Skillet Chicken and Potatoes ~ Fast and Inexpensive!

Ingredients needed to prepare this recipe

• Chicken thighs. I like to use chicken thighs in this recipe because dark meat is much harder to overcook than white meat. In other words, it's less fussy, and I'm all about it. And also, I prefer the flavor of dark meat. If you prefer white meat, then by all means, use chicken breasts or chicken breast tenders.
• Sumac. This is one of those spices that not everyone has in their spice cabinet, or has even heard of. I would like to change this because it's one of the most delicious, all-purpose spices I know. It has a tart, lemony flavor that's delicious on meat, poultry, and vegetables, in marinades and salad dressings, even in cocktails and desserts. It's also a relatively inexpensive spice, so if you don't have a jar already, it's worth the small investment. Not all grocery stores cary it (in the U.S. at least), but it's easy to order online. The brand currently in my kitchen is Ziyad. I purchased a 5.5 ounce jar at Meijer in Michigan for about $4.
• Salt and pepper. Use as much or as little as you like.
• Butter and oil. I love the flavor that butter gives this dish, but it also burns easily. Adding some oil prevents the butter from burning while the chicken and potatoes cook. Win, win!
• Potatoes. My favorite kind of potato is Yukon gold so that's what I used here. But, any variety of potato will work perfectly well in this dish.
• Olives. I used a jar of pre-sliced kalamata olives, but use any variety of olives you like.
• A few cloves of garlic and a small or medium size onion. If you, or someone you are cooking for, is sensitive to vegetables from the allium family, you can just leave these out use some chopped fennel instead.
• Fresh Italian flat leaf parsley. How much parsley you use and whether you use any at all at all is entirely up to you. If you're not crazy about parsley, leave it out or swap in a different chopped fresh herb.

Additions and substitutions

• If you prefer white meat, swap the chicken thighs out for boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders. Since chicken tenders are already cut into strips, there will be no need to cut them again.
• Swap out the olives with capers, artichoke hearts, banana peppers, or sun dried tomatoes.
• Add some extra veggies! It's hard to imagine a vegetable that wouldn't be good in this dish. The main thing to think about is the cook time for whatever vegetable you'd like to use. Bell peppers, green beans, chopped cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower can be cut into small-ish pieces and added to the pan along with the garlic an onion. If you want to add mushrooms, I'd suggest cooking them in a separate skillet, with butter and oil, until caramelized. Add them to the pan with the olives and potatoes.
• Spices that can be used instead of sumac: Any Mediterranean, poultry or Italian blend, or lemon pepper. Sumac has a citrusy flavor, so if you're not using it, consider adding some some lemon zest.

Step-by-step photos and instructions

Cut the potatoes into large bite-size chunks. Peeling them or not is completely up to you. The skin on Yukon gold potatoes is very thin, so I opted to not peel them.

Place the potatoes in a medium size saucepan and add enough water to cover them comfortably. Add enough salt to make the water taste salty and then set the pan over medium high heat. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the temperature to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook the potatoes until they are fork tender but not mushy or falling apart.

While the potatoes boil, cut the chicken into pieces that are about 3-inches long. Blot away excess moisture with a paper towel then sprinkle both sides of the pieces with sumac, salt, and pepper.

Cut the onion in half, then cut each half into thin slices.

Peel the cloves of garlic and then chop them into large-ish pieces.

Cook the chicken in some butter and oil in a hot skillet until brown on each side.

Add the garlic and onions to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through. 

Add the potatoes and olives to the skillet and cook for a couple of minutes longer.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley if you like and dig in.

Serving suggestions

When I made this dish to take the photos you see here, I was also testing a recipe for cinnamon biscuits. This was a very happy coincidence because cinnamon biscuits make a delicious side dish for skillet chicken and potatoes.

If you want something a bit less sweet, opt for these flaky buttermilk biscuits instead. Or, if you have a bit more time, these homemade dinner rolls are the best ever and go with everything.

If you'd like to serve this with a salad or some veggies, here are 4 excellent suggestions:

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to leave a comment and rate it!