Warming, comforting and healthy too, this harissa chicken traybake is perfect for busy weeknights and delicious enough for weekend entertaining! You can also make it in advance as the leftovers are delicious reheated too.
The food I'm cooking at home has definitely changed since this time last month. With the cooler weather I've got a hankering for cooked meals, especially easy to prepare one pot recipes like this yummy harissa chicken traybake.
I find this harissa chicken traybake is perfect for an easy family friendly dinner. It's full of flavour from the harissa but it's not too hot and spicy that the children can't eat it. As long as your family like food to be a little bit spicy, this meal is ideal.
Savoury traybakes and sheet pan meals
The great thing about traybakes is everything is cooked together on one tray. You just need to prepare the ingredients, put them on the tray and bake in the oven. Out comes a delicious one pot meal without lots of pots and pans to wash up afterwards too!
In the US these kind of meals are called sheet pan dinners or meals. Whatever you call it, it's a great way to make an easy meal!
Ingredients for harissa chicken tray bake
To make this simple harissa chicken tray bake you'll need:
- Harissa paste - You can use whatever brand you like but my favourite is Belazu Rose harissa
- White wine vinegar - Feel free to use red wine vinegar, sherry vinegar or cider vinegar instead
- Chicken legs and thighs - Chicken on the bone is less likely to dry out than chicken breast.
- Vegetables - Aubergine, red pepper, carrot and red onion. This is one of my favourite combinations but you can use whatever you have.
- Garlic - Use whole cloves as they are delicious roasted
How to make harissa chicken tray bake
There is a full recipe card further down the page but it's very simple to make.
The marinade is as simple as opening a jar of harissa, taking out a spoonful and mixing it with a little vinegar. So easy. If you don't have much time for food preparation then this is definitely the way forward.
Put the chicken pieces in the marinade and leave for an hour or even up to 24 hours if you have time!
When you are ready to cook the dish, prepare the vegetables. Toss them in a little oil and spread them out in the bottom of a roasting tin. Cook them for 10 minutes then take the chicken pieces out of the marinade and place them on top of the vegetables. Return the tin to the oven to bake for about 30-40 minutes.
Quick to make
You may look at the recipe and think that it takes a while, especially including the time you need to heat the oven up. However, the hands on time is very short and you can focus on other things while it's cooking.
What to serve with this harissa chicken?
As the chicken cooks, the juices will come out and flavour the vegetables underneath. This makes a wonderful sauce for the dish. I also had some leftover coriander (cilantro) in the fridge. It was a bit wilted so I blitzed it with some sunflower seeds, lemon juice and garlic to make a zingy citrusy salsa as a side dish. Don't feel you have to make this but if you ever have wilted coriander then it's a tasty way to use it up.
If you want to make this harissa chicken traybake into a more filling meal, then you can serve it with pitta breads or cook some baked potatoes in the oven at the same time as the chicken is cooking.
If the potatoes are quite big and will take longer to cook than the chicken, just whack them in the microwave for about 3 minutes before putting them in the oven. It really speeds up the cooking time but still gives you perfect oven baked potatoes.
This harissa chicken vegetable traybake is also delicious with couscous or rice. The sauce from the chicken and vegetables can be drizzled over the rice or couscous to flavour them
Adaptations and substitutions
If you don't have all the ingredients to make this harissa chicken recipe as it is, it's easy to adapt it. You can use different vegetables and I often do! It's delicious with cauliflower and butternut squash. You can also add some sweet potatos to the pan or regular potatoes.
If you do add regular potatoes though, make sure you cut them small enough so they cook through in the same time it takes to cook the chicken. Alternatively, parboil them first or put the poatoes in the oven before the rest of the ingredients.
I normally use white wine vineger to make this as that's what I have in the cupboard. However, red wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar would all work perfectly. You could even use lemon juice!
Can you cook it in the air fryer?
Yes you can! These days I adapt a lot of oven recipes for the air fryer as it's so much quicker with no need to wait for the oven to heat up.
With this harissa chicken recipe, just place everything in an air fryer liner or on a piece of greaseproof paper and air fry for about 25 minutes at 180C. After 15 minutes, turn the chicken over and toss the vegetables a little.
What can you do with the leftovers?
The best thing is that the leftovers are great the next day too.
Just store the leftover harissa chicken in the fridge. The cooked chicken will keep well for up to 3 days. It's great to eat cold in salads but you can also use it in other recipes. Why not put it in a frittata, a quesadilla or just a wrap or sandwich?
You don't have to do anything to the chicken. I often just reheat it in the microwave and eat it in exactly the same way as the day before! You can also reheat it in the oven. Just put it in an oven-proof dish and cover with foil. It'll take about 20 minutes to heat through thoroughly
Recipe
Harissa Chicken Traybake
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp harissa paste
- 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 kg chicken legs and thighs
- 1 aubergine Chopped into large chunks
- 1 red pepper Cut into thick slices
- 1 red onion Cut into 6 wedges
- 4 cloves of garlic in their skins
- 2 large carrots cut into quarters lengthwise
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C
- Mix the vinegar and harissa together in a large bowl. Add the chicken and turn over to coat well in the mixture. Leave to marinate if you have time.
- Add the vegetables to a large roasting pan or baking tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil and toss with your hands a little.
- Put the vegetables in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Put the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables in a single layer. Return to the oven for 30 minutes.
- Check that the chicken and vegetables are cooked through. If necessary return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes. If anything is looking too well cooked then cover the tray with aluminium foil to stop it browning any more.
Air Fryer Instructions
- Marinate the chicken in the harissa and vinegar.
