Sheet Pan Chicken and Vegetables — One Tray, 40 Minutes
Chicken breast and vegetables go onto the same tray raw, get tossed with olive oil, paprika and garlic, and roast for 30 minutes at 220 °C. Ten minutes of prep, one tray, and the vegetables are whatever you happen to have.
Some evenings there is no energy for three pans. This is the recipe for those evenings: chop everything roughly, spread it on one tray, slide it into the oven — and get thirty minutes back. The vegetables are a suggestion, not a rule. Whatever is in the fridge goes on the tray.
Ingredients
- 600 g Chicken breast
- 500 g Potatoes (waxy, cut into wedges)
- 3 pieces Carrots
- 2 pieces Courgettes
- 1 piece Onion
- 3 cloves Garlic cloves
- 4 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tsp Paprika powder
- 1 tsp Dried herbs (thyme or oregano)
- 1 tsp Salt
- Pepper
- 1 piece Lemon (optional)
Method
- 1
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 220 °C conventional. Get out a large tray — the more room the vegetables have, the crisper they get.
- 2
Prepare the vegetables
Cut the potatoes into wedges, the carrots into chunks, the courgettes into thick slices and the onion into eighths. Roughly chop the garlic. Put everything on the tray.
- 3
Season and toss
Add the olive oil, paprika, herbs, salt and pepper, and toss with your hands until everything glistens. Spread out in a single layer.
- 4
Roast for 15 minutes
Roast for 15 minutes. This gives the vegetables a head start, since they need longer than the chicken.
- 5
Add the chicken
Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, nestle them among the vegetables and roast for another 15 minutes, until no longer pink inside (74 °C core temperature).
- 6
Serve
Let the chicken rest for 3 minutes, slice, and serve with a squeeze of lemon if you like.
Tips
- Cut the potatoes smaller than the rest of the vegetables — they take the longest, so this gets everything finished at the same time.
- Leftovers keep for two days in the fridge and are excellent cold in a salad or a wrap.
- If the tray looks crowded, use two. Vegetables packed too tightly steam instead of roasting.
What can I substitute?
Thighs stay juicier and forgive an extra five minutes in the oven. Same cooking time.
For the vegetarian version: add them only for the last 15 minutes, or they dry out.
Both take a similar time. Add broccoli with the chicken, otherwise the florets burn.
Sweet potatoes cook a little faster — put them on the tray five minutes later.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from the ingredients.
Frequently asked questions
Can I prepare this sheet pan chicken in advance?
Yes. You can chop the vegetables the day before and keep them in the fridge. Season only just before roasting, though — salt draws out water, and the vegetables turn soft rather than crisp.
How do I know the chicken is cooked through?
A thermometer is the reliable way: 74 °C at the thickest point. Without one, cut into the thickest part — the juices should run clear and the meat should be white, not translucent.
What other vegetables work on the tray?
Almost anything you have: peppers, fennel, pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, cherry tomatoes or parsnips. Rule of thumb: hard vegetables like pumpkin and parsnip from the start, soft ones like cherry tomatoes and broccoli only for the last 15 minutes.
Does this work with a fan oven?
Yes — set it to 200 °C instead of 220 °C. A fan oven actually crisps the vegetables a little better, because moisture escapes more easily.
How much does this dish cost per person?
At Swiss prices at Migros or Coop you are looking at roughly 4 to 5 CHF per person. The chicken breast is the biggest item — with thighs or chickpeas you come down to about 3 CHF.
