Fabulous crispy skinned roast chicken thighs and legs coated in a delicious Mexican style marinade together with roasted sweet potatoes, peppers and onions, this Mexican Chicken Traybake is so unbelievably simple to make but utterly delicious. Prepared in just 10 minutes and left to do its thing in the oven this easy one pan chicken recipe is ideal for busy evenings!
Some of the most popular recipes on my site are my chicken traybakes – and it’s easy to see why – they are quick and easy to prepare, virtually fool proof (most people can manage to chuck a few bits in a tray and put it in the oven!), utterly delicious (mmm roast chicken), budget friendly AND child friendly (no mean feat!) and of course they result in very little washing up!
Some good examples would be my Sticky Harissa Chicken Traybake, my Spanish Style Chicken Traybake and my Chicken Tikka Masala Traybake. And if you want to see the full range, head over to my traybakes section, where you will also find vegetarian traybakes, lamb traybakes, sausage traybakes and more!
However, despite being a huge Mexican food fan, I realised I had never blogged a Mexican Chicken Traybake – quite an oversight! Especially when you consider how well Mexican flavours work with roast chicken. One I felt needed to be rectified quicksmart and would almost certainly involve in lots of taste testing to get it ‘just right’ 😉
To create the delicious Mexican style marinade for the chicken, I adapted the marinade from my hugely popular Mexican Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes recipe. I then included sweet potatoes in the recipe (they work so well in chicken traybakes and with Mexican flavours), along with red onions and red and yellow peppers – all ingredients which taste so good roasted!
The dish is then finished with a good sprinkling of fresh coriander (cilantro) and is perfect served with guacamole, sour cream, salsa and all your other Mexican favourites.
The result tastes rather like a chicken fajita but in a really quick and easy format – and by including nutrient rich sweet potatoes rather than (often highly processed) tortillas, even healthier!
Personally, I feel this dish is ‘complete’ in itself, but if you are feeling extra hungry then you might like to add rice or tortillas. This Mexican Chicken Traybake is also delicious eaten cold the next day – perfect for taking to work and making your colleagues all envious 😉
One important note about the sweet potatoes – because they are cooked in with the chicken they don’t go crispy like they do when cooked on their own. Personally I don’t see this as a bad thing, as they are instead flavoured with the delicious flavours of the chicken juices instead, but if the crispiness is more important for you, I suggest you cook the sweet potatoes in a separate tray (and for less time as they will cook more quickly separated from the chicken) and serve separately as well to maintain their crispiness. Check out my Mexican Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes recipe for more details on timings etc.
Wine-wise, I think this dish goes brilliantly with a fresh zingy white, such as a Sauvignon Blanc. If you prefer red, try a Grenache/Garnacha or a soft fruity Merlot.
Mexican Chicken Traybake
Ingredients
Mexican Chicken Marinade
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 4 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- 3 cloves garlic crushed or grated
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Juice of 2 limes (plus extra limes for serving - optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Mexican Chicken Traybake
- 1 kg chicken thighs and / or legs (skin on, bone in)
- 1 large sweet potato (roughly 750g/1.5lb)
- 1 red (bell) pepper cut into large chunks
- 1 yellow (bell) pepper cut into large chunks
- 1 red onion cut into 8 wedges
- 2 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro) roughly chopped
- Guacamole / sour cream / salsa to serve (optional)
Method
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Place all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. Add the chicken thighs and/or legs and turn to coat in the marinade. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes or up to 2 hours (longer if you have the time – see note).
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Meanwhile preheat the oven to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 / 425F and prepare the vegetables.
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Place all the prepared vegetables (sweet potatoes, peppers, red onion) in a large roasting tray. Add the marinated chicken and any extra marinade from the bowl and mix everything together thoroughly to ensure all the ingredients are coated in the marinade.
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Roast in the oven for 45 minutes. (If you have the time, give everything a good stir and baste the chicken with the juices after the first 25 minutes and then continue to roast for the remaining 20 minutes.)
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Serve sprinkled with fresh coriander (cilantro) and with all your Mexican favourites such as guacamole, sour cream, salsa, extra limes etc.
Notes
If you are just marinating the chicken for 10 minutes or so, you can leave the chicken to marinade at room temperature but if you are marinating for a longer time cover the bowl and return to the fridge until needed.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Want more delicious chicken recipes? Find more here…
Love Mexican flavours? Find more Mexican Inspired Recipes here…
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Linkies
I am sharing this recipe with Brilliant Blog Posts, Cook Blog Share, Cook Once Eat Twice, Free From Fridays, Recipe of the Week and World Food Linky.
Hello, Eb! This is something I’d like to eat for dinner today. I’ve been eating a lot of sinful things for the past days & this is what I want now! 😀 Thanks for sharing! x
So pleased you like it Jhuls! It really is one of those meals where it feels like it must be bad for you, but is actually chock full of goodness – the best kind in my opinion!! E x
Eb, this looks amazing, I love all of the colour! #CookBlogShare
Aw, thanks Donna – you know how much I love colourful food 😀 Eb x
Looks fab Eb, always love a good easy traybake recipe because my main aim in life is reducing washing up at the moment!
Haha – you and me both. I’m always looking for ways to reduce washing up!! Traybakes are just perfect for that. Just one tray and a plate each and that’s it – yay! Eb x
I absolutely love Mexican flavours and thighs are my favourite part of chicken. This looks so tasty x
Me too, and I quite agree – thighs are just awesome, especially with super crispy skin! My kids prefer legs though for some reason, so I like to do a mix of both to keep everyone happy. Eb x
You do love your tray bakes but I can see why! Minimal washing and maximum flavours!! Thanks for linking up to my World Food linky! x
That’s exactly it Jess! And that is what EPF is all about. Maximum flavour, minimum fuss! And traybakes achieve that so well!! Eb x
This sounds just so good! I love the flavours in this and would love it just as it is or all wrapped up in a tortilla wrap – I am getting so hungry this morning catching up on commenting! Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
Thanks Corina 🙂 Oh I know, that’s a bit of an occupational hazard, isn’t it – getting hungry while commenting – hahaha!! Eb x
This looks so good, Ive just printed out the recipe to make this. J gets back from Mexico today so thought he might start to miss the food so I shall make it later this week.
Thanks Jacqui – hope he likes it!! Might have to add a bit of extra chilli if he’s got used to Mexican food!! Let me know how it goes 🙂 Eb x
Another fabulous traybake Eb! Mexican flavours are delicious plus I do love the colours on this one, so so pretty and we do eat with our eyes 🙂 You can’t beat traybake for speed and how effortless they are either so huge thumbs up from me! 🙂 x
Aw, thanks Jo! Oh I so agree that we eat with our eyes – I once read about a restaurant where you eat in total darkness…I would hate that! Eb x
Ooohh, I just love roasting the potatoes in with the chicken so they absorb those gorgeous juices. This is such a beautiful dish—I can’t believe it’s done in such short order! Have a wonderful weekend, Eb! #cookblogshare
Thanks Michelle! Yes me too – all those lovely chicken juices flavouring the potatoes – YUM!! And yes it really can be done that quickly and easily – would you expect anything less of me? 😉 Eb x
Yum, yum, yum. Please can you just move in with me and cook me all my meals?!
Hahaha – thanks Emma 😀 Sure – just find me an extra 24 hours per day and I’m there!! 😉 Eb x
Sounds really nice with not just the chicken but also the veggies coated in the marinade!
Thanks Monika – it really is – the marinade compliments all those flavours so beautifully 🙂 Eb x
Looks absolutely delicious! And quite an easy one too!!
Thanks Sheeba! So pleased you like the recipe 🙂 It really is delicious AND easy – that’s what I’m all about 😀 Eb x
I make something similar, with chorizo and without the marinade. I love the idea of marinating the chicken beforehand to give it some oomph! It looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for joining in with #FreeFromFridays.
Thanks Mel! 🙂 Ooooh I love the idea of adding chorizo into the mix – going to have to try that! Eb x
I really really love all your recipes and recommend you left right and centre. You are so clever and I’m defo going to make this!
Aw, thanks so much Vicki – that’s so lovely – especially coming from you!! Hope you like this one 😀 Eb x
Delicious! What’s not to love about an Easy Peasy Foodie tray bake? Can I move in?? x
Hahaha – thanks sweetie. Sadly there’s not enough room for everyone who wants to move in with me to move in!! Wish there was though…imagine how much fun we would all have!! Eb x
Hello, love Mexican food and will marinate tonite . ? will it change the recipe if I use ground cumin…
Hi Diana – so pleased you like the recipe! It’s fine to use ground cumin. My recipes are usually pretty flexible. Hope you enjoyed it. Eb 🙂