- Toss the vegetables with a little oil.
- Put an air fryer liner or a piece of greaseproof paper in the bottom of the air fryer. Top with the vegetables and then the chicken.
- Air fry at 180℃ for 25 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the chicken over and move the vegetables around a little.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More easy one pot meals!
If you like easy one pot meals then why not check out one of these recipes:
And if you love harissa then I've got a harissa pizza, harissa carrot salad and a harissa pasta recipe that I'm sure you'll love!
Keep in touch
Do let me know if you make this harissa chicken traybake or any of my other recipes. I love to get feedback from readers.
You can also stay up to date by following on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Janice
This is exactly the kind of recipe that I love, simple and full of flavour.
Corina Blum
I'm so glad you like it Janice! It's one of my favourite easy recipes if I don't want to spend long preparing dinner.
Choclette
I'm all for one pot meals. In fact they form the majority of my cooking. Doesn't seem to free the sink much from washing up though - what am I doing wrong?
Corina Blum
I'm lazy and throw most things in the dishwasher these days!
Camilla Hawkins
This really does sound and look delicious, perfect for a mid-week meal!
Corina Blum
Thanks Camilla! It's one of my blog recipes that I make the most - It's a real favourite with the kids too.
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder
You've got to love traybake and these flavours are so up my street. I do like the sound of your little coriander side as well, perfect way for using it up especially if it's past its best! x
Corina Blum
Thanks Jo! I love traybakes although I tend to make the same ones all the time! This is a really easy one and everyone loves it so I do make it a lot although I vary the vegetables I put with it. x
Anna
I love harissa, and your traybake looks like one of these meals that takes no effort, but never fails to impress! Feeling so hungry right now!!!
Corina Blum
Thanks! It is one of those super easy meals that always tastes great!
Balvinder
This looks delicious and fabulous. Definitely will try.
Corina Blum
Thanks Balvinder! It's one of our regular meals so definitely worth trying.
Cat | Curly's Cooking
I love tray bakes and the flavours in this sound delicious. I love the idea of serving this with pitta - yum!
Corina Blum
Thanks Cat! We eat this all the time in all kinds of ways and often with different veggies too and yes, it is great in a pitta!
Jill's Mad About Macarons
This looks utterly delicious. Love the idea of an easy traybake - especially with the added spices, perfect for this time of year!
Corina Blum
Thanks Jill! This is one of the recipes I make all the time as it's so easy to prepare but tastes so good!
Jenna Barton
Harissa is a wonderful ingredient I used to buy a rose petal one all the time, must look for this again!
Corina Blum
I love harissa as it's so versatile and great in lots of recipes. I also love it stirred in a salad dressing!
Becky
I love the ease of a traybake and this looks scrummy - going to add it to my dinner to do list 🙂
Corina Blum
It's such an easy recipe and a regular one here too! I hope you like it. I often vary the vegetables depending on what we have in when I make it.
Ellie
This sounds and looks absolutely delicious! Yummed 🙂
Corina
Oh it was Ellie! So good that I made it again the next week and I'm sure I'll make it again soon too.
Emily
Traybakes are the best, this has so much flavour, love it!
Corina
Thanks Emily! It's already become a firm favourite here. I made it again yesterday and will be eating leftovers tonight!
Dahn
This sounds amazing and would be perfect entertaining food. I will have to try this, we have company coming over next weekend and I know this will be a hit
Corina
It's great for entertaining as you just put it in the oven! I hope your guests enjoy it as much as we did.
Shashi at Savory Spin
Simply delicious! I so love tray bakes - they are so easy1 I love what you did with this - so flavorful!
Corina
Thanks Shashi! It's so simple but really really tasty. I think it's going to become a regular meal over the next weeks.
Karman | The Nutrition Adventure
This sounds so flavorful, and so fast, too! What a great combination!
Corina
Thanks Karman! It is so full of flavour and super simple to prepare too. I'm definitely a fan of this style of cooking now.
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food
I adore traybakes: they're so easy to make and the results are nearly always gorgeous and delicious. I'm floored by the simplicity of the sauce in this bake! It sounds delicious. I have to admit: I've never cooked with harissa, so I'm excited to make this recipe for my first attempt!
Corina
I'm so pleased you like it and yes it is so simple that I actually made it again today but with different vegetables as I needed a meal I could make earlier in the day and then just reheat individual portions! Let me know if you manage to find some harissa to make it.
Aleka
I’ve never tried harissa but I ought to! Where can you find it in the grocer?? This sounds perfect with the vegetables and I’m always looking for new chicken spices!
Corina
I hope you manage to find some harissa! It comes in a jar and is usually just with the other spices and spice mixes in the supermarket.
Monika Dabrowski
This is a great traybake dinner idea! I couldn't come up with anything interesting so in the end decided to skip this month's challenge:(
Corina
Thanks Monika! I loved this so much that I made it again today but with different vegetables - butternut squash and cauliflower. I've been looking through the entries this month and got lots of inspiration too. I don't think I make traybakes enough considering how easy they are!
Jacqui
I love the sound of this onepot dish. I am a big fan of harrissa and chicken is always a good choice. Teamed with those lovely vegetable I am sure it going to taste great.
Corina
Thankss Jacqui! We really enjoyed it and I'm sure I'm going to be making lots more one pot meals over the coming weeks as well as recipes using harissa.
Patty
Mouthwatering recipe Corina, we love harissa and the flavorful heat it brings to the dishes. Great tip for the potato bake, thanks! 🙂
Corina
Thanks Patty! Harissa is such a good spice mix, isn't it? I love it stirred into salad dressings at the moment too.