Pre-Summer Feast: Just 5 ingredients. I make it when I want dinner handled hours ahead.

This is my go-to pre-summer feast when I want dinner totally handled hours before the evening chaos hits. It’s just 5 ingredients, all tossed into one baking dish, then the oven does the work while you go live your life. By the time everyone’s hungry, you’ve got an umami-rich, bubbling bake with a caramelized golden crust that looks way fancier than the effort it took. Think of it as a Midwest-style, sheet-pan-meets-casserole situation: chicken, veggies, and potatoes all soaking in garlicky, herby goodness. It’s cozy enough for a cooler spring night, but light and bright enough to feel like the start of summer.

Serve this straight from the baking dish with a big spoon for scooping up the caramelized bits from the corners. I like it with a simple green salad (bagged spring mix totally counts) and some crusty bread to mop up the garlicky, tomato-y juices. A crisp white wine, light beer, or sparkling water with lemon works really well alongside the rich, savory flavors. If you want to stretch it for more people, pile the chicken and veggies over buttered noodles, rice, or couscous so all that umami-rich sauce has something to soak into.

Servings: 4

2 lb bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 4–6 pieces)

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Grab a medium-to-large ceramic baking dish or a 9x13-inch casserole dish. You want everything in a snug single layer so the top can caramelize and turn golden.

Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels. This helps the skin crisp and brown instead of steaming. Set them aside for a minute while you prep the veggies.

Rinse the baby potatoes and cut them in half (or quarters if they’re on the bigger side) so they’re all roughly the same size. Rinse the cherry tomatoes and pat them dry so they roast instead of water-logging the dish.

In the baking dish, add the potatoes and cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle the dry garlic and herb seasoning mix evenly over the top. Toss everything right in the dish until all the veggies are well coated and glossy.

Nestle the chicken thighs on top of the potatoes and tomatoes, skin side up. Spoon a little of the seasoned oil from the bottom of the dish over each piece of chicken, making sure the skin is lightly coated. This will help it blister and turn that deep caramelized golden color.

Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes. This covered time lets the potatoes start to soften and the chicken cook through gently while all the flavors meld together.

After 30 minutes, remove the foil and baste the chicken with some of the pan juices using a spoon. Return the dish to the oven, uncovered, and bake for another 25–35 minutes, or until the chicken skin is deeply golden and crisp, the tomatoes are bubbling and jammy, and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

If you want extra caramelization on top, move the dish to the upper third of the oven and broil on high for 2–4 minutes, watching closely so the skin turns a deeper golden brown and the edges of the potatoes pick up some color without burning.

Let the dish rest on the counter for about 5–10 minutes before serving. This quick rest helps the juices settle back into the chicken so it stays moist and lets the bubbling sauce calm down a bit. Serve straight from the dish, making sure each plate gets some of the caramelized bits from the corners along with the chicken, potatoes, and tomatoes.

You can tweak this five-ingredient feast pretty easily without adding a lot of work. For a slightly different flavor, swap the garlic and herb seasoning mix for a lemon-pepper blend or a smoky grill seasoning, keeping the total ingredients to five. If you want more veggies, you can trade some of the potatoes for thick slices of zucchini or bell pepper; just keep the total amount of veg about the same so the pan doesn’t get overcrowded. To make cleanup even easier, line the baking dish with parchment before adding everything (just make sure it doesn’t touch the broiler if you use that step). For a lighter version, you can use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or drumsticks; adjust the cooking time as needed and check for doneness. If you prefer boneless, skinless chicken thighs, reduce the initial covered time to about 20 minutes and keep an eye on them so they don’t overcook, knowing you’ll lose some of that super-crispy skin effect but still get a nice golden top on the veggies. Food safety tips: Always wash your hands, cutting board, and knife thoroughly after handling raw chicken. Keep raw chicken separate from the potatoes and tomatoes until you’re ready to combine everything in the dish. Use a food thermometer if possible; chicken is safely cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part, not touching the bone. Don’t leave the finished dish at room temperature for more than 2 hours; refrigerate leftovers in shallow containers and reheat until hot and steaming all the way through before eating.