Jamie Oliver said his Cajun chicken traybake is a “one-pan wonder” that has “heaps of flavour” – and the recipe is easy to follow.
“It couldn’t be easier to make this vegetarian,” said Jamie Oliver of his chicken traybake, but the dish is so versatile that you can put in different veggies than originally listed.
In the ingredients list, there is sweet onions and peppers to go with fluffy rice and yoghurt. “Feel free to swap the peppers for whatever vegetables you have knocking around – think leeks, broccoli florets or slices of courgette,” said the British cook.
If you have up to four mouths to feed and you want to make something simple to do, then trying out Jamie Oliver’s recipe is worthwhile.
Even the chef said it’s a “great principle recipe to have up your sleeve” for any occasion, so here’s how to make it.
Cajun chicken traybake
Ingredients
- Two red onions
- Three mixed-colour peppers
- Four chicken legs, skin on, bone-in
- One tablespoon of Cajun seasoning
- Four cloves of garlic
- Olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- One mug of basmati rice (300g)
- Four tablespoons natural yoghurt
- Optional: extra virgin olive oil
Method
The preparation usually takes about seven minutes, which involves preheating the oven, peeling and chopping onions and peppers, and adding the spice mix.
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Peel and halve the onions. Tear up the peppers into big chunks, discarding the seeds and stalks.
2. Place it all in a 35cm x 25cm roasting tray with the chicken, Cajun seasoning and whole unpeeled garlic cloves.
3. Drizzle with one tablespoon each of olive oil and red wine vinegar, season with black pepper and toss well, turning the chicken skin side up. Roast for 40 minutes.
4. Once roasted for 40 minutes, the next step is to boil the kettle. Remove the tray from the oven and mash the soft garlic cloves into the tray juices, discarding the skins.
5. Around the chicken, pour in one mug of rice and two mugs of boiling kettle water (600ml).
6. Carefully cover with tin foil and return to the oven for 20 minutes, or until the rice is fluffy and the chicken pulls easily away from the bone.
7. Season to your liking, then serve with dollops of yoghurt, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, if you like.
If you’re going to turn the chicken tray bake into a veggie bake, one of the best vegetables to replace chicken with is butternut squash or aubergine, which should be cut into nice big chunks.
As for the recipe method, when making it vegetarian, the meal can be made in exactly the same way with the aubergine, for example.
