added Italian seasoning, a bit more salt and pepper, garlic powder to the chicken. I also used a bit more mozzarella and topped it with parsley as suggested. Nice recipe.
Kristin King
Great ideas, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Karen Hayes
Great idea, now to change half of it to a vegetarian entre for my one picky one.
Lois S
This is an easy tasty recipe that freezes well and would be an excellent family meal. I wanted more vegetables so I added green beans. It's delicious.
Kristin King
Great idea! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Rachel
I haven't made this recipe yet but I love that the ingredients are listed under the steps in which they are used! It can get annoying scrolling back and forth between the ingredient list and the steps... 🙂🙂
Kristin King
I'm so glad you like that feature! I agree, it's so annoying to keep scrolling up and down...I was really happy to implement having the ingredients listed within the step they are used! 🙂
Gail
Hey guys, I made this, am trying to understand, putting raw chicken onto cooked half pie cooked food, so what I done was cook potatoes, mushrooms, and got chicken started, then put everything together with cheese on top, mum and I totally enjoyed, so next time I'm gonna cook chicken thru also, then put everything together, cheese on top and finish off, as in ur pic you don't see all the liquid from the chicken, so it sorta told me that this is not how it all pans out, trial and error for sure
Kristin King
That's certainly an option! The potatoes take longer to cook than the chicken which is the reason I have the directions the way that I do. There is a bit of liquid from the chicken in the pan when it's done cooking but it doesn't bother us. Some of the potato chunks become soft from the liquid but the chunks on top are crispy so we actually find it to be a yummy juxtaposition. Also, if you are using fresh mushrooms that will definitely add to the liquid so it would be best to cook them separately. Hope you enjoyed it with your variation! 🙂
Kath
Yes, I REALLY appreciate that feature - so convenient to have the ingredients /measurements repeated in the step-by-step instructions! Thank you for taking that extra step, Kristin. This is such a great recipe & allows for so much creativity with the flavorings & added veggies, etc. Great bone structure! Made tonight and just added sliced up onions and fresh spinach under the chicken. Was a big hit. Love your selection of healthy recipes. I'll be nack quite a bit!
Kristin King
That's wonderful to hear! Thanks so much! 🙂
Kim
What is the best way/time to make this is preparing for a family in need? Can it be made a day ahead of time? Should I leave the cheese off until ready to deliver and then have them reheat? Just wondering if this reheats well. ?? Thank you!
Kristin King
This can get a little soggy if made ahead and reheated, because of the juice from the chicken. I would suggest separating the potatoes and chicken into different containers, and also leaving the cheese off as you suggested. Then the recipient can put the potatoes and chicken together and reheat, and for the last 5 minutes add the cheese to be melted. It's a little bit of a pain, but I think that would give the best result!
Marilyn
Could this be done in a crockpot?
Kristin
Hi Marilyn, I have not tried this in a crockpot. The premise of the recipe is that it is baked in the oven. I think it might be a little tricky to mimic this in a crockpot, so might want to do an internet search for a crockpot chicken and potatoes recipe. But I do appreciate you stopping by! 🙂
Liz
This turned out wonderful! I did add crushed red pepper flakes and broccoli to it. Thanks for the great recipe. I look forward to trying more from you.
Kristin
That's great to hear! I am so happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by to let me know! 🙂