One Skillet BBQ Chicken and Potatoes

5 from 2 votes

How I love easy, one skillet bbq chicken and potatoes for a make ahead dinner. Roasted potatoes, tender caramelized onions with the chicken, it’s fantastic!

BBQ chicken doesn’t have to be made on the grill at all. In fact, I’m all about making it in a skillet and then braising the whole thing in the oven. You only dirty one pot and get an entire meal, side included in it. Well, no I guess you still need a veggie. Darnit. Well, it’s still a win, just throw some green beans in a pan with a little salt water and you’re all done.

This recipe is going to have you pan roast and braise, which are two of my favorite things ever.

How Do You Pan Roast Potatoes?

You can actually pan roast just about anything but something magical happens when you pan roast potatoes.

They get all golden and caramelized or crispy on the outside, but the inside remains tender and wonderful.

The Best Pans for Cooking

Make sure you’re using the correct pan, not expensive, but one that will allow caramelization to happen.

Those little browned bits are treasures in a recipe and absolutely enhance the flavor.

Try using a Lodge Cast Iron pan or Stainless Steel pan.

Again, you don’t need the most expensive, but a nonstick pan wont allow a proper roast to happen.

A little fat like, oil, butter or olive oil is used to not only keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan, but also that fat is going to grab on to the potatoes and crisp them up and develop the flavor.

What Temperature Do I Cook Potatoes On?

Medium to medium high heat creates a first sear on the meat or vegetables and not only does food look better with color but like I’ve said a hundred times, caramelization is what really gives us that mouth watering flavor.

However, continued high heat will burn the food so turn it down to medium heat or even medium low if your burners are extra aggressive.

Keep the ingredient in the pan without moving it for the first couple of minutes and then occasionally turn them so each side has a chance to brown.

In the case of meat, only flip once as each time you turn it you’re working some of those juices out of it.

How to Braise Chicken

Because this specific recipe is thighs we of course must mention how to braise chicken thighs. Braising is AWESOME. It sounds technical, but it’s going to be your new favorite thing. In fact, in Our Sweet Basil Kitchen Cookbook we have a Braised Dijon Chicken and Potatoes recipe ( you can get a sneak peek over on Cooking for Keeps) that is totally drool worthy.

Oh my goodness, or Cade’s Poblano Braised Beef Tacos. IT’S SO GOOD!!

Ok, focus Carrian. What is braising? How to braise chicken in the oven? I’ve got you covered. It’s super easy and your mom probably did it with her slow cooker Sunday roast without you even realizing what it was.

Braising is just frying your food in a pan for a bit in order, just like the potatoes, to caramelize and really deepen the flavor and then covering it up and popping the whole thing in the oven where it cooks until it’s so blasted tender it flat out falls apart. The lid keeps all of that goodness buzzing around in the pan, soaking in all of the flavor of every ingredient.

The best part about braising truly is that you don’t have to do anything. It’s just going to be in the oven and that liquid, mixing with the ingredients and those little browned bits from the frying process will enrich the whole dish.

So that’s it! And you know what, you can change this up to include carrots or russet potatoes, make a spicier sauce or even a mustard sauce if you’d prefer. Make sure you use Cade’s Smoky BBQ Rub It’s so good, looks beautiful and who doesn’t love a little Homemade BBQ Sauce on chicken every now and again?

Tip: You can make this chicken skillet with either our Classic BBQ Sauce or our Mustard-Based BBQ Sauce.