It’s no secret that we love a tray bake. It’s such an easy mid-week meal that doesn’t require attention – simply pop it in the oven and walk away. Chicken, eggplant, zucchini and capsicum are roasted in a middle-eastern inspired spice mix with baked feta, served with pitas and tzatziki.
This Week
2 Dec - 8 Dec
Middle Eastern Inspired Chicken Tray Bake with Warm Pitas and Tzatziki
- Under 1 hour
- 4
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Meal Prep Guide
Make the marinade for the chicken (store in an airtight container in the fridge).
NOTE – add the chicken to the marinade the morning of the night you’re cooking it so the chicken has all day to marinade.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
Method
- Add all of the ingredients to a small container and mix well to combine.
Tips
- Depending on the size of the chicken thighs or how big you chopped the vegetables you may need to remove the chicken after 35-40 minutes and let the vegetables cook for a little longer then add the chicken thighs back in for a few minutes at the end.
Shortcuts
Vegetables
- You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand – pumpkin and cauliflower both work well.
Protein
- For a vegetarian option, swap out the chicken for 400g tin of chickpeas – rinsed and drained, using the same marinade as the chicken.
- Alternatively you could swap out the feta for halloumi and turn it into a veggie, halloumi tray bake instead.
Other
- Swap out the pitas for a side of rice or you can add some baby potatoes to the tray bake.
Ingredients
Chicken marinade
- 600g chicken thighs
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
Tray bake
- 1 eggplant (cut into cubes)
- 3 zucchini (sliced)
- 2 red capsicums (cut into wedges)
- 1 red onion (cut into wedges)
- 100g feta (broken into chunks)
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Tzatziki
- ½ cucumber (grated and excess moisture squeezed out)
- ¼ cup mint (finely chopped)
- 1 cup Greek yoghurt
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 small garlic clove (crushed)
To serve
- 4-6 pita bread
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees fan bake.
- Add the chicken to a mixing bowl with all of the spices, olive oil and honey; toss well to coat.
- Add all of the vegetables to a large baking tray and drizzle generously with olive oil; toss well and season with salt and pepper.
- Nestle in the chicken thighs and pour the remaining marinade over the chicken and vegetables.
- Pop in the oven to cook for 40-45 minutes until the vegetables are golden brown and the chicken has cooked through.
- After about 25 minutes remove from the oven, turn over the chicken thighs so they can brown on both sides and then add the chunks of feta. Place back in the oven to cook for the remaining 15-20 minutes.
- To make the tzatziki, add all the ingredients (except the cucumber and the mint) into a medium bowl and mix well to combine. Add the cucumber and mint; gently stir and season with pepper.
- We like to warm the pitas in the oven for the last 5 minutes or so of the traybake’s cooking time.
- Serve the traybake alongside the pitas and tzatziki.
Variations
Vegetables
- You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand – pumpkin and cauliflower both work well.
Protein
- For a vegetarian option, swap out the chicken for 400g tin of chickpeas – rinsed and drained, using the same marinade as the chicken.
- Alternatively you could swap out the feta for halloumi and turn it into a veggie, halloumi tray bake instead.
Other
- Swap out the pitas for a side of rice or you can add some baby potatoes to the tray bake.
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