Cajun Chicken Traybake

As the traybake cooks, the Cajun seasoning blends with the natural juices of the chicken a vegetables, creating a deeply flavourful and slightly smoky finish.

The addition of fresh lemon and garlic adds brightness, balancing the warmth of the spices and bringing everything together. Plus, this recipe is easy to adapt with whatever vegetables you have on hand.

Recipe ingredients

Find the full list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card below.

• Chicken - I used chicken breast in this recipe, cutting the chicken into chunks.
• Chorizo - for flavour I add some cooking chorizo to this dish.
• Potatoes - I like to roast some baby potatoes along with the other veggies, making this a balanced meal in one tray.
• Vegetables - this is a versatile recipe, so you can add any veggies you want. I've opted for any colour bell pepper, courgettes, red onions and baby tomatoes.
• Garlic - for the best flavour I add fresh whole cloves of garlic with the skin on. Leaving the skin on stops the garlic from burning. It becomes lovely and soft and is easily squeezed out of the skin once cooked and stirred through the rest of the veggies.
• Lemon - fresh lemon wedges as a lovely citrus flavour to the traybake.
• Oil - I use nutty olive oil to coat the veggies and also in the chicken marinade.
• Seasoning - I use smoked paprika to flavour the veggies, and Cajun seasoning in the chicken marinade. I also add sea salt and black pepper to both the chicken and the vegetables.

How to make chicken traybake

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180CFan/390F.
• Place the marinade ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine.
• Now add the chicken into the bowl, stir well to thoroughly coat the chicken pieces, adding a little more oil if required. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and place in the fridge to marinate while you prepare and part roast the vegetables.

• Place the chorizo, lemon and all the vegetables (but NOT the tomatoes) into a high sided baking tray. Drizzle over the olive oil and add the paprika, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine all the ingredients.
• Place the tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the tray from the pan, give the vegetables a stir and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes.
• Remove the tray from the oven, give the vegetables one final stir and place the pieces of chicken on top. Drizzle any excess marinade over the chicken pieces, and season the chicken with a little salt. Return to the oven for a 10 minutes.
• Now remove the tray from the oven but this time do not stir anything, simply add the baby plum tomatoes to the tray and return to the oven for a final 10 minutes.
• The dish is ready to serve when the chicken is cooked through. Remove the tray from the oven and serve immediately.

Recipe variations

• Chicken - I have used chicken breast in this recipe, but it works just as well with chicken legs, thighs or drumsticks. Just adjust cooking times depending on the cut of chicken being used, eg bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs will require a longer cook than thinner strips of chicken breast meat.
• Other meat - substitute with other meat, try sausages, pork or lamb chops.
• Vegan - leave out the chicken and chorizo, and spice up some cauliflower or butternut squash instead, or swap for plant based sausages.
• Vegetables - use any variety of vegetables, try aubergine (eggplant), sweet potato, squash, carrots, beetroot, green beans, cauliflower or broccoli.
• Herbs - use any variety of herbs, try dried oregano, or fresh basil, parsley, rosemary, or thyme.

Serving suggestions

This is an entire meal in one tray, so I don't tend to add any additional sides. However, I do sometimes serve the chicken and veggies with flour tortillas or toasted pittas, alongside some fresh salsas like my fresh Tomato Salsa or Corn Salsa so everyone can make their own wraps.

Useful hints and tips

1. Marinating the chicken: You can marinade the chicken for 40 minutes while the vegetables roast in the oven, or 2-4 hours if time allows. This is optional.
2. DO NOT add salt to the chicken marinade as this will draw the moisture from the chicken. You can add a little salt if you wish, just before adding the chicken to the roasting pan.
3. If doubling up the recipe I suggest using 2 trays as you don't want overload the tray or the vegetables will steam rather than roast.
4. Allergy advice: gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soya free and nut free. For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.

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Additional recipe suggestions

If you like this recipe then try these easy dinners:

• Sausage Casserole with Beans & Kale
• Spicy Baked Chicken Wings
• Lemon & Paprika Chicken Kebabs
• Creamy Tarragon Chicken with Asparagus
• Twice Baked Potatoes
• Easy Chicken Tacos
• Simple Devilled Mackerel

Looking for inspiration for feeding the family mid week, then take a look at my Ultimate Guide to Family Dinners. Full of useful hints, tips and recipes.