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I am stoked about this recipe you guys! It is one of the easiest recipes ever AND it tastes amazing. And who doesn’t need another easy weeknight recipe, am I right? This recipe falls into the category of sheet pan dinner, which means that you throw a bunch of stuff on a sheet pan and bake it and BOOM your whole meal is done.
There are a lot of sheet pan dinner recipes on Pinterest, but the majority of them contain potatoes, which automatically makes them out of the question if you’re on a ketogenic diet. So I thought I’d make a variation that will keep the carbs low but the satisfaction high. And did I mention it’s SO EASY? It’s so easy, guys.
The Dressing
You’re going to start off by throwing together balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a little dijon mustard, italian seasoning, and salt & pepper in a large bowl. Whisk it up.
The Veggies
Then you’re going to slice up some veggies. Here’s where this recipe gets even better– you can use whatever vegetables you like. I chose mushrooms, carrots, onions, and zucchini. Just make sure you watch the carb counts of your veggies if you’re on a low-carb diet. I think broccoli or cauliflower would work great here, or throw in some sliced peppers if that’s your thing. For the most part, if you stick to vegetables that grow above the ground, you’ll be good. I included a small amount of carrots, but not enough to kick the carb count too high. In any case, this recipe is highly flexible.
I sliced the onions and mushrooms about 1/4 inch thick (maybe a little more) but the carrots I sliced thinner (1/8 inch or so) and the zucchini thicker (close to 1/2 inch) to account for differing cooking times.
Mushroom Tip: To clean mushrooms, use damp paper towels to wipe off any dirt. Mushrooms should not be washed under water or they’ll soak it up and won’t roast well. TooltipTextI threw the veggies straight into the balsamic mixture as I chopped them, but I did the zucchini last so it didn’t soak up too much of the liquid and end up mushy.
The Chicken
Line two sheet pans with foil and parchment. This helps make clean up a lot easier. Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables and put them the prepared pans. Make sure to leave as much liquid as possible in the bowl. Spread the vegetables as close to a single layer as possible (there will be a bit of overlap here and there.) Then use some tongs to coat each chicken thigh in the marinade. Nestle the chicken amongst the vegetables on the pan.
Want more sheet pan dinners? Check out this list of SIX!
Bake!
And then you just bake it! And OMG your house will smell SO AMAZING when it’s in the oven. I wish I could send you the scent of this dish in the oven because then I know you’d have to make it immediately because seriously. My mouth is watering just talking about it.
Plus, look how pretty it is! It’s a dish equally at home on your family’s Tuesday night dinner table or your Friday night dinner party table with guests. It makes a large portion, but you can easily halve it or make all of it and reheat half of it another night. If you’ve never had a sheet pan dinner, get ready for it to change your life! Or at least your dinners. 😉
Sheet Pan Balsamic Chicken
Super easy and delicious meal that cooks all on one pan!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup | 190 mL balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup | 80 mL olive oil
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- several turns of freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 large onion (100g) sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 10 oz mushrooms (250g) sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 4 small-medium carrots (150g) sliced 1/8 inch thick
- 2 large zucchini (670g) sliced 1/2 inch thick
- 3.5 lbs | 1.5 kilos bone-in, skin on chicken thighs (can substitute drum sticks)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C) and line two large sheet pans with foil and parchment.
- Whisk together balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard, Italian seasoning, and salt & pepper in large bowl.
- Add sliced vegetables and toss. Don’t let zucchini sit in the liquid or it will get mushy.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables, leaving as much liquid in the bowl as possible, and spread in an even layer on prepared pans.
- Use tongs to coat each chicken thigh on both sides with the balsamic mixture, then nestle chicken on sheet pans with vegetables.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170°F (75°C) and the skin has become crisp and browned. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Amount Per Serving: Calories: 358Total Fat: 17.3gSaturated Fat: 3.4gCarbohydrates: 9.7gNet Carbohydrates: 7.5gFiber: 2.2gSugar: 7gProtein: 39.3g
This looks amazing! Adding it to my meal plan for next week 🙂 And good tips on the mushroom and zucchini. I never knew that about washing mushrooms (oops!)
Let me know how it goes!
Coming back to this for dinner because I need something delicious and easy after work!
I just made this last night! It was super easy (trust me, I do NOT make complex recipes) and tastes really good. The chicken is so moist. I’m eating leftovers from it today and it’s still good. I often find chicken rubbery or dry as leftovers, but not this recipe. Definitely going to be come part of our regular rotation.
I’m so glad this worked so well for you! 🙂
Can you use boneless, skin-on thighs? My husband doesn’t like to mess with bone-in thighs. How would it change the cooking time?
I don’t see why that wouldn’t work, but it would definitely shorten the cooking time. I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t say exactly how long you’d need to cook them. But I would start checking for doneness at 20 minutes and go from there. I’m not sure if the onions and carrots would cook all the way in that amount of time, so you may have to take the chicken off early and finish cooking the rest of the veggies a little longer. If you try it, please let us know how it goes!