Tray Baked Chicken Thighs

Published: Apr 15, 2025 · Modified: Jul 23, 2025 by Nicole Kendrick · This post may contain affiliate links · 82 Comments

These tray baked chicken thighs are so easy and so delicious. Tender, juicy chicken thighs are baked with a zesty, tangy Dijon Mediterranean sauce and mini sweet peppers until the veggies are tender, and the chicken is fall tender and juicy. Hungry yet?!

Plateful of chicken thighs and vegetables.

Quick Look: Tray Baked Chicken Thighs

⏱ Prep Time: 10 minutes
🐔 Marinating Time: 30 minutes
🔥 Cook Time: 20 minutes
⏳ Total Time: 1 hour
🍲 Serving: 6 servings
⚡ Calories: 178 calories per serving
🍂 Flavor Profile: Simple pepper chicken with a hint of fresh lemon
👌 Difficulty: Easy - juicy, flavorful chicken that makes meal prep easy!

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Chicken is always a great choice for a family dinner, and when the recipe is super-easy, that's even better. We love preparing flavorful, simple chicken dishes like baked chipotle chicken and air fryer boneless chicken bites for meals because they make a satisfying dinner without making a ton of work.

This chicken tray bake recipe is another delicious entry into our collection of simple, tasty chicken dinner recipes. It requires very little prep and a little time in the oven. After that, just pair it with your favorite sides like these dairy-free corn muffins, and you've got a seriously delicious meal on your hands!

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Quick Look: Tray Baked Chicken Thighs
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Flavor Variations
Instructions
Expert Tips
Pairing Suggestions
FAQ
Tray Baked Chicken Thighs
💬 Comments

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Limited Ingredients: You'll only need chicken thighs, peppers, olives, and some seasonings to make this delicious chicken recipe.
Easy: Like our air fryer Mediterranean vegetables, this sheet pan chicken is a super easy recipe that even beginners can make with no problems.
Flavorful: The tender, juicy chicken, peppers, olives, and tangy marinade create an explosion of flavor in every bite.
Healthy: The marinade for this chicken is light and olive oil-based, so the whole thing is loaded with healthy protein and fat, along with the delicious flavors and health benefits of the vegetables.

Ingredients

Marinade

Olive Oil: A combination of olive oil and lemon olive oil is the flavorful vehicle for the seasonings in the marinade. We prefer Costabile oil oil for its quality and purity.
Lemon Juice: Lemon juice adds more citrus flavor, and its acidity tenderizes the chicken.
Dijon Mustard: Dijon mustard adds a deep, complex flavor to the marinade.
Seasonings: A bold blend of parsley, oregano, zaatar, and thyme creates a complex flavor profile with floral, lemony, nutty notes.

Tray Bake Chicken

Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs: Chicken thighs are juicy and have a rich flavor that's perfect with the marinade. We prefer Springer Mountain Farms chicken thighs because they never use hormones or antibiotics or animal by-products in their feed.
Greek Olives: Greek olives give the dish a kick of briny, tart flavor.
Mini Sweet Peppers: Sliced mini sweet peppers add bright, sweet flavor that balances the rest of the savory ingredients in the dish.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact amounts.

Flavor Variations

Chicken: This meal can be made with chicken thighs or breasts.
Spicy: Add red pepper flakes to the marinade for a spicy kick.
Vegetables: Any of your favorite vegetables will work for this recipe. Just be sure they're all cut to uniform size. Try red onion, cherry tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, or any others you enjoy.
No Olives: If you don't like olives, just leave them out. We like that briny kick, but we know some people don't. It's totally optional!
Crispy: If you love crispy chicken skin, use skin-on breasts for a juicy, tender inside and golden, crispy exterior.
Lemon Garlic: Adding a little lemon garlic gives the marinade even more flavor.

Instructions

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well.
Add the chicken thighs to a large bowl and pour ⅔ of the marinade over them. Marinate them for at least 30 minutes to overnight.
Add the olives and peppers to a large baking tray and pour the reserved marinade over them. Then, place the chicken on top of the vegetables.
Bake at 400 until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Then, brush some of the juices on top of the chicken and pop it under a broiler for 3 to 5 minutes to get a little color. Enjoy!

Expert Tips

Always use boneless chicken for sheet pan meals. Bone-in chicken takes too long and the vegetables will get far too soft by the time the chicken is finished.
A short marinade time will add lovely flavor, while a longer marinade time will impart more flavor and tenderize the chicken more.
Never marinate your chicken for longer than 24 hours or it will get mealy.
Should you choose to add other vegetables, be sure they're cut into uniform sizes so everything cooks at approximately the same speed.

Pairing Suggestions

These tray baked chicken thighs are perfect with white or brown rice, pasta, or the potatoes of your choice. These keto air fryer mushrooms are also a lovely pairing.

Garlic bread and some steamed vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower are also a delicious combination.

Serve this blueberry gluten free muffins recipe for a nice dessert afterward.

Overhead shot of plateful of chicken thighs with vegetables.

FAQ

Can you use chicken breasts and thighs interchangeably?

In most cases, yes. They cook at about the same speed, so they can be used interchangeably in most recipes.

How do you know when chicken thighs are cooked?

The only completely accurate way to know if your chicken thighs are cooked is to use a meat thermometer. Once the temperature reaches 165 degrees, they're fully cooked.

What vegetables can be used in sheet pan dinners?

Onions, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, or almost any other vegetable can be used in sheet pan meals so long as they're cut to uniform sizes.