The Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner, Elevated
Sheet Pan Dinners are perfect for busy weeknights.
Easy to pull together… easy to clean up, using just one simple pan.
With a small amount of preparation, your oven does the heavy lifting.
It’s in the Technique
Cooking Method
Roasting is one of the easiest cooking techniques. And it delivers big flavor.
This chicken sheet pan dinner deliciousness comes from high-heat roasting.
We roast our chicken at an even 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
This level of heat, a rack placed in the middle position, olive oil and lemon juice… achieves a browned, crispy, crave-worthy skin. While maintaining a tender, juicy interior.
Oh, and the vegetables! Roasting concentrates natural sugars in vegetables creating huge flavor.
The potatoes and vegetables cook perfectly inside and get beautifully browned with this method.
Ingredients + Size Matter.
We use bone-in, skin on chicken split breasts for this recipe to maintain a juicy interior.
You’ll roast your veggies whole for this recipe… making prep even easier.
Choose small vegetables similar in diameter so they cook at the same rate. This chicken sheet pan dinner includes fingerling potatoes, carrots, and baby brussels sprouts.
No chopping required!
If you’re watching the carbs, simply substitute more brussels for the potatoes.
Enjoy an effortless natural pan sauce by adding whole garlic bulbs and lemon halves. The lemons release their juice in the roasting process… blending with the fresh thyme, chicken and vegetable drippings.
A quick squeeze of the roasted garlic into the pan at the finish results in a heavenly spoon-over sauce.
Holy Yum!
No Crowd Allowed.
Resist the temptation to add too much to the pan.
Your chicken and vegetables won’t roast.. they’ll steam.
The pan should have enough room between the ingredients for the dry heat to circulate… creating that scrumptious roasted brown result you want in a chicken sheet pan dinner.
The Right Tools
Line your sheet pan with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
It helps to control scorch to the pan and it makes washing it a breeze!
Our favorite type is precut. Sheets perfectly fit the pan without any cutting required or curling in the cooking process.
Pre-Cut Parchment Paper – Click image to purchase at Amazon.com.
A quality half sheet pan is essential.
We like these professional grade Nordic Ware sheet pans for their even heat distribution. The result… consistent browning.
And no warping in the oven because of their encapsulated and a reinforced rim.
Nordic Ware Half Sheet Pan – Click image to purchase at Amazon.com.
For this recipe, you’ll need a good set of tongs.
Think of tongs as an extension of your hands and fingers.
You’ll be squeezing hot garlic bulbs and lemons with this recipe.
Oxo Good Grips Tongs, 12-inch. Click the image to purchase at Amazon.com.
An instead-read thermometer is the ONLY way to check for doneness.
Simply ensuring that the chicken juices run clear is not enough to determine whether your chicken is cooked through.
You want your chicken breasts to reach 160 degrees, Fahrenheit. Let them rest for 10 minutes after removing them from the oven.
Note that the temperature of the chicken continues to rise due to carryover cooking time.
Our hands-down favorite instant-read thermometer is the ThermoPop by Thermoworks.
At just $34, it’s an absolute steal from the best in professional instant-read thermometer makers.
ThermoPop by ThermoWorks. Click image to purchase.
Other Tips
After you remove the chicken from the oven, turn it off. Cover your vegetables with foil on an oven-safe dish and hold them in the cooling oven to keep them warm while the chicken rests.
Slice the rested chicken breasts into 1/4″ slices. Spoon the sauce over them and serve with the potatoes and vegetables.
Leftover chicken is great to serve atop healthy salads like our Southwestern Chicken Salad with Chili Vinaigrette, or our Nicoise Chicken Salad.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 40-45 minutes |
| Servings |
servings |
- 2 large chicken breasts bone-in, split breasts with skin
- 1 pound Fingerling potatoes can substitute another small potato
- 8 small Heirloom carrots peeled, can substitute another small carrot. 1" diameter.
- 4 heads garlic slice the top, opposite the root end to expose some of the cloves
- 15 small brussels sprouts outer bruised leaves removed and stem end trimmed
- 3 lemons halved
- 1 package fresh thyme
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- sea salt to taste
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
Ingredients
| |
- Place oven rack in the middle position. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Drizzle parchment paper with olive oil.
- Place chicken, carrots, potatoes, brussels sprouts and garlic bulbs on the sheet tray. Drizzle everything liberally with olive oil. Squeeze 1/2 lemon on chicken skin. Place remaining lemon halves on tray. Season everything with salt and pepper. Scatter whole thyme sprigs over vegetables and in between chicken breasts leaving skin exposed so it crisps in the oven.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove garlic from sheet tray and place on foil. Drizzle exposed garlic cloves with olive oil. Wrap in foil and return to oven. Continue roasting chicken, vegetables, and garlic.
- After 20 minutes, remove vegetables and potatoes from the sheet pan and place on an on an oven-safe serving platter. Cover with foil and set aside.
- With tongs, squeeze 1 roasted lemon half over chicken. Return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes, until the chicken temperature reaches 160 degrees, Fahrenheit.
- Remove the chicken to a plate and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Turn the oven off. Place the covered vegetable platter in the oven while the chicken rests to keep warm.
- Remove and discard the thyme sprigs from the sheet pan. Using tongs, squeeze remaining lemon juice from the lemon halves onto the tray and remove the lemons. Then, using the same tongs, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of the bulbs onto the tray.
- With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, scrape and stir the pan drippings, garlic, and lemon juice in the sheet pan. Pour the pan sauce, scraping the roasted garlic and brown bits over chicken.
Recipe courtesy of www.sisterspicekitchen.com © 2019 Spice Brands, Inc. All rights reserved.
This is right up my alley, thanks sisters!
Thanks, Adrienne! Let us know how the recipe turns out for you! 🙂