This prosciutto chicken tray bake recipe is an easy one pan dinner we used to make aaaall the time. Then I sort of forgot about it when we moved house and cities. Until recently when I made it again and WOW I had forgotten how incredible it is.
As we loved it so much I knew I needed to share the recipe with you all. Plus, it is naturally gluten free (and easily made dairy free) – a great one for everyone to enjoy. To make it dairy free, simply use a dairy free pesto.
Pesto-stuffed boneless chicken thighs wrapped in prosciutto on a bed of sweet potato, new potato, red pepper, onion, garlic and lemon. Served it up with some peas stirred through and it is a total delight of a meal!
During cooking, the flavours really marry together, so the resulting bake is absolutely delicious despite minimum effort. Squeeze the juice from that roasted lemon over the top, smoosh up the roasted garlic with your fork, stir it all through and enjoy.
This dish was originally inspired by my friend @bowltobelly. After seeing her create a similar recipe for her family, I knew I wanted to give it a go too and tweaked a few bits and pieces to suit what I had in my fridge at the time.
How Many People Does This Prosciutto Chicken Tray Bake Serve?
You can serve it as a standalone dish for 4 (or for 2 and you’ll have some tasty leftovers). Add a big salad on the side if you are serving it at a dinner party. Or some homemade garlic bread if you’ve especially hungry children (or grown ups) to feed. Or even a gluten free garlic pizza bread or focaccia.
Can I Switch the Peas for Another Veg?
Yes by all means. I often use fine green beans instead, popping them in for the last 10 minutes of oven roasting time.
Really go ahead and use any green veggie you like. Kale would be a nice addition, carrying the delicious flavours from the sauce (add for the last 5 minutes of roasting time). Or tenderstem broccoli, cooked similarly to the beans.
Do I Have to Use Chicken Thighs?
These definitely lend a lot more flavour to the dish and ensure lovely, succulent meat. However, chicken breast would work fine too, just check on it during cooking to ensure it does not dry out. It’s a leaner cut, so can get dry if you don’t keep an eye on it.
Pesto Prosciutto Chicken Tray Bake Recipe
This tray bake serves about 4 people, either with or without sides depending on your appetites. Make a call depending on how much your family/friends eat as to whether you need to add a side.
You could try a big salad, homemade garlic bread or even pizza bread to bulk it out.
If you are just two people or have smaller appetites, brace for amazing leftovers you can enjoy the next day! Or, simply halve the overall quantities.
You will find some handy pictures below, underneath the recipe. For any help along the way or if you have questions, please do message me on social media (@myglutenfreeguide) or email me at [email protected].
If you do enjoy this chicken tray bake recipe, please leave a review on the recipe card below. It makes a world of difference to me :). And you can also share photos of your home creations in my Cooking Club on Facebook.
Enjoy! Laura xxx
Pesto Prosciutto Chicken Tray Bake
This delicious chicken tray bake is great both as a midweek meal and as a dinner party dish. The flavours of lemon, garlic and pesto marry together to make this incredibly tasty and a real crowd pleaser. Plus it's naturally gluten free.
Ingredients
- 600g sweet potatoes
- 600g new potatoes
- 2 red peppers (Romano peppers are especially nice, but any red bell pepper will do)
- 2 large red onions
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1 large lemon/2 smaller lemons
- 160g frozen petit pois (garden peas also fine)
- 8 boneless chicken thigh fillets (approx 1kg)
- 8 tsp pesto
- 8 slices prosciutto or parma ham
Instructions
- Line a very large oven tray with non-stick paper or a silcone mat. Preheat the oven to 180C (fan).
- Peel the sweet potatoes and chop into bite-sized chunks. Chop the new potatoes into similar sized chunks (no need to peel these). Deseed the peppers and chop into chunks. Add all to the tray with a good glug of olive oil, mix with your hands to evenly coat the veg with the oil.
- Peel the red onions and chop into wedges. Leave the skin on the garlic cloves, but carefully slice the root-end (the flat bit) off each. Then nestle the onion wedges and garlic cloves inbetween the vegetables on the tray.
- Place in into the oven to roast for 30 minutes. While it's roasting, prepare the chicken.
- Lay a piece of prosciutto onto a board or plate, then unroll the thigh fillet and place on top - smooth side down. Add a level tsp of pesto to the chicken and spread it over the exposed side. Then roll it up so the pesto is in the centre and the prosciutto is on the outside (see images below).
- Repeat until all the chicken is wrapped and stuffed. Chop the lemon(s) into long wedges.
- Take the tray out of the oven, give everything a good mix around and turn the heat up to 200C (fan). Place the lemon wedges across the tray, then the chicken thighs on top. Then back into the oven to roast for 20 minutes.
- When the tray bake is almost ready, cook the frozen peas (I microwave them in water for about 5 minute,s until bright green). Then drain and set aside.
- When the tray bake has finished roasting, remove from the oven and scatter the peas onto the tray. Then serve!
To get the best flavours out of this tray bake, I serve the chicken pieces into plates. Then I squeeze the garlic out of the skins with a fork and mash, squeeze the lemon juice over the veggies and mix it all together. The flavours are incredible!
For more delicious dinner ideas, all of which happen to be gluten free, why not try some of these recipes:
Enjoy! Laura xxx
