These Simple Oven Baked Hen are a weeknight staple in my dwelling. It’s a kind of dishes that require little or no to no advance preparation whereas offering a nutritious meal full of protein, fibre, fats and flavour. I make it in my oven however an air fryer would additionally do the job properly.

How one can make Simple Oven Baked Hen

The hen: Use a whole leg of a hen, that features the thigh and drumstick, per individual. You would make this dish with simply drumsticks or hen thighs.  I want and advocate leaving the pores and skin on, which retains the meat moist and turns into deliciously golden and crispy. It’s most likely my most favorite a part of the dish. Hen pores and skin is stuffed with collagen, good for bone, hair and pores and skin well being.

The greens: Select a number of 2 or 3 in-season greens that can hold-up nicely to roasting within the oven. So carrots, candy potatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, entire inexperienced beans, zucchini, pink and yellow peppers, pumpkin, all work superbly. Go together with what you want; simply be sure that you narrow them into pretty thick batons. This manner,  the veggies will roast and hold their form. No one likes consuming mushy veg.

The marinade: Make a easy seasoning or marinade of floor spices and dried herbs akin to paprika, black pepper, chilli powder, thyme, oregano or a blended herbs together with a few grated garlic, salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Use the again of a teaspoon or your index finger (with quick nails) to softly separate the pores and skin from the meat with out displacing or tearing the pores and skin. Rub a number of the marinade as far beneath the pores and skin as doable and on the underside (skinless facet) of the thigh and marinade the hen for 30 minutes, and even longer within the fridge. Reserve a number of the seasoning to toss the greens in earlier than baking.

Baking: I organize the hen in particular person serving dishes nevertheless it’s superb to place them in a single, giant, rectangular baking dish. Nestle the greens across the hen and be beneficiant, as a result of they are going to shrink as they launch moisture throughout baking. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 220℃, until the hen and veggies are superbly golden and cooked by means of. You probably have a meals thermometer, the interior temperature of the hen ought to be 74℃. 

And that’s just about all there may be to this Simple Oven Baked Hen recipe. It’s fast, fuss-free cooking at its finest. I might go as far as to say that even if you’re entertaining, these Simple Oven Baked Hen will impress your visitors if simply jazz up the dish with a bigger number of greens and baste the completed dish with somewhat butter in the course of the closing 5 minutes of cooking for that additional shiny pores and skin. Serve it with crusty bread or it by itself, and it’ll be simply as scrumptious.

Simple Oven Baked Hen

A straightforward, oven-baked meal of juicy hen legs and greens

Servings 2

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook dinner Time 30 minutes minutes

Marination time 2 hours hrs

Components  

• 2 entire hen legs (thigh+drumstick), pores and skin on
• 1 zucchini, reduce into batons
• 2 carrots, reduce into batons

For the marinade

• 2 cloves of garlic, grated
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp chilli powder or chilli flakes
• ¼ tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp black pepper powder
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt
• olive oil

Directions 

• Whisk collectively all of the elements for the marinade in a bowl.

• Gently loosen the pores and skin of the hen utilizing the again of a teaspoon or your index finger, taking care to not tear the pores and skin. Rub a number of the marinade beneath the pores and skin and a few over. Reserve the remaining. Marinate the hen for at the least 30 min or as much as in a single day within the fridge.

• Preheat the oven to 220℃. Place the hen legs, pores and skin facet up, in 2 oven-safe baking dishes. Toss the greens within the remaining marinade and organize across the hen.

• Bake the hen for 25-Half-hour till the pores and skin is golden and and the interior temperature is 74℃. The greens also needs to be evenly golden and cooked by then. Serve heat.