Appetizing whole roasted chicken legs make a substantial one-pan dinner with a mildly smoky and bright seasoning. Luscious juices from the bone-in chicken legs infuse the sweet potatoes and onions beneath with lip-smacking flavor.
This easy sheet-pan recipe goes from prep to plate in an hour or less. Chicken legs with sweet potatoes eat well as a weeknight dinner and are also an excellent for cold-weather entertaining or holiday gatherings.
Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes: Use regular orange sweet potatoes rather than extra-sweet varieties so the dish doesn't become overly sweet.
- Yellow onion
- Olive oil: Good quality extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO).
- Smoked (Spanish) paprika: Or substitute Aleppo pepper.
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Chicken: Whole bone-in chicken legs, or a combination of bone-in, skin-on thighs and drumsticks.
- Dates
Lemon-Parsley Sauce
- Flat-leaf parsley: Cilantro or a combo of cilantro and parsley also works.
- Lemon juice
- Lemon zest
- Garlic
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Red pepper flake (optional)
How to Make
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and running water.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (use the convection roast setting if available; otherwise, select regular roast, convection bake, or standard bake). Line a sheet pan with heavy-duty, extra-wide aluminum foil.
Wash and dry the sweet potatoes but leave the skin on. Trim off the ends and cut out any blemishes. Cut them roughly into rectangular pieces (batons) about 2 inches long and 1 inch thick.
Remove the outer skin from the onion, rinse, and cut in half. Slice each half into ¼- to ½-inch thick pieces.
Place the potatoes and onion on the foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and toss to coat.
In a small bowl, combine all the seasonings. Sprinkle half of the seasoning mixture over the potatoes and onions.
Pat the chicken legs dry (do not wash them) and arrange them over the vegetables on the sheet pan. Brush with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining seasoning.
Remove the pan from the oven and scatter the dates into the potato-onion mixture so they are evenly distributed. Return to the oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 165°F.
While the chicken roasts, prepare the lemon-parsley sauce if desired (it's a lovely touch for company!). In a mini food processor or personal blender, combine the parsley, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, extra-virgin olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Blend until emulsified, but not fully liquefied.
To serve, mound the sweet potato, onion, and date mixture on a plate. Place a chicken leg alongside and top with a dollop of parsley sauce, or pass the sauce at the table.
🔪Cooking Tips
- Cut vegetables thick: Sweet potatoes cook faster than russet potatoes, so cut them into thick rectangles to prevent burning. The same applies to the onion. Cut it into ¼- to ½-inch thick slices.
- Watch the heat: When you remove the pan at the halfway point to add the dates, check the vegetables. If they are browning too quickly, lower the oven temperature by 25°F.
- Scaling the recipe: You can easily increase this recipe by half to serve 6 people instead of 4. To double it for 8 people (great for a holiday meal), split the ingredients across two sheet pans.
Nutrition Notes
🐔Chicken: Bone-in chicken legs offer massive flavor and release collagen into the juices that coat the vegetables. Dark meat from thighs and drumsticks provides iron, zinc, and B vitamins. Chicken is also a good-to-excellent source of choline, an essential nutrient supporting brain and heart health—one leg supplies about 33% of your daily requirement.
🍠Sweet Potatoes: Packed with complex carbohydrates for sustained energy, sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A and beta-carotene to help fight inflammation and support eye health. They also provide manganese for bone health, potassium for healthy blood pressure, and dietary fiber from the skin for gut health.
🧅Onions & Dates: Onions contain the antioxidant quercetin, which supports immunity, while dates contribute fiber and essential minerals.
♨️Storage & Reheating
- Storage: Store leftover chicken and vegetables in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking.
- Freezing: Cooked chicken can be frozen for up to 3 months, though thawed sweet potatoes may turn mushy. Extra sweet potato, onion, and date mixture can be frozen and blended into a delicious soup base later.
- Reheating: Reheat in a covered, vented microwave-safe dish or in a 375°F oven until warmed through and the internal temperature reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.
FAQ
Yes! Bone-in, skin-on thighs and drumsticks work great. If using bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, the dish will still turn out well, though the vegetables will have a slightly less rich flavor. Smaller cuts are also helpful on a weeknight, reducing overall cooking time by 5 to 10 minutes.
Sweet potatoes take longer to cook than green vegetables and demand most of the space on the sheet pan. Yet, this could work if you only want about half a pound of vegetables. Add them halfway through roasting along with the dates.
Related Recipes
🍋Lemon Chicken Traybake: A quick, 30-minute sheet-pan chicken dinner.
Chicken and Prunes: An easy, deeply flavorful slow-cooker chicken dinner.
Roast Chicken Legs with Sweet Potatoes & Dates
Ingredients
- 1⅓ pounds sweet potatoes cut into fingers or batons
- 1 onion sliced
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil divided use
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 pounds whole, bone-in, skin-on chicken legs 3 large or 4 medium
- 5 ounces Medjool dates pitted and quartered
Lemon-Parsley Sauce
- ½ cup flat-leaf parsley stems removed, packed
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- pinch salt
- pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions Start Cooking
- Wash sweet potatoes and cut into long, thick rectangles.Place them on a foil- or parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.1⅓ pounds sweet potatoes
- Peel an onion and wash it. Cut it in half and then slice each half. Distribute the slices among the sweet potatoes on the sheet pan. Drizzle potato pieces and onion slices with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, and toss to coat. Spread in an even layer.1 onion
- Combine Kosher salt, smoked paprika, and black pepper in a small bowl and mix. Sprinkle potatoes with about half of the mixture.1 teaspoon Kosher salt ½ teaspoon smoked paprika ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Place chicken legs on top of sweet potatoes, skin side up. Rub with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Season with the remaining spices. Roast for 20 minutes.2 pounds whole, bone-in, skin-on chicken legs
- Remove sheet pan from the oven and place date quarters throughout the mixture. Return to oven and roast for another 20 to 25 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and an instant-read thermometer registers 165℉ when inserted in the thickest part.5 ounces Medjool dates
Lemon Parsley Gremolata
- While the chicken finishes roasting, place the parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, and garlic halves in a tall high-sided container suitable for use with a stick blender, or use a mini-chopper or a personal blender.Pulse until the ingredients are chopped. Pour in the EVOO and pulse again until semi-emulsified but not liquified.Season with salt and red pepper flake (optional) for added kick.½ cup flat-leaf parsley 2 Tablespoons lemon juice 1 Tablespoon lemon zest 1 clove garlic ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil pinch salt pinch red pepper flakes
- Divide the chicken and sweet potato mixture among plates. Spoon a generous Tablespoon of Lemon-Parsley Sauce over each serving, or place it alongside, so guests can serve themselves.
Notes
Nutrition
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