Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner

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Sheet pan dinners are the best, they're so easy to make and require very little clean up. This chicken sheet pan dinner is such a delicious meal that you can whip up in no time. It's perfect for when you don't have much time to cook or just need something quick and delicious!

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner

Servings:

Calories: 452kcal

Author: Jill

Ingredients

8-10 Chicken thighs and drumsticks skin on and bone-in preferred - about 4 oz. each
3 teaspoons coarse sea salt divided
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon pepper divided
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon ground thyme
4-5 tablespoons canola oil divided
24 oz. 1.5 pounds Baby yellow potatoes, sliced lengthwise
½ pound fresh asparagus
Additional lemon slices for serving optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray a sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray or brush liberally with canola oil.
Remove chicken from packaging. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
In a small bowl, stir together 2 teaspoons sea salt, 1 tablespoon lemon pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, and chopped thyme to make a paste.
Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of canola oil over the chicken pieces and rub to completely coat them. Rub the seasoning paste onto both sides of all of the chicken. Place the prepared chicken on an oven-safe rack set in a large sheet pan.
Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise (or into quarters if the potatoes are larger). Drizzle with 1-2tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with an additional teaspoon of salt and lemon pepper. Toss to coat the potatoes.
Spread the potatoes on the sheet pan around the rack with chicken. If necessary, use a second sheet pan for the potatoes and asparagus.
Place pan with chicken and potatoes into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the asparagus by snapping the woody base of the stem from each asparagus spear. Rinse and air dry the asparagus. Drizzle with a bit of oil and season with any of the seasonings you used on the potatoes and chicken (salt, pepper, lemon zest, and/or lemon pepper are all good choices).
After the chicken and potatoes have cooked for 20 minutes, add the prepared asparagus to the panto cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.
After 30 minutes of total bake time, check the chicken for doneness - the skin should be crispy and beginning to brown and the internal temperature should reach 165°F. Continue cooking until the chicken is done.
When chicken is cooked (check the internal temperature to ensure it has reached 165°F, remove sheet pan from oven.
Serve immediately with lemon slices if desired.

Notes

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. (The crispy edges of the potatoes and chicken skin make this dish especially delicious and are best served hot out of the oven.)

It isn’t absolutely necessary to cook the chicken up on a lifted rack, but it really helps the chicken brown and cooks to a crispy finish. If it is sitting directly on the pan, it tends to “boil” in the liquid released during baking and doesn’t brown up as well. The vegetables cook well directly on the sheet pan - as long as they are not soaking in excess juices, they will brown to a crispy delicious finish on the sheet pan. You can substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts or other cuts of chicken. Ensure that the internal temperature reaches 165°F before removing it from the oven. Cook times may be longer for larger cuts of meat, particularly bone-in cuts. Use any vegetables that you like - asparagus cooks up quickly and I prefer a just done asparagus. If you cook the asparagus from the start along with the potatoes and chicken, it will be overcooked and soggy. Asparagus only needs about 10 minutes of cook time at this temperature in the oven. Broccoli and carrots make delicious sheet pan vegetables also - add these at the beginning of the cooking time as they take a bit longer to cook than asparagus. The potato pieces should be uniform in size so that they cook in the same amount of time. Oil the pan well so that the browned bits stick to the potatoes and not the pan. Stir a couple of times while cooking if you are concerned about sticking.

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