At a glance

What stands out: Sweet and savory chicken thighs are paired with a rainbow of vegetables (broccoli, carrots, red bell pepper, and red onion!) in this straightforward sheet pan citrus chicken dinner.

How long it takes: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: sheet pan, bowl
Servings: 4

Baked chicken thighs with broccoli, carrots, red bell pepper, red onion, and orange slices on a sheet pan, seasoned with salt and pepper.

The Sauce Makes This One

We've shared a lot of sheet pan chicken dinners over the years. Recipes like sheet pan chicken thighs and sheet pan pesto chicken are weeknight staples in our home because they cook the chicken and sides together, streamlining our cooking process. And this sheet pan citrus chicken with rainbow veggies is our latest straightforward one pan dinner creation!

This is a recipe that’s all about the sauce, which transforms simple ingredients like chicken thighs, broccoli, carrots, pepper, and onions into a mouthwatering meal.

What makes it special:

That citrusy honey mustard sauce. If you love baked honey mustard chicken, you’ll love this recipe. It has the sharp, tangy flavor of mustard combined with the mellow sweetness of honey, but freshly ground pepper and orange zest add more interest and depth.
A true one-pan dinner. Chicken and vegetables roast together, which means less cleanup and less juggling.
Straightforward to mix. This sheet pan citrus chicken is straightforward to prepare—just whisk together the sauce and toss it with the vegetables, then give the chicken a speedy marinade in the remaining sauce while the veggies get started in the oven. (And cooking everything on a single pan makes cleanup straightforward too!)

TB Said:

“Oh our goodness, rich! We loved this combination….We wish we had broiled the chicken to get crispy as suggested but it smelled so good and we were hungry. Thank you, the kitchen. Excellent combinations in your recipes.”

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What goes in

Chicken thighs: For this recipe, use bone-in, skin-on thighs. They’re extra flavorful and the skin will get crispy in the oven.
Vegetables: We use broccoli, carrots, red bell pepper, and red onion.
Sauce: This is a straightforward sauce to make. You’ll need olive oil for a nice golden brown color, creamy Dijon mustard to add big flavor (like our honey mustard chicken marinade), honey to balance out the tangy mustard, and orange zest to bring home the citrus flavor. Add a dash of salt and pepper and you’re ready to go.

Pro Tip

Make sure the honey is soft and runny so it blends into the other ingredients. If it’s grainy or stiff, melt it briefly in the microwave first.

How it comes together

Make the sauce. Whisk together the olive oil, mustard, honey, orange zest, salt, and pepper in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup.

Season the veggies. Add the cut-up vegetables to a large bowl and pour about half the sauce over the top. (You don’t need to measure to get exactly half the sauce, just pour about half of it in. The remaining sauce will be used to season the chicken thighs.) Toss to coat the vegetables with the sauce, then transfer them to a large sheet pan coated with cooking spray or olive oil.

Ingredients arranged in bowls on a white surface, including raw chicken thighs, broccoli, carrots, red bell pepper, red onion, olive oil, mustard, honey, orange zest, salt, and pepper.

A glass bowl containing olive oil, mustard, salt, black pepper, and citrus zest on a light-colored surface.

Roast. Place the pan in a 425ºF oven and roast for 15 minutes.

Marinate the chicken. Immediately after placing the vegetables in the oven, add the chicken thighs to the bowl where you tossed the veggies. Pour the remaining sauce over the top and turn to coat.

Add the chicken. Place the chicken thighs skin-side-up on the pan. You can add the orange wedges to the pan if you’d like. Roast for about 30 minutes more, or until the chicken reaches at least 165ºF in the thickest part. Be sure the tip of the thermometer isn’t touching the bone.

Serve. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then serve with the orange quarters squeezed over the top.

Straightforward Recipe Variations

Use vegetables that are in season. This is a recipe that can change with the seasons. If you prefer, try green beans, snap peas, asparagus, and zucchini. Sweet potatoes, winter squash, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower are good choices, too.
Add garlic. For a garlicky layer of flavor in the sauce, you can add a minced garlic clove or two, or use garlic powder.

Ways to serve it

Grains. Instant Pot jasmine rice or Instant Pot brown rice can both cook while your sheet pan dinner is in the oven. Instant Pot quinoa adds even more protein to your dinner.

Salad. This house salad makes for a straightforward side, or just grab a bag of spinach or greens at the grocery store and toss it with honey mustard vinaigrette.

Dessert. For a sweet finish, try from-scratch vanilla pudding topped with segmented oranges. White chocolate macadamia nut cookies or gingersnaps would go well, too.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate: Transfer leftover sheet pan citrus chicken and vegetables to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Freeze: This recipe can be frozen, but note that the vegetables will be much softer after freezing and thawing. If this doesn’t bother you, store the chicken and veggies in a zip-top bag with the air pressed out or in an airtight container and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating.

Reheat: We recommend transferring the leftovers to a sheet pan or baking dish, covering with foil, and warming at 350ºF until the chicken and veggies are heated through. The microwave also works if that’s your only option, but the textures of the chicken and veggies will suffer.

Yield: 4
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Total: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

For the sauce

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons grated orange zest (see note 1)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

For the vegetables (see note 2)

2 cups broccoli florets (about 1 crown)
1 cup thinly sliced (¼-inch) carrots ( 2 medium carrots)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
½ red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed (about 2 pounds)

Method

Preheat the oven to 425°F and lightly spray or coat a sheet pan with olive oil.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk the olive oil, Dijon mustard, honey, orange zest, salt, and pepper.
Put the broccoli, carrot, bell pepper, and onion into a large bowl. Add about half of the sauce mixture (it doesn’t have to be exact!). Toss to coat all vegetables with sauce.
Place vegetables on the prepared pan. Roast for 15 minutes in preheated oven.
Meanwhile, in the same bowl, add the remaining sauce and the chicken thighs. Turn the chicken thighs until fully coated.
When the vegetables have roasted for 15 minutes, remove the pan and carefully arrange the chicken thighs skin-side up on the prepared pan. Drizzle any sauce that remains in the bowl over the chicken and vegetables (there may not be any). If desired, cut one of the oranges you zested into quarters and place those on the pan as well (see note 1).
Return the sheet pan to the oven and roast until the chicken skin is browned and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part (not touching the bone) registers at least 165°F, about 30 minutes (see note 3).
Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. If you roasted orange quarters, squeeze those over the chicken and vegetables before serving, if desired, or serve on the side.

Notes

Orange: Depending on the size of the oranges, you’ll need 1 to 2 oranges for 2 teaspoons of zest. The zest should be finely grated, not coarse. After zesting the oranges, we quarter them and add the wedges to the sheet pan. This is optional, but we love how the heat of the oven concentrates the juices. Serve the meal with orange wedges on the side to squeeze over the chicken and vegetables.

Vegetables: It’s okay if you measure the vegetables generously. We usually make the cups heaping full. You can use different vegetables if you like. Just keep in mind that vegetables like green beans, snap peas, asparagus, and zucchini don’t take as long to roast; we'd add them with the chicken. Sweet potatoes, winter squash, and cauliflower can go in at the beginning of the cooking time.

To crisp up the chicken: If you’re fond of crispy chicken, once the chicken and vegetables are cooked (step 7), transfer the vegetables to a serving platter, then return the pan with the chicken to the oven. Broil (high setting) until the skin is crispy and browned. Watch closely to make sure it doesn’t burn.