Minimum fuss, maximum flavour. These are the principles that make savoury traybakes the perfect solution for dinner at the end of a long day, feeding a hungry crowd, and even impressing guests when you’re entertaining. No one knows this better than food creator and bestselling author John Gregory-Smith, whose latest cookbook The Greatest Traybake Cookbook Ever is all about bringing together winning flavour and texture combinations with the help of an oven and roasting tin.
With chapters covering everything from speedy 35-minute meals to set-and-forget slow-cooked wonders, failsafe centrepieces, delicious dips and sides, and a whole section dedicated to chicken recipes, this cookbook is here to prove just how versatile and creative traybakes can be.
To give you a flavour of what you’ll find inside, we’ve rounded up 10 must-try recipes you won’t want to miss out on.
Sumac-spiced Chicken with Caramelized Onions
Lip-smacking sumac, sweet, tart red onions, and fresh parsley combine for this tasty crowd-pleasing chicken dinner.
Crispy Gnocchi with Burrata and Green Pesto
Give your shop-bought packet of gnocchi an upgrade with this rich sauce combining smoky chorizo, cherry tomatoes, and roasted onions – made complete with a topping of simple homemade pesto and ball of creamy burrata.
Lamb Cutlets with Crispy Potatoes and Halloumi in a Salsa Verde
This all-in-one traybake sees every element cooked to perfection, then finished with a drizzle of quick-blitzed salsa verde for a hit of fresh flavour and brightness.
Hasselback Squash with Preserved Lemon Gremolata
Turn the humble butternut squash into a centrepiece worth bragging about with this incredible vegetarian recipe. The zesty, briny, and garlicky flavours of the preserved lemon gremolata topping are perfectly complemented by the nutty creaminess of the tahini sauce and flavour-packed sun-dried tomato butter.
Coconut, Coriander and Lime Cod
The delicate aromatic flavours of coriander, ginger, garlic and lime infuse the coconut milk used to poach meaty fillets of cod. Best served on a bed of rice or noodles, this is the perfect midweek meal as it takes just 10 minutes to prep and 25 minutes to cook in the oven.
Meltingly Tender Beef Brisket Ragu
This is the kind of effortless recipes where you can do minimal prep and the oven does all the hard work. All you need to do is chuck some ingredients into the tin and let it slowly cook for a few hours, making it the perfect cosy weekend meal.
Roasted Cajun Chicken with Avocado Soured Cream
Golden oven-baked chicken thighs, new potatoes, and red peppers are a wonderful base for smoky cajun seasoning – and contrast beautifully with the cooling creaminess of John’s five-ingredient avocado soured cream.
Courgette Upside-down Tart
You’ll want to add this simple savoury tart to your lunch rotation. With its crispy puff pastry crust, topping of golden roasted courgettes, salty hits of halloumi, and creamy spiced mascarpone filling, it’s the kind of meal that balances flavour with lightness.
Roasted Beetroot with Harissa Yoghurt
Roasting beetroot intensifies its sweet, nutty and earthy flavours to perfection – and pairing it with a bed of Greek yoghurt and swirls of harissa makes it a great addition to a lunch, dinner, or party spread.
Melted Leeks with Garlicky Yoghurt and Chilli Butter
Ideal for mopping up with flatbread, this 35-minute recipe turns sliced leeks into morsels of melt-in-the-mouth deliciousness, served on a bed of greek yoghurt and topped with chilli butter infused with Turkish pep
