You will love this roasted cinnamon chicken and sweet potatoes! Roasting a whole chicken with chunky sweet potatoes in olive oil is a simple and delicious way to create an effortless dinner that will impress your family and guests. The simple but flavorful cinnamon-cumin seasoning creates a mouth-watering aroma that will fill your house with the cozy scent of Thanksgiving day.
If you love this roasted cinnamon chicken, you will also love the Roasted Turkey Thighs With Dates And Prunes, Buttermilk Chicken Thighs With Lemon Garlic Orzo or Classic Greek Lemon Chicken And Potatoes!
Why this recipe sings
It is a super easy-no-fuss recipe that tastes delicious! You can also use Cornish hens instead of a whole chicken, one for each portion. Season the poultry, add a generous portion of olive oil all over and sprinkle lots of cinnamon and some cumin. Roast the chicken the way you usually do, and voila! A really lovely meal that will wow everyone at your table without too much effort.
We sometimes cook this in the middle of summer just to feel like the holiday season in July! This cinnamon chicken is a hearty dinner perfect for Sunday lunch or even for Thanksgiving day. It is budget-friendly and makes great leftovers.
Here is what you need
- Chicken. You can roast a whole chicken or cut up breasts, thighs and legs, for this recipe. I recommend keeping the skin for more flavor. Adjust baking time accordingly. Keep an eye on the chicken and don’t over-roast.
- Sweet potatoes. Substitute with garnet potatoes/finger yams. See recipe notes.
- Extra virgin olive oil.
- Cinnamon and cumin. You can substitute coriander for cumin or omit it from the recipe if unavailable.
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
How to make it
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Rub the chicken all over with half of the olive oil and season with sea salt, cinnamon and cumin. Get into every nook and cranny with the spices and oil. Don’t forget to season the cavity with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine.
Cut the sweet potatoes into one-and-a-half-inch pieces and place them in a bowl.
Pour the rest of the olive oil all over and sprinkle cinnamon all over the sweet potatoes. Add one teaspoon of ground cumin and a generous pinch of sea salt and mix.
Place the chicken and potatoes in a roasting pan. You need enough sweet potatoes to fit snuggly together around your chicken.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place it in the oven.
Roast covered for 60 minutes, remove foil, and roast for another 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.
What to serve with this cinnamon chicken
For simple sides, a traditional Greek lettuce salad-maroulosalata or horta-Greek boiled greens for a simple yet delicious dinner. Create a festive family-style meal, put fabulous kalitsounia-Cretan savory hand pies, marinated olives with feta, warm bread, and tasty dolmadakia on the dinner table. Finish dinner with Greek coffee and a sweet and savory cheese phyllo pastry from Chania.
Check out my Greek pantry staples
Cooked this? Rate this recipe! You can also leave a comment below. I love hearing from you!
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Cinnamon Chicken & Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 whole roasting chicken
- 3-4 sweet potatoes Depending on the size. You need enough potatoes to fit snuggly around the chicken.
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/ 390°C.
- Rub the outside of the chicken with half of the olive oil and season with one teaspoon of sea salt, two tablespoons of ground cinnamon and one teaspoon of cumin—massage chicken in every nook and cranny with olive oil and seasonings. Season the chicken cavity with a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine.
- Cut the sweet potatoes into 1 ½ pieces approximately. Place them in a bowl and season with one tablespoon of cinnamon and half a teaspoon of ground cumin. Pour the rest of the olive oil all over the sweet potatoes and toss.
- Place chicken and sweet potatoes into a roasting pan. You need enough sweet potatoes to fit snuggly together around your chicken.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place it in the oven. Roast covered for 60 min, than remove foil and roast for 45 min of until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Skin should be nice and crisp and sweet potatoes soft and buttery.
Notes
- You can use a whole cut-up chicken, chicken breasts, or thighs for this recipe. Adjust baking time accordingly.
- For example, if you are using skinless, boneless chicken thighs most probably they will be done ahead of the sweet potatoes. Remove chicken from the pan and continue roasting the sweet potatoes. The same goes if you are using breasts. Keep an eye on the chicken, and don’t over roast.
- You can substitute coriander for cumin or omit it from the recipe if not available.
- Sweet potatoes. Substitute with garnet potatoes/finger yams. Garnet potatoes are also called garnet sweet potatoes. They have a long, thin shape and orange flesh. Also, they are not as sweet as white sweet potatoes. Cooking time is similar.
Nutrition
I am so trying this! I have never thought about mixing cinnamon and chicken before, but this sounds so good!
It makes the house smell like Thanksgiving! Hope you will like it Dave! Thanks so much!
Can this be made in a crock pot?
Hi Toby,
Sure I don’t see why not! I bet it would be great in a crockpot. I would season as directed, add just a little broth, and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
x Jenny
I made this last night using chicken breasts, as opposed to a whole chicken (my wife has not been able to eat chicken on the bone since her last pregnancy for some reason) and it came out great! I was sort of concerned about the flavor (because of so few ingredients) but it came out great! Easy prep, simple ingredients…I will definitely be making this again!
That’s so good to hear Dave! I do the same sometimes, I just throw in skinless boneless thighs or chicken breasts with the sweet potatoes and it works every time. Thank you! x Jenny
I don’t know why I’ve never thought to use cinnamon in more savory dishes, but it totally makes sense.
The cinnamon went so perfect with the chicken- who would have known?! I’m so happy I tried this recipe. I can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch and dinner today. Thank you! 🙂
I just had to make this with it being the first official week of fall, and it turned out beautifully! I love the cozy vibes the cinnamon added — total perfect fall comfort food!
Wow this is such an interesting recipe. I’ve never used cinnamon with chicken but am dying to try it now! It looks great!
MMMM this is a definite Fall comfort food! The warm notes of cinnamon roasted on this chicken are outstanding! It’s total comfort food for sure! Thank you so much for sharing
Thank you so much Lori!
I can smell it! What an interesting recipe with cinnamon. Very creative. I will try this soon for my family
Thanks so much Kushigalu!
I think it’s a great idea to use sweet potatoes with roasted chicken, instead of regular potatoes. It must smell amazing with cinnamon and cumin!
It does smell amazing! Thanks so much Veronika!
What a beautiful recipe. I initially was nervous but reading through this it looks pretty easy to make. I so appreciate that!
Thanks so much Leslie!
I’ve never thought to add cinnamon to chicken! What a great idea, and I’m quite sure it smells amazing as it cooks. This looks like such an easy and delicious Fall recipe
Thanks so much Karyl!
Oh my we loved this chicken recipe. I have a large family so we made 2 whole chickens. Some of my kids prefer white potatoes so we made one chicken per the recipe and replaced the sweet potatoes with white potatoes in the second. Both were fabulous. The cinnamon adds the perfect zing of flavor to the chicken and potatoes.
Thanks so much Eileen! So happy you enjoyed it!
I plan on making this (sounds delicious) but was wondering how many pounds the roaster chicken was for this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Jennifer,
It was a normal size chicken, about 4lbs or so.
Hope you like it, it is a favorite in our house!
Thanks so much,
xJenny
Hello,
The ingredients section lists one tablespoon cumin, the body of the recipe calls for a tsp of cumin, hope one tablespoon of cumin isn’t too overpowering! We’ll find out when the chicken is done, in about an hour. Smells delicious!
Hi! I am so sorry for the typo; it is fixed now. Thank you so much for letting me know. It is a tablespoon of cumin all over sweet potatoes, but you can always tweak it to your liking if you find it too much. I hope you liked the chicken; it is one of our favorite chicken recipes and we make it often.
x Jenny