Lebanese Spatchcock Chicken Tray Bake with Baby Potatoes

This Lebanese-style spatchcock chicken tray bake is one of those low-effort meals that feels far more impressive than it actually is. The chicken can be dry brined first for extra deeply seasoned meat, crisp golden skin, and incredibly juicy chicken every single time. Everything roasts together on one tray while the baby potatoes soak up all the lemony, garlicky, spiced juices underneath.

Perfect for easy dinners, hosting, or weekly meal prep when you want something that still feels a bit special.

Read more: Lebanese Spatchcock Chicken Tray Bake with Baby Potatoes

Jump to:

• Why This Recipe Works
• Why The Ingredients Matter
• How to make it
• Meal Prep Bowl Idea
• Notes & Tips
• How To Serve
• Storage
• 📖 Recipe

Why This Recipe Works

• The optional dry brining creates juicy meat and crisp skin
• One tray means minimal washing up
• Big Lebanese-inspired flavour from garlic, citrus, and warm spices
• Spatchcocking helps the chicken cook evenly and faster
• Baby potatoes roast in all the chicken juices
• Excellent for meal prep and leftovers

Why The Ingredients Matter

Whole Chicken
Spatchcocking helps the chicken cook faster and more evenly while giving you maximum crispy skin. It also allows more surface area for the marinade to flavour the meat.

Dry Brine Ingredients
Dry brining is one of the easiest ways to dramatically improve chicken. The salt penetrates deep into the meat, improving flavour, tenderness, and juiciness while helping the skin dry out for better crisping. We also add pepper, thyme, garlic, light brown sugar and lemon zest. This is an optional step.

Toum
Toum brings intense Lebanese-style garlic flavour with a rich creamy texture that melts into the chicken as it roasts. It helps carry the spices while adding richness without needing loads of oil.

Orange and Lemon Juice
The orange adds sweetness and subtle fruitiness while the lemon cuts through the richness and brightens the entire dish. Together they balance the warm spices beautifully.

Garlic
Garlic is essential for the savoury backbone of the dish and pairs perfectly with the citrus and spices.

Tomato Paste
Tomato paste adds richness, savoury depth, and slight sweetness while helping the marinade cling to the chicken and caramelise beautifully during roasting.

Cumin
Adds warmth, earthiness, and depth that gives the chicken a more traditional Middle Eastern flavour profile.

Allspice
Allspice brings subtle sweetness and warmth that works especially well with roasted chicken and citrus.

Paprika
Adds colour, gentle smokiness, and a mellow peppery flavour that rounds everything out.

Baharat
Baharat adds warmth, pepperiness, and complexity to the potatoes, making them feel just as flavourful as the chicken itself. Optional extra baharat in the marinade gives the chicken even deeper Lebanese-style flavour with more warmth and spice complexity.

Olive Oil
Helps the marinade coat the chicken evenly while encouraging caramelisation and golden colour during roasting.

Ghee
Using ghee in the tray helps the potatoes roast beautifully while adding a rich buttery flavour that complements the spices. You can add more Oil instead if you prefer.

Baby Potatoes
The potatoes absorb all the rendered chicken fat, citrus, garlic, and spices underneath the rack while becoming crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle.

How to make it

Dry Brine the Chicken - Pat the chicken dry thoroughly and season generously with salt, pepper, thyme, garlic, light brown sugar and lemon zest all over. Place uncovered in the fridge overnight, or for at least 6 hours but overnight/24 hours is better. This step helps season the meat deeply while drying out the skin for maximum crispiness. It is an optional step though!

Prep the Potatoes - Bring a pot of salted water to the boil.
Boil the halved baby potatoes for 10 minutes, then drain well and allow them to steam dry for a few minutes. Toss in baharat seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Make the Marinade - In a bowl, mix together Toum, Orange juice, Lemon juice, Olive oil, Garlic, Tomato paste, Black pepper, Cumin, Allspice and Paprika. Rub the marinade all over the chicken, making sure to get some underneath the skin.

Assemble the Tray - Preheat the oven to 90°C fan / 210°C conventional (UK)/ 375°F. Add melted Ghee and Potatoes.
Place a wire rack over the tray and sit the chicken on top.
This allows the chicken fat and marinade to drip down onto the potatoes while keeping the skin crisp.

Roast - Roast for around 50 minutes, or until the skin is deeply golden, the thickest part of the thigh reaches 75°C, the juices run clear.
Optional: increase the oven temperature or finish under a very hot grill for 4 - 5 minutes at the end to get extra crispy, deeply golden chicken skin.

Meal Prep Bowl Idea

This chicken works beautifully for meal prep throughout the week. Build bowls with:

• Rice, couscous, or quinoa
• Fattoush
• Pickled onions or cabbage
• Fries
• Garlic yoghurt sauce or extra toum
• Fresh green herb sauce like zhug or coriander sauce

Notes & Tips

• Dry brining overnight gives the best flavour and texture
• Use a large tray so the potatoes roast rather than steam
• Let the chicken sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before roasting
• Boiling the potatoes first helps create fluffier centres and crispier edges
• Extra lemon squeezed over at the end brightens everything up
• Leftovers are perfect for wraps, salads, and rice bowls

How To Serve

Serve straight from the tray with:

• Toum or garlic yoghurt
• Warm pitta or flatbreads
• Crispy fries
• Lebanese pickles
• Fresh chopped salad
• Extra herbs or lemon wedges

Storage

Fridge
Store in airtight containers for up to 4 days.
Freezer
Freeze cooked chicken for up to 3 months.
Reheating
Reheat in the oven or air fryer until hot and crisp.
Leftovers
Great for wraps, salads, rice bowls, and flatbreads throughout the week.

More Roast Chicken Recipes:

Whole Tandoori Roast Chicken - Air Fryer or Oven

Moroccan inspired Preserved Lemon and Cumin Roast Chicken

One Tin Roast Greek Lemon Garlic Chicken and Potatoes

Roast Chicken and Butternut Squash Traybake

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