Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes
Well, here’s another recipe to file under ‘things I made while my wife was out of town that she is upset about not getting to try’. What is not to like about this dish? It has all the major food groups as far as I’m concerned: onions, potatoes, and chorizo. If you’re someone who eats meat and haven’t tried chorizo before you are really missing out. There are different varieties, for example Mexican chorizo is typically sold uncooked while Spanish chorizo is usually cured, but each is heavily seasoned with things like paprika, garlic, pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper.
This dish is so easy to put together and has a short and simple ingredient list. I especially like that it is a complete meal in one pan. No need to prepare a separate veggie dish or protein, you’ve got it all in one place. The added citrus from the orange zest also lightens up the meal a bit. Depending on how many people you’re feeding you may want to cut down the recipe. I didn’t really think about it until afterward, at which point I had two roasting pans full of this and was the only one home to eat it. I should be clear I’m not complaining about that, but you may not want to spend 2 weeks eating it like I did.
If you’re interested in trying to make chorizo at home I recommend the spice mix from this recipe. It’s been my go-to for chorizo burgers a few times. I typically use ground turkey and excitedly called it faux-rizo, only to discover that the entire internet had already made that joke.
I love the caramelization you get on the potatoes and onions which is facilitated by the fat from the chorizo. And when is roast chicken not delicious? Roasting it together with everything else give it a very crisp and browned skin while keeping the inside perfectly moist and tender. In addition to being a great cut, using chicken thighs makes it easy to portion things out.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy this dish as much as I did, I will probably make it once more before it gets too warm out!
- 12 chicken thighs (preferably boneless, skin on)
- 1.5 lbs chorizo sausage, cut into ½ inch pieces
- 2 lbs baby red potatoes, quartered
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- Zest of one orange
- Salt to taste
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- Preheat oven to 425° F. Prepare two roasting pans or baking racks by pouring oil equally between the two.
- Rub the skin of the chicken pieces in the oil and place in the pan (6 pieces in each) skin side up.
- Lightly salt the chicken then divide the chorizo and potatoes equally between the two baking pans.
- Sprinkle the onions overtop the chicken, chorizo, and potatoes, then sprinkle the oregano and orange zest.
- Cook for 30 minutes, then rotate pans in the oven. Baste lightly with juices and if desired pour a bit of orange juice over the chicken.
- Continue cooking until the chicken is golden brown, about 30 more minutes.
