Diced tomatoes with green chilies add just a little kick to this naturally gluten free comfort food recipe for Italian Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and Red Potatoes, while the juicy chicken pairs nicely with the flavorful veggies.
I know. It's still warm for an oven recipe, but we're reaching the point in summer here where we have the occasional cool and rainy day to let us indulge in a little comfort food. And I had this idea for Italian Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and Red Potatoes rattling around my brain all week, so the only way to shut that up when it happens is to experiment with the darn recipe!
And a happy experiment this turned out to be, too. I did cheat on ALDI this week, because, well: Just look what my local Jewel store has been up to. I combined some of the produce I picked up on their sale with some pantry staples I already had in my house -- so the three potatoes and two zucchini I used in this recipe cost me a whopping $.60 total. (The chicken, I'd actually picked up on clearance at some point at ALDI. 😉 )
So here's your all-in-one comfort food recipe for the week, which also makes up this week's Sunday Scratchups, your weekly recipe from scratch around affordable ingredients (chicken thighs) and grocery sales (potatoes and zucchini).
Italian Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and Red Potatoes
Ingredients
- for the chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 lbs bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon oregano
Black pepper, to taste
- for the veggies
20 oz red potatoes, diced
Black pepper, to taste
Sea salt, to taste
20 oz zucchini, chopped
½ tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies
- to top
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Trim chicken thighs and season on both sides with seasoned salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and oregano. Brown for about five minutes a side, skin side down first, then remove to a separate plate.
Add potatoes to the same skillet, season with a little sea salt and black pepper, and cook them over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until they just start to brown, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet from the chicken.
Stir in the garlic and zucchini and continue to saute for another 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, or until zucchini begins to brown. Stir in both cans of tomatoes (do not drain).
Transfer the vegetables into your prepared baking dish and spread them out evenly, then sprinkle with ⅓ cup shredded Parmesan. Nestle chicken into the vegetables, skin side up, and top the chicken thighs evenly with 1 tablespoon Parmesan.
Roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through to temperature and vegetables are tender. Serve the chicken with its built-in side of veggies.
An all-in-one chicken dinner for the win...
I also boiled up a pot of corn on the cob to go with today's chicken, because those were included in Jewel's produce sale when I was picking up the other items. But really, this chicken does cook up complete with its own veggie and potato side dish... the corn just took the whole dinner over the top.
Tomatoes and Parmesan are a classic combination for a reason, right? The diced tomatoes with green chilies add just a little kick to this naturally gluten free Italian chicken dish, while the juicy thighs pair nicely with the flavorful veggies.
Italian Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and Red Potatoes, printable recipe
Italian Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and Red Potatoes
Ingredients
- for the chicken
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 lbs bone-in chicken thighs trimmed
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- Black pepper to taste
- for the veggies
- 20 oz red potatoes diced
- Black pepper to taste
- Sea salt to taste
- 20 oz zucchini chopped
- ½ tablespoon minced garlic about 3 cloves
- 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies
- to top
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Trim chicken thighs and season on both sides with seasoned salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and oregano.
- Brown for about five minutes a side, skin side down first, then remove to a separate plate.
- Add potatoes to the same skillet, season with a little sea salt and black pepper, and cook them over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until they just start to brown, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet from the chicken.
- Stir in the garlic and zucchini and continue to saute for another 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, or until zucchini begins to brown.
- Stir in both cans of tomatoes (do not drain).
- Transfer the vegetables into your prepared baking dish and spread them out evenly, then sprinkle with ⅓ cup shredded Parmesan.
- Nestle chicken into the vegetables, skin side up, and top the chicken thighs evenly with 1 tablespoon Parmesan.
- Roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through to temperature and vegetables are tender.
- Serve the chicken with its built-in side of veggies.
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Friday 11th of February 2022
This came out very soupy for us. I think next time I'd skip the tomatoes and cook it on a sheet tray.
Elizabeth
Tuesday 7th of July 2020
Awesome recipe and the flavor was great. I'm trying to figure out why I had so much liquid in the dish. I had to spoon the veggies out with a slotted spoon. Is this normal and if so did you use save the liquid for something else at all?
Thanks for your help!
rachel
Wednesday 8th of July 2020
I did not save the liquid, but let us know if you give it a try. Zucchini can release a lot of liquid, and there's liquid from the tomatoes, so I wouldn't worry about it being liquidy.
Mary
Monday 23rd of March 2020
This was delicious!! Changed just a couple of things..grape tomatoes as I didn’t have a can of tomatoes, added an onion and mozzarella cheese instead of Parmesan. The whole family loved it and my 3 year old ate it all!!
Elizabeth
Sunday 9th of February 2020
Can I do make this with boneless thighs instead? What would I do differently with this change? Cooking time, etc.?
rachel
Sunday 9th of February 2020
Well, boneless thighs are very thin and cook through quickly. I wouldn't do a straight substitution here, because the timing wouldn't work well with the rest of the ingredients and the potatoes would still be hard. Plus, you'll lose all of the extra flavoring you're getting from browning the potatoes after the skin-on thighs.
If you only have boneless thighs, you might look at some alternative recipe ideas, like:
https://www.mashupmom.com/caprese-chicken-and-zucchini-skillet/ https://www.mashupmom.com/sheet-pan-lemon-garlic-chicken-with-potatoes-carrots/ https://www.mashupmom.com/sheet-pan-parmesan-chicken-thighs-green-beans/
Lynn
Saturday 23rd of February 2019
This dish was really good. Due to toddlers and a hubby who hates tomatoes I left out the can of tomatoes and the can of rotel. I add a little chicken broth to the pan to replace the moisture of the tomatoes. To help keep the zucchinis firm I did not pre-cook them with the potatoes. They still ended up very soft. Taking the extra time to brown the chicken was worth it. Will be making this one again.
Linda Hay
Sunday 30th of August 2020
Thank you for the tip ... will not be cooking my zucchini prior to adding it in.