Got 5 minutes for dinner? Make this incredible baked chicken recipe! Crispy oven roasted chicken thighs and drumsticks that makes its own gravy in the same baking pan.
It’s the chicken version of this Sausage Bake with Gravy, a long time reader favourite. Minutes to prep, zero maintenance to cook. 100% delish!
Gravy Baked chicken recipe – make its own gravy!
This is another one* of those super speedy recipes that came about at the end of a long cook day when I had to use up ingredients before the expiry date but had zero energy to expend. It’s a dump-and-bake recipe, but entirely made from scratch – no canned soup shortcuts around here!
Chicken is coated in a simple spice mix for flavour (plus it makes the chicken crispy!) then it’s baked IN a flour/beef stock liquid that magically thickens into a gravy by the time the chicken is cooked.
Just LOOK at the gravy perfection!! ↑↓↑↓
* Sausage Bake, and the Ultra Lazy Series (Chicken Broccoli Pasta Bake, Chicken Rice Bake and speedy Corn Chowder) being to more such examples! Handy for busy midweek cooking. 🙂
What you need
Here’s what you need for this baked chicken. Very few ingredients, right?? Hard to believe it’s going to make something so delicious… but I promise it does! It’s all in the cooking logic. Read on!
How to make this baked chicken dinner
And here’s how it’s made:
The key to this recipe is how the “self saucing gravy” is made. You simply whisk together flour with beef stock/broth, then pour it around the chicken. As it bakes in the oven, 3 things happen:
The chicken flesh under the liquid stays moist and absorbs the stock flavour = tasty chicken flesh even without marinating;
The chicken leeches juices into the stock, adding even more flavour into what will end up as gravy; and
The flour in the broth makes it thicken into a gravy.
WARNING: When it comes out of the oven, you’ll be looking at a congealed mess in the pan instead of the silky gravy you see. Have faith! Just give it a good whisk and it comes together beautifully!
And here’s what you end up with – crispy chicken….
…. AND a gravy to douse everything on your plate!
And what did that take you to prepare? All of 5 minutes? If that!
Serve with anything your heart desires. Pictured at the top of the post with creamy mashed potato (possibly cauliflower – can’t remember if I was attempting low carb on that day) and a side of Rocket Salad with Balsamic Dressing.
And in the photo above, this crispy baked chicken is served with buttery Seasoned Rice (think Rice-a-roni, except homemade, excellent freezer standby) and steamed greens drizzled with the herb & garlic dressing from this Cucumber Salad.
But honestly? Chicken and gravy. It goes with anything (non Asian). You could even pull the meat off the bones, toss in the gravy then stuff it in bread rolls to make Chicken and Gravy Rolls. YES! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Gravy Baked Chicken (thighs & drumsticks) – 5 min prep!
Ingredients
- 1.25 kg/ 3 lb bone in, skin on chicken thighs and/or drumsticks (all of one, or mix, Note 1)
- 2 tsp olive oil (or other oil)
Chicken seasoning:
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp onion powder (or garlic powder)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Gravy:
- 4 tbsp flour , plain/all purpose (Note 2 for GF)
- 1 1/2 cups beef stock/broth (yes, beef, not chicken! Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
- Seasoning – mix in a small bowl.
- Season chicken – Place chicken in a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13" baking pan. Drizzle with oil then rub all over Sprinkle & rub in the Seasoning, using most on the skin side.
- Arrange chicken skin side up in the pan.
- Gravy mixture – Whisk flour with about 1/2 cup of stock until lump free, then whisk in remaining stock and pepper (forgot in video!). Pour into the pan around the chicken.
- Bake uncovered for 50 minutes, or until chicken is crispy and golden.
- Whisk gravy – Remove chicken onto a plate, then give the gravy a good whisk to make it smooth. Adjust Gravy thickness if required – Note 4. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed.
- Serve – Pour gravy into a jug. Serve alongside chicken!
Recipe Notes:
- Seasoned Rice (excellent freezer standby to serve with everything)
- steamed veg tossed with the Herb & Garlic dressing from this Cucumber Salad
- creamy mashed potato (or cauliflower for low carb)
- Rocket/Arugula salad with balsamic dressing (super speedy, no chop salad)
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
It would be kind of cute that he stands there for ages with his head pushed through the dog door….except it’s winter here, and ice cold air is blasting into the house through that considerably large hole…😖
I have to commend you on this recipe along with the seasoned rice. This was absolutely spot on and the flavor was next level. Thank you and thank you
WOOT! Thanks so much Jacques!! N X
Delicious as always! I made this with rice (using your no fail recipe which was perfect). It was absolutely delicious and ridiculously easy. My daughter is leaving home this month and a whole load of the ‘Mom’s’ recipes she is taking with her will be your recipes. Thank you for a wonderful blog and the best recipes – my recipe books are all gathering dust on the shelf!
