It’s easy to struggle with what to put on the table for dinner. This is part of what makes sheet pan dinners so appealing – one pan to cook with and dinner is done. After I made my Easy Sheet Pan Dinner with Sausage and Veggies, the feedback I got was “more sheet pan dinners”! So I thought about what would be an easy and delicious option and this Lemon Thyme Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner was the result.
While this recipe takes some time to bake and put together, it’s a lot of double duty. While the chicken is marinating you prep and then cook the potatoes. Then while the potatoes are cooking you prep the other veggies. It all comes together after the potatoes cook and you put everything in the oven together. Then it’s just waiting for it to cook all the way through and dinner is good to go.
Marinating the chicken and cooking it with a slice of lemon on top really infuses the lemon flavor into the chicken. Then cooking it on top of the potatoes lets some of that same flavor soak into the potatoes. Roasting the tomatoes and broccolini gives them an added punch of flavor as well, and combining them together is just a party on your tongue. Really, it’s super delicious.
When making this recipe, you can use broccolini or asparagus, whatever is in season. However, if you’re going to use asparagus I would put it in when you flip the chicken after the first 12 minutes as it won’t take as long to cook as everything else. But definitely put the tomatoes in at the same time as the chicken as you’ll want them to get nice and roasted. This way it increases the umami of the dish (aka, the deliciousness). If you haven’t heard of umami (the fifth flavor), you can check out this article to read more.
Also, the servings on this are for four people, but if you have people with larger appetites it may be more like three servings or even two. So if you’ve got two hungry teenagers in addition to two adults, and are lucky enough to own a convection oven, I would suggest doubling the recipe and doing two sheet pans so you’ll have enough food. And if you don’t eat all the food – congratulations, you’ve got leftovers for lunch!
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Recipe for Lemon Thyme Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner
Lemon Thyme Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner
This Lemon Thyme Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner is simple to prepare and very flavorful. A great option for a weeknight, it's gluten free, Paleo, and Whole30 compliant.
Ingredients
Marinade:
- Juice of 1 lemon about 3 tablespoons
- Zest of 1/2 a lemon
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced or pressed
- 5 small sprigs of thyme
Chicken:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
Potatoes:
- 1 pound red potatoes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
Veggies:
- 8 ounces broccolini
- 1.5 cups cherry tomatoes between 8 and 10 ounces
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 lemon with ends trimmed up and sliced into 4 slices (1 per chicken thigh)
Instructions
Items Needed:
- Large plastic bag or container
- Large sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Sheet pan
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Tongs
- Meat thermometer
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large plastic bag or other large container, combine the marinade ingredients, then add in the chicken thighs. Marinate for 25-30 minutes in the refrigerator.
While chicken is marinating, slice the potatoes into roughly 1 inch pieces with a sharp knife and cutting board. Take out sheet pan and place the parchment paper or baking mat inside. Put the cut up pieces on one side of the sheet pan, pour 1 tablespoon of avocado oil and 1 tsp kosher salt on top then blend everything together with your hands (or tongs).
Place the potatoes in the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes.
As the potatoes are cooking, prep the tomatoes and broccolini. Place both in a large bowl or rectangular dish and pour 1 tablespoon avocado oil and 1/4 kosher salt over them. Mix with hands (or tongs).
Once potatoes are done cooking, take them out of the oven and toss them with the tongs. Make sure they’re only covering half of the sheet pan.
Take chicken out of the refrigerator and remove from it’s container, squeezing any excess juice off into the container. Place each thigh on top of the potatoes separately, making sure none of the chicken overlaps. Put one slice of lemon on top of each chicken thigh.
Place the cherry tomatoes on the opposite side of the sheet pan from the potatoes and then place the broccolini in the middle.
Return sheet pan to the oven and set the timer for 12 minutes.
Once the timer goes off, take the pan out of the oven, remove the lemon slices, and flip each chicken thigh over. Replace the lemon slices on top of the chicken thighs, then put the sheet pan back into the oven and set the timer for another 12 minutes.
After the timer goes off, take the pan out of the oven and check the temperature of the chicken with a meat thermometer. It is fully cooked once the temperature reaches around 165 degrees F. It is likely the chicken will need another 10 minutes or so, but check the temperature every 5 minutes so as not to overcook it.
Once chicken is done, dish up and serve!
Looking for more easy dinner options (that happen to also be Whole30 compliant)? Check out the following recipes:
- Easy Sheet Pan Dinner with Sausage and Veggies
- Pesto Prawns with Zoodles
- Bacon Fried Caulirice
- Swimming Rama Loaded Sweet Potato
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