Pollo e Patate al Forno

Pollo e Patate – Chicken and potatoes roasted with garlic, sage, rosemary and sprinkled with white wine. It's incredibly simple yet packed with flavour and makes the solid comforting, low-prep dinner.

Pollo e Patate (Chicken and Potatoes) is such a simple, classic Italian home-cooked meal. It's made with a mix of chicken thighs and drumsticks, woody herbs, garlic and white wine.

The chicken is tender and juicy, and the potatoes are soft and full of good flavour since they soak up all the juices.

We love this meal any day of the week because it's so easy to throw together. You can even marinate the chicken in advance, so all you need to do is chop the potatoes and pop everything in the oven.

Ingredient notes

• Chicken – use skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks, or a mix of both, as we have.
• Potatoes – waxy potatoes are best for this recipe since they have to be firm enough to soak up a lot of the chicken juices without crumbling. We often use red potatoes.
• Rosemary and sage – always use fresh herbs for the best flavour. You can do a combination of rosemary and sage or choose one. Thyme is another good woody herb that's solid with chicken.
• White wine – you can omit the white wine if you want.
• Garlic – keep the cloves whole with the skins on so they don't burn in the oven.

Recipe tips and FAQs

Love garlic? – If you're like us and love to eat the roasted garlic cloves, then up the garlic to one clove per person (4-6 in total).

Excess juices – it's normal for there to be a lot of excess juices in the tray at the end of cooking. let the chicken and potatoes sit for 5-10 minutes so most of the juices soak back in which adds a lot of flavour.

Can we prepare this in advance?

Yes, mix the chicken in a bowl with the chopped herbs, salt and pepper, olive oil and white wine and leave it to marinate up to 24 hours in advance. When ready to bake, peel and chop your potatoes and add the chicken with a little more olive oil, salt and pepper and bake.

What can we serve this with?

Pollo e Patate can be served as it is, or add a green veg such as broccolini green beans in tomato sauce (or dressed with salt, pepper and olive oil) or a simple salad such as an arugula salad.

More good chicken dishes to try

Mains

Creamy Tuscan Chicken with Garlic & Pancetta

Mains

Chicken Puttanesca

Mains

Chicken Piccata with Capers and Lemon

Mains

Pollo in Potacchio (Italian Braised Chicken)

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

• 8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks ((about 1kg / 2.2 lbs total))
• 1 and ½ lbs (700g) waxy red potatoes ((about 4 medium size potatoes))
• 2 sprigs of rosemary (finely chopped)
• 5 sage leaves (finely chopped)
• 2-4 garlic cloves (whole with skins on)
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F static or 180C/350F fan.

2. Peel and slice the potatoes into wedges. Add them to a roasting tray with the finely chopped herbs and garlic cloves.

3. Add the chicken to the tray and drizzle everything with the olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper, then toss well so the chicken and potatoes are evenly coated in the oil and herbs.

4. Sprinkle over the white wine, then roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the chicken is cooked through with golden, crisp skin and the potatoes are tender.

5. Bring the tray from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes so the juices absorb back into the chicken and potatoes then serve.

Kitchen notes

• Potato texture The potatoes are not meant to be crispy. They should be soft, tender and infused with the juices from the chicken and herbs (so much flavour!)
• Internal temp for chicken The chicken should register 75°C / 165°F at the thickest part.
• Reheating preheat the oven to 200C/400F and roast in the oven until piping hot all the way through (about 10-15 minutes).
• Leftovers leftovers will keep in the fridge for 1-2 days, although the potatoes will go quite soft, so it's best eaten the same day.