I always buy chicken in bulk It says to cook in frozen state & just to cooking time
Dear Nagi, easy, delicious, and fantastic all-around recipe yet again! This made a great weeknight dinner. You are a true humanitarian in my book! Thank you for sharing your passion, talent, and hard work. You are achieving something quite rare and very special: a positive influence in your local community and a global culinary reach! Your diverse collection of recipes is thoughtfully curated, thoroughly tested, clearly written, and widely accessible to home cooks of a wide range of ability and financial means. Many stars, coming from quite a picky home cook and eater! Love your posts on Dozer as well! 🙂
Oh my gosh!! What a great recipe. The gravy turned out perfectly- no extra work required. I over seasoned it a bit, but that was my fault! I put the leftover thighs over mashed potatos. Totally yummy! Next time I will just make some broccoli or a different veggie to serve with it. Winner…winner…chicken dinner!! Thank you so much for this great recipe 🙂
I made this last night. It was fantastic. I only used thigh cutlets which were great. I also made the gravy with GF flour using the same method and it was delicious. I’m not a fan of gravy usually, so I’m super impressed. Served it with the buttery seasoned rice and some Tuscan Kale chips. Thank you!
Thank you again for a WONDERFUL EASY recipe. My family loved it!!! Keep the simple easy recipes coming. I promise to make them all- lol.
First time making this – was unsure how it would turn out but it went down a treat and all plates were emptied
WOOOT! Sounds like you nailed it Helen!!! N x
Nagi this was AMAZING! Its up there as one of my favourites of all your recipes. I served with creamy mash, green vege & air fried cauliflower. So good. I’m so full 🙂
WOOT!! That’s awesome Rebecca! N x
Question: when you oil the chicken pieces did you also oil the skin side? The skin came out a little dry that’s why I asked. (could be user error lol)
Also, if you really want to get decadent with this recipe – I added 1/3 c butter sauteed sliced portabello mushrooms and 1/6 c of half and half. I added these right before I put the gravy back in the oven for the 5 mins.
Anyway, looking forward to trying more of your recipes!!!!
Tried it today, oh it’s soo yummy, divine taste. Dozer is utterly cute😊🤪
hello Nagi
i made this for our Sunday lunch . Thank you so much my all family was excited about this Amazing recipe .as we are in lock down I served it with a Quinoa salad . This was Delicious and easy
Thank you
I’m so glad it was a hit Kaswing, that’s great to hear! N x
This was a super easy recipe and the taste of the gravy was outstanding. A big hit with your creamy mashed potatoes. Thanks for the great recipe idea as well as all of your other recipes that make me look like a great chef!
Perfect Diane! N x
Excellent. Saved. The only way to make roast chicken.
Omg, I have wanted to leave comments to you on other recipes but for some reason they never went through. Anyway, why are you SO amazing? ALL of your recipes are wonderful.
I just made this for dinner and I didn’t have much time for prep, so this was perfect! To say my family enjoyed the meal is an understatement! I got so many compliments from the fussiest of eaters.
From the bottom of my heart, I am so thankful and grateful to you. You are such a talented cook.
This was so delicious and easy. It really only took me 5 minutes to get it into the oven. The gravy was perfect and the chicken was tender and juicy. I served it with mashed potatoes and roasted green beans. I had some chicken thighs I had to use up. I will definitely make this again. The gravy tasted like Thanksgiving gravy to me and was almost no effort to make. Another winner! Thanks, Nagi for a great back pocket recipe. It was so effortless I got to play a little Animal Crossing while it was baking in the oven 🙂
I made this exceptional dish for my husband. It looked way to delicious to pass up (I’m a gravy and meat lover) and was so easy to make. He wrinkled his nose when I told him what was for dinner (he only eats skinless chicken breast and absolutely abhors gravy). I wanted to make dinner for a change since he does most of the cooking. He’s also very healthy and picky, it’s like being married to a model sometimes, where I’m the one with the meat and potatoes appetite – and he just wants salad, or forgets to eat. That will never happen to me. That all said, he was visibly upset by the mashed potatoes with gravy, and the beautifully seasoned chicken thigh on his plate. He cautiously cut into the first bite … and then his eyes lit up! He looked so surprised and kept complimenting me; he even went back for seconds, including pouring gravy all over the chicken! 🤣 Needless to say, I wanted to share how this recipe was so incredible and delicious, that it is now a regular on our future dinner rotation. And I have, with your help Nagy, converted him to the wonders of chicken thighs and gravy. Lol! Thanks Nagi!
This was so delicious and easy. The chicken came out so moist, juicy and flavorful and the gravy was delicious. I used boneless/skinless thighs and the gravy was still very flavorful. I also used garlic AND onion powder. Thanks for the great recipe!
Janet did you back at the same temp?
Yes
Great recipe for busy people!
Also your no yeast pizza is fantastic for getting a quick lunch. I started to use the food processor to do the dough but have found mixing by hand and kneading for 3mins just as quick and one less thing to washup.Pizzas are really nice and takes less time than having it delivered from a Pizza place.
Wahoo!!! That’s perfect AJ! N x
I have been cooking nonstop since the lockdown – March 13. We are still eating every meal at home. I want to thank you for the fast recipes. This was again amazing. I used an immersion blender to mix the gravy. Going to save it to make poutine (a quebec specialty) thanks again for all you do
Yum!!! Lovely idea Suzy! N x