Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs

At a glance

What stands out: With the added bonus of crispy roasted potatoes and green beans, this sheet pan chicken thigh dinner is a flavorful, lighter, and straightforward-to-make entire meal on a single pan!

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

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The evolution of this sheet pan chicken thighs recipe began with chicken thighs flavored with a sauce similar to chimichurri. However, we wanted to simplify the recipe as much as possible, while keeping the rich flavor. We tweaked the recipe to include the lemon and parsley but turned them into a flavorful rub for the chicken, with Dijon and garlic powder to kick the flavors up a notch.

All-In-One Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs

A delectable sheet pan meal. This is a great meal for the meat and potato lovers in the crowd. If you grew up eating dinners with a protein, a starch, and a veggie, you’ll appreciate this recipe! We like it because you don’t have to make any sides to go with this meal; everything you need for an entire meal is all there on one pan (which means clean-up will be straightforward, too!).

Full of big, bright flavor. Putting the good stuff on as a rub and not as a sauce after the chicken has cooked allows the flavors to soak into the chicken as it cooks. Brilliant, huh? A squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkle of fresh parsley just before serving brightens the dish and adds fresh flavor.

Lighter, filling, and tasty. This recipe is a total winner. It’s also Whole30 compliant if you’re looking for that. (Be sure to check out our list of straightforward Whole30 recipes!)

Liane T. Said:

“Straightforward AND rich–thank you! We will definitely make this one again! We substituted asparagus for the beans.”

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What goes in

• Baby yellow potatoes: We like the buttery flavor of the tender yellow potatoes but any type of baby potatoes will work. If you can’t find baby potatoes, you can use regular-size Yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes, and cut them into smaller pieces.
• Fresh green beans: Trim the stems, rinse the beans, and make sure they are as dry as possible. This is how you get them nicely roasted. Wet beans will simply steam.
• Boneless skinless chicken thighs: For four servings, we usually buy about 2 pounds, which is about 8 oz. per serving. If there is any excess fat on the thighs, trim it away before getting started.
• Olive oil: You always need a little oil for sheet pan dinners. It’s necessary to achieve a nice crisp brown exterior. There’s no need for a fancy olive oil since you’re using it for cooking. The potatoes and green beans are seasoned simply with kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper.
• Flavor boosters: The chicken is seasoned with a flavorful blend of finely chopped fresh parsley, lemon zest, olive oil, Dijon mustard and a hint of garlic. Use a microplane to get a fine zest that will mix with the other ingredients.
• Lemon wedges: Serve the meal with lemon wedges on the side. If you prefer, you can simply squeeze lemon juice over the sheet pan dinner before you serve it.

Recipe Tip

Love garlic? A couple of cloves of minced garlic are great in this recipe in place of the garlic powder.

How it comes together

Start the potatoes. Be sure to preheat your oven to 425ºF before you get started. A good hot oven is essential to the success of this sheet pan recipe. In a large bowl, season the potatoes by tossing them with oil, salt, and pepper. Place them on one side of a sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Sheet Pans: A Kitchen Essential

If you haven’t invested in a couple of good sheet pans, we would highly recommend it. We have these and use them nearly every day. They should be around 18 x 13 inches with a 1 inch rim (half sheet pan).

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Season the chicken. Mix the parsley, olive oil, mustard, lemon zest, garlic powder, salt and pepper in the same large bowl you used for the potatoes. Toss the chicken with this mixture until it’s well-coated on all sides.

Start cooking the chicken. After 10 minutes, remove the potatoes from the oven. Give them a stir, then place the chicken alongside the potatoes on the pan, folding the thinner part underneath so the chicken forms a rounded oval. Roast the chicken and potatoes for 15 minutes.

Season the beans. Meanwhile, in the same bowl, toss the green beans with another teaspoon of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Finish cooking. Remove the pan from the oven. Gently push aside the chicken and potatoes to make room on the pan. Add the green beans in a single layer. Bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the beans and potatoes are tender and the chicken reaches 165ºF. (This is a minimum temperature! Because chicken thighs don’t overcook like breasts do, it’s okay if the temperature is higher than this.)

Serve. Plate the chicken thighs with a serving of potatoes and beans. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

Ways to change it

Swap in asparagus for the beans. We like to use asparagus in this sheet pan dinner when it’s in season, Just don’t use the thin, wispy ones, which will burn. Trim the asparagus and toss it with olive oil, salt, and pepper before adding to the sheet pan.

Try different herbs. While parsley adds a nice pop of herbaceous flavor to this dish, you can also experiment with other fresh herbs like cilantro or sage.

Sauce it up. If you’re looking for a little extra flavor, try mixing up a simple sauce to drizzle over the chicken and potatoes before serving. Go with our original idea and add a drizzle of chimichurri, or stir chimichurri into Greek yogurt, sour cream, or mayonnaