All-inclusive dinner recipes are a beautiful thing! Meal planning is so much easier when you don’t have to choose a main and a side–it’s already done for you. I’m also a sucker for lemon chicken, so this Lemon Chicken and Potatoes in Foil recipe went onto my must-try list.
This post was originally published on October 9, 2017. The text and photos were updated on August 31, 2021. The review and rating have not been changed.
The most amazingly moist and tender chicken breasts cooked in foil packets – so easy and packed with tons of flavor!
The Ingredients
This is another recipe with easy-to-find ingredients, and nothing was unusually expensive. The mustards, spices, lemon, and olive oil were all on hand, so I just had to pick up the chicken, potatoes, and parsley. I love those short grocery lists!
I couldn’t find baby red potatoes the first time I made this recipe. Instead, I went with regular red potatoes and halved them. The potatoes seemed small to me, but they weren’t small enough to cook through.
I have made this recipe many times over the years, and I have found the baby potatoes listed in the ingredients do indeed work best. Two-bite red potatoes were made for this recipe, and they cook through every time.
If you can’t find them, you need to at least quarter the potatoes you end up using. Think bite-sized pieces (about the size of the tip of our thumb or a quarter).
The Process
The time listed for this recipe was pretty accurate. It listed 40 minutes total, and I had my lemon chicken and potatoes ready in 43 minutes. Not bad for a weeknight meal.
The only thing I changed is Steps 3-4. I find it easier to toss the potatoes and olive oil in a mixing bowl instead of on the foil. It also seems to coat the potatoes more evenly.
I also do something similar with the mustard sauce for the chicken. I toss each chicken breast in the same mixing bowl I use to make the sauce, then I place them onto the potatoes in each foil packet.
And about the potatoes… As I mentioned in the previous section, the first time I made this recipe they cooked unevenly. Some were underdone even though I baked everything for the maximum time of 30 minutes). Not inedible, but they were firmer than I like. The chicken was perfect, so I’m hesitant to increase the cooking time.
Update 12/27/17
I have tried this recipe since my original post, and I think I’ve perfected my technique. The potatoes were very tender when I quartered them. I also placed the lemon slices on the potatoes but under the chicken. Both benefitted from the extra lemon flavor.
