Wash and pat dry the chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs. Keep them in a large mixing bowl and set aside while you prepare potatoes.
Wash the potatoes thoroughly. Then you can either peel them like I did or keep the skin on. I used small potatoes which I had just halved.
Now take a small mixing bowl and add all the other ingredients except garlic cloves. Mix together lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, Italian seasoning, red chilli flakes, salt and freshly crushed black pepper to taste.
Give a good whisk and create a thick homogeneous mixture. Take time to mix this so that olive oil and lemon juice amalgamate with each other.
Take the chicken and potatoes in the same large mixing bowl. Then drizzle the prepared olive oil lemon juice mixture on top.
Now either using your hands or using a spatula, start mixing the chicken and potatoes with the marinating mixture.
Take each chicken piece and massage it well so that the mixture penetrates inside the nooks and crannies of the drumsticks & thighs.
Coat each potato piece also with the marinating mixture. Once you are good with the mixing, leave them at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
When you are ready to roast, preheat your oven to 200 C / 400 F and set the oven rack at the center of the oven.
Now take your cast iron skillet and brush the surface with a light coating of olive oil.
Then first arrange the marinated chicken pieces on the cast iron skillet in a single layer.
Once all the chicken pieces are arranged, place the potatoes into the gaps between two chicken pieces.
Finally scatter the garlic cloves over the chicken and potatoes distributing them as evenly as possible.
Pour all the marinating liquid over the arranged chicken and potatoes as that carries most of the flavors.
Now place the cast iron skillet with chicken and potatoes inside the preheated oven keeping it on the middle rack.
Bake the chicken and potatoes for 35 to 40 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked through with internal temperature reaching to 165 F on an instant-read meat thermometer and potatoes become fork tender & crispy on the outside.*
Once done after about 40 minutes, take the skillet out from the oven and let the roasted chicken and potatoes rest for 10 minutes.
Finally, serve the delicious cast iron skillet roast chicken and potatoes warm with a side of fresh salad. Enjoy!
Notes
*Check the doneness of the chicken by cutting the thicker part of meat with the edge of a knife; if there are no traces of pink and juice runs clear, your chicken is cooked through.
Pro Tip: At half-way through the cooking time, take out the skillet once and baste the chicken pieces by spooning the cooking liquid from the skillet and drizzling it over the chicken drumsticks & thighs.
Recipe by Flavor Quotient at https://flavorquotient.com/2024/08/cast-iron-skillet-roast-chicken-and-potatoes-for-weightloss/