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A Southern African take on chicken traybake with potatoes, this African, gluten-free one-pan meal is simple yet bursting with bold flavors. It’s served with a rich, flavorful dipping sauce—perfect for family dinners or entertaining guests.
With tender chicken leg quarters and crispy potatoes, all marinated in a homemade blend of bell pepper, onion, garlic, and ginger, this dish is seasoned with thyme, smoked paprika, black pepper, and fresh chili to give it just the right amount of heat.
Since I couldn’t bear to waste the leftover marinade, I turned it into a flavorful dipping sauce that takes the meal to the next level.
Traditionally, this recipe is made with peri peri (also known as pili pili or African bird’s eye peppers), which are found in Southern African countries and are famous for their fiery heat. However, due to availability, I used a red chili that I could easily find instead.
Ingredients used to make this recipe
- 2 chicken leg quarters (about 700 g/ 1 ½ lbs)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 small onion
- 1 sweet red pepper (bell pepper or capsicum) (about 160 g/ 6.3 oz)
- 8 g (about 0.3 oz) fresh ginger root or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 700 g (1 ½ lbs.) potatoes
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red fresh chili pepper (of your choice) (Instead of using 1 red fresh chili pepper, you can also use about a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Feel free to adjust the amount if you can’t handle spicy food, but I wouldn’t leave it out completely, as it adds warmth to the recipe.)
Ingredients for dipping sauce
- Leftover marinade
- 250 ml (1 cup) water
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/3 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
How to make oven baked chicken thigh with potatoes
Peel and coarsely chop onion, garlic and ginger. Wash the sweet red pepper and chilli pepper, remove the core, and roughly chop into bite-sized pieces as well.
Add onion, garlic, sweet pepper and chili pepper to a food processor or blender and blend. Transfer the marinade mixture to a casserole dish, then stir in the spices and set aside.
Pat dry chicken quarters with paper towels and separate them into thighs and drumsticks. Using the tip of the knife, prick the meat for the marinade to penetrate better and deeper into the meat. Next peel, wash and cut the potatoes into wedges.
Add the chicken and potatoes to a casserole dish with the marinade. Using your hands coat the chicken and wedges with marinade evenly. Cover with cling film and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Feel free to use a mixing bowl with a cover or resealable plastic bag if you don’t want to get your hands dirty.
About 10 minutes before cooking take the casserole dish out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature and preheat oven to 200 °C (392 °F), with both top and bottom heat.
After transfer the chicken and potatoes to a large baking sheet (baking tray) lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes. Turn the chicken and potatoes halfway.
In the meantime, make the dipping sauce to serve with the chicken and potatoes.
Make the dipping sauce
To make the sauce, simply pour about 250 ml (1 cup) water into the casserole dish with the leftover marinade and mix well, while scrapping up all the marinade from all side with a spatula.
Pour the marinade mixture into a saucepan or small pot. Add sugar, sunflower oil, tomato paste and combine well.
Bring to a boil and let cook for about 15 minutes. Keep stirring in between so that it doesn’t burn at the bottom. Season with salt and pepper if necessary and remove from the heat.
After 45 minutes, transfer the potatoes onto a serving platter. Put the baking sheet with chicken back into the oven, turn the oven to grill setting and grill the chicken for about 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on the meat, so that it won’t burn.
Serve the chicken and potatoes with dipping sauce and enjoy.
Love this Southern African Chicken Traybake with Potatoes and Dipping Sauce recipe? Try my jerk chicken in the oven, oven baked bbq chicken legs and oven roasted bbq potato wedges recipes, too.
Southern African Chicken And Potato Tray Bake with Dipping Sauce
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 2 chicken leg quarters (about 700 g/ 1 ½ lbs)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 small onion
- 1 red sweet pepper (bell pepper/ capsicum) (about 160 g/6.3 oz)
- 8 g (about 0.3 oz) fresh ginger root or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 red fresh chili pepper (of your choice)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 700 g (1 1/2 lbs.) potatoes
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
For the dipping sauce
- leftover marinade
- 250 ml (1 cup) water
- ⅓ teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
Instructions
- Peel and coarsely chop onion, garlic and ginger root. Wash the sweet red pepper and chilli pepper, remove the core, and roughly chop into bite-sized pieces as well. Add onion, garlic, sweet pepper and chili pepper to a blender or food processor and blend.
- Transfer the marinade mixture to a casserole dish, then stir in the spices and set aside. Pat dry chicken quarters with paper towels and separate them into thighs and drumsticks.
- Using the tip of the knife, prick the meat for the marinade to penetrate better and deeper into the meat. Next peel, wash and cut the potatoes into wedges.
- Add the chicken and potatoes to a casserole dish with the marinade. Using your hands coat the chicken and wedges with marinade evenly. *Feel free to use a mixing bowl with a cover or resealable plastic bag if you don’t want to get your hands dirty.
- Cover with cling film and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. About 10 minutes before cooking take the casserole dish out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature and preheat oven to 200 °C (392 °F), with both top and bottom heat.
- After transfer the chicken and potatoes to a large baking sheet (baking tray) lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes. Turn the chicken and potatoes halfway. In the meantime, make the dipping sauce
- To make the sauce, simply pour about 250 ml (1 cup) water into the casserole dish with the leftover marinade and mix well, while scrapping up all the marinade from all side with a spatula.
- Pour the marinade mixture into a saucepan or small pot. Add sugar, sunflower oil, tomato paste and combine well. Bring to a boil and let cook for about 15 minutes. Keep stirring in between so that it doesn’t burn at the bottom. Season with salt and pepper if necessary and remove from the heat.
- After 45 minutes, transfer the potatoes onto a serving platter. Put the baking sheet with chicken back into the oven, turn the oven to grill setting and grill the chicken for about 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on the meat, so that it won’t burn.
- Serve the chicken and potatoes with dipping sauce and enjoy.
Notes
Did you make this chicken and potato tray bake recipe? I’d love to hear from you! Simply write a comment and add rating to it.