What’s for dinner? When in doubt, go with chicken! Mediterranean Roasted Chicken Thighs with olives and tomatoes is a one pan meal with both a main and side dish cooked together as one recipe. Serve it as an easy chicken dinner for two.
When you don’t know what to make for dinner, what is your go to recipe? The one you can make without looking it up? The one where no matter how many times you make it, you will never stop loving it?
Mine is roasted chicken thighs or quarters with crispy chicken skin. Brown it on the stove, throw it in the oven, and (im)patiently wait for it to bake.
Usually I make maple chicken quarters or honey mustard chicken thighs, but I wanted to do something different.
Roasted chicken is a blank canvas for flavor, so after some brainstorming, I came up with Mediterranean Roasted Chicken Thighs with olives, tomatoes and garlic.
Why? Because I love olives, tomatoes, and garlic. Anything I can do to turn them into dinner, I will do.
When I was writing my Romantic Meals For Two At Home post, I realized I cook way too much chicken.
Which doesn’t help when I posted stuffed chicken breast last week and chicken thighs today.
I can’t help it; chicken is so versatile and affordable. Plus last year I learned how to butcher a whole chicken in culinary school, which makes it even cheaper.
It’s no wonder I make it all the time.
To make this a complete dinner for two with a side dish, I baked the chicken on top of tomatoes, olives, garlic, thyme, and lemon. It’s all roasted together in one pan, which means you don’t have to make a separate side dish while the chicken bakes.
Less cooking, less dishes, more time for dinner.
To get crispy chicken skin, first you brown the chicken thighs on the stove. You may be tempted to skip this step, but don’t. Without it, the skin will be flabby.
After browning, you finish baking them in the oven because bone-in chicken takes longer to cook than boneless. If you were to finish cooking them on the stove, you’d also risk burning the outside before the inside is fully cooked.
Although I used a 12 inch cast iron skillet (affiliate link), you can use any oven-proof large skillet.
Just be careful of touching the handle. One time the hot skillet was resting after I pulled it from the oven. I instinctively touched the handle to move it and burned my fingers.
I rarely make a separate side dish (mainly because that’s extra dishes to do), so any time I can make a main and side at the same time, I will.
Underneath the chicken is a medley of tomatoes, olives, garlic, and lemon wedges tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sea salt.
I guess you can say a medley of roasted fruit since technically olives and tomatoes are fruit, but that sounds weird, doesn’t it?
Olives are salty, briny, and meaty, making them a great pairing with chicken. I used both kalamata and green olives with whole pimento because I love the color contrast between the green and purple and how they have different flavor profiles.
Random trivia: Did you know a green olive is just an under-ripened black olive? I thought it was its own variety, like how there are different kinds of apples. Who knew!
Mediterranean Roasted Chicken Thighs (Dinner For Two)
Mediterranean Roasted Chicken Thighs with olives and tomatoes is a one pan meal with both a main and side dish cooked together as one recipe.
Ingredients
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 4 boned-in chicken thighs with skin
- 8 whole unpeeled garlic cloves
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup green olives with pimento
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Pat the chicken thighs dry and lightly season with salt and pepper.
- In a large oven-proof skillet over medium heat, heat 1 teaspoon oil. Once hot, add the chicken thighs skin side down and cook for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Flip and brown the other side for 5 minutes. If your skillet isn't large enough, you may need to do this in two batches. Add more oil if necessary.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix together the garlic, tomatoes, both olives, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, balsamic vinegar, and sea salt.
- Once the chicken has finished browning, transfer to a plate and keep warm. Drain any excess fat left in the pan. Wipe clean.
- Add the tomato mixture to the bottom of the skillet. Place the chicken on top. Add the lemon wedges and thyme in between the chicken.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165F. Crumble feta on top before serving.
Charlie says
this looks more like a dinner for four to me.
Looks great but I would half the recipe.
Carla says
It depends on how many chicken thighs you’d eat per person. Since thighs are typically small pieces, most people eat two at a time. But if you feel you’d have leftovers, you are welcome to halve it.
cakespy says
Well, this looks perfect! In the past few years, chicken thighs have become my favorite cut.
Carla says
Thank you! They are mine too because they’re so easy to cook at a moment’s notice.
LindavRiego says
They are mine too. They have so much more flavor and don’t dry out. Many top chefs have also started using them, in their recipes.
Kelly says
I tried this last night and it was fab. I made a family-size portion by doubling it and exchanged boneless/skinless thighs just because that’s what I had and didn’t want to wait to try it. :-)
Such a lovely blend of strong flavors without being overwhelming. I’ll be making it again for sure.
Carla says
Wonderful! Glad you and your family enjoyed it.
Mac says
Really good. Did not have green olives, used capers instead.
Carla says
Good call with the capers! Happy it worked out for you.
Laura Wondercheck says
This was absolutely fabulous! Will make again for sure. I followed the recipe as written with a small exception. Instead of garlic cloves, I used garlic stuffed green olives AND the kalamata olives. It’s a new fave. Making again tonight,
Carla says
Love the idea of using garlic stuffed olives!
LORI LATUS says
Hello, made this recipe last night for my Husband and myself and thoroughly enjoyed it. Easy to make with tons of wonderful flavors. My husband ate his half happily while I saved my second thigh for my lunch today. Can’t wait. I served it with a tossed salad and orzo. Wish there was a calorie count though. Thanks very much11
Carla says
Happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed the chicken! I don’t provide calorie count because I’m not a nutritionist and may run into liability issues with it, so I highly recommend finding a calorie calculator you like, such as My Fitness Pal.
Steve says
Really wonderful recipe; I made it for the family, and seconds were enjoyed! I used boneless/skinless thighs and added some diced onion. In place of cherry tomatoes, I used Romas I had on hand.
I substituted red wine vinegar for the balsamic and sauteed/simmered the olive mixture before adding the chicken back to the pan to bake. Oh, I served it with oven-roasted gold potatoes.
Forgot to take a picture before everyone dug in. I’ll have to make it again. Thanks so much!
Carla says
Happy you enjoyed it!
Dolores Wiens says
What’s the point of roasting the garlic cloves without peeling them?
Carla says
I find they cook better while in their skin (plus the skins help protect against burning).
Norman says
I read in your recipe not to peel the garlic cloves but do you “crush” them with the flat of a knife or just put them in whole?
Carla says
You can leave them whole.
Norman says
Thanks, Carla, it’s in the oven now! I didn’t have fresh thyme sprigs but sprinkled some from the spice bottle and then I cut some fresh rosemary sprigs from my hedge and placed them between the pieces of chicken. I might post some photos to your FB.
Carla says
Rosemary sounds like a great idea!
Hollis Ramsey says
I love everything about this recipe, but I’d add more feta at the end. And I will!
Carla says
Nothing wrong with more cheese!
Michele Taylor says
I made this tonight for supper and it was wonderful. I think next time I would double every thing except the chicken. We ate it over plain rice with the olive mixture over it. Yummo!
Carla says
Glad you enjoyed the recipe! And it should be pretty easy to double what you need.
mawy says
how easy is to upgrade a chicken meal!! So I made a cheap version without the lemon, thyme, balsamic vinegar, feta & tomate cherry, yeah i Know so, Do I really made this recipe? I used regular tomato, a pinch of vinegar with Worcestershire sauce, AND what keeps this dish alive or alike (for me) I found a mediterranean can
with differente olives, pickles, carrots, small onion, I used it all and a bit of the liquid concrentate. MAGIC, love it! Easy to make, easy to play with the ingridients.
Carla says
Glad you were able to make this recipe your own!