Today’s rosemary chicken recipe featuring charred chicken thighs, roasted potatoes, carrots, and asparagus, delivers a rustic-looking chicken delicacy. With most of the cooking time being hands-off, you can sit back and let your trusty oven do its job.
Is This Rosemary Chicken Healthy?
Our rosemary chicken is a delicious and nutritious dinner option since it’s jam-packed with protein, vitamins, dietary fiber, and minerals.
Shall we zoom in on the nutritional profile of some main ingredients?
Chicken thighs, the star of today’s dish, are a great source of lean protein. Thanks to its presence, each serving of this rosemary chicken will offer you 27 g of high-quality protein, up to 54% of the recommended daily intake.
For vegetables, our chefs go with the classic trio: skin-on potatoes, baby carrots, and asparagus. While carrots and asparagus add more vitamins (A, C, K) to your diet, potatoes are a great energy booster.
Overall, this Italian-style chicken dish yields 489 calories with 7.6 g of saturated fat and 569 mg of sodium—quite reasonable for a main course.
Ingredients You Will Need
Here are some of the main items on the list of ingredients:
- Chicken: It’s the versatility of chicken thighs that captures our hearts. Whether baked, air-fried, pan-seared, grilled, or boiled, the thighs will come out perfectly juicy and tender.
- Potatoes: We highly recommend using Yukon Golds or russet potato for this recipe as the higher the starch content your potatoes are the more intriguing their textures will be—once roasted.
- Baby carrots: Roasted baby carrots and potato wedges are the classic vegetable combos in many Italian-inspired dishes, and this rosemary chicken makes no exception. The deep orange hue of carrots and the golden-brown color of potatoes will add a rustic aesthetic to your plate.
- Asparagus: This veggie adds flavor and texture—a crunchy mouthfeel with a mild grassy taste. If you are looking for other green options, we suggest trying broccoli, green beans, or brussels sprouts.
- Lemon juice: Apart from sharpening the simple flavor profile of your chicken thighs, this acidic juice also helps tenderize the flesh.
- Italian seasoning: You may be surprised to know that you can easily make a homemade version of Italian seasoning by combining dried rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano, and marjoram. Store your spice mix at room temperature in an airtight glass jar, and you will have plenty for later use.
- Cajun seasoning: The combination of paprika, cayenne powder, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, dried oregano, and thyme in the Cajun blend builds a bold character for this main dish.
- Other spices: To further deepen the flavor of chicken thighs, we use a combination of paprika, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
- Rosemary: A small amount of fresh rosemary goes a long way. When baked with chicken and vegetables, this herb imparts a pleasing lemony and minty note to the food.
- Oregano: Fresh oregano leaves have an intense earthy taste with a noticeable trace of mint. However, when baked, its pungency mellows—not overpowering but enhancing the flavor of your chicken.
How to Store and Reheat the Leftovers
1. How to Store
Allow your chicken to cool down completely before refrigerating it to prevent the growth of bacteria. To store your leftovers, place them in a microwave-safe air-tight container and keep them in the fridge for 3 days max.
If you wish to make this rosemary chicken ahead of time, you can freeze it to extend the storage time. Remember to place the chicken and vegetables in a freezer-safe zip-loc bag. They will keep well for 3 months.
2. How to Reheat
For refrigerated rosemary chicken, lay the thighs and vegetables on a baking tray, drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil all over them, and reheat in the oven at 400℉ for 12-15 minutes.
If you’re working with frozen chicken and veggies, thaw them properly in the fridge before reheating them in the oven.
What to Serve With
A light and refreshing green salad will be a perfect pairing for your rosemary chicken. Here are our top-five salad choices:
- Salad Mix recipe
- Berries Salad recipe
- Romaine Salad recipe
- Mixed Greens Salad recipe
- Spring Salad recipe
Delicious Trays of Chewy, Juicy Chicken Thighs
Roasted chicken thighs are marinated in a flavorful classic BBQ sauce and accompanied by potatoes, corn, and cherry tomatoes on the plate. This recipe serves up a balanced meal that fits any occasion.
In this hearty baked chicken breast and potato recipe, we’re assembling chicken breasts and potatoes — two popular staple foods in one plate for a nutritious and filling meal. Baking helps to retain moisture, letting these ingredients coming out packed with smokiness and fragrance.
How to Make Rosemary Chicken
Our rosemary chicken recipe delivers a herbal-infused, flavorful dinner that requires only 60 minutes to pull together.
- cook TIME 57 mins
- prep TIME 3 mins
- total TIME 1 hr
- COURSE Main Course
- CUISINE Italian
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 489 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 30 oz skin-on bone-in chicken thighs (20 oz skinless, boneless)
- 0.5 oz sprigs rosemary (8 sprigs)
- 12 oz potatoes (cut into wedges)
- 12 oz baby carrots
- 8 oz asparagus (trimmed ends)
- 2 oz lemon (sliced)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (divided)
- 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt (divided)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tbsp parsley (chopped)
INSTRUCTIONS
Prep:
Make a few cuts into the flesh of the chicken thighs so the seasonings can absorb better.
Quarter the potatoes, then slice through the middle of each quarter to have wedges.
Use a peeler to peel off the woody ends of the bottom half of each asparagus.
Cut the lemon into thin slices.
Finely chop the parsley.
Cook:
Marinate the chicken thighs: On a large platter, add 30 oz skin-on bone-in chicken thighs, 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 rosemary sprig (leaves only). Gently massage the seasonings onto both sides of the chicken thighs and let them marinate for 5 minutes.
Cook the potatoes and baby carrots: Place 12 oz potatoes and 12 oz baby carrots in a large microwave-safe bowl covered with plastic wrap. Microwave them for 12 minutes.
Arrange the potatoes and baby carrots on the baking tray: Take the potatoes and baby carrots out of the microwave and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. With a cooking brush, evenly brush 1 tbsp olive oil onto the vegetables, then sprinkle the rest of the salt (1/4 tsp) on them.
Combine the chicken thighs and rosemary sprigs: Place the well-seasoned chicken thighs and 7 sprigs of rosemary on top of the vegetables. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Bake the chicken and vegetables in the oven for 25 minutes.
Add the asparagus: Take the baking tray out of the oven, then add 8 oz asparagus to the tray. Evenly, brush 1 tbsp of olive oil onto the asparagus before baking all of the ingredients at 450°F for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
Garnish and serve: Transfer your desired portion onto a serving plate. Garnish with 2 oz sliced lemon and 2 tbsp parsley. Enjoy!
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Head Chef, Culinary ConsultantLuna Regina
Writer, AuthorNatalie Butler, RD, LD
Nutrition Reviewer- Jim HammockRosemary chicken is a classic, and this recipe does not disappoint!
- Alexandria VogelWould definitely make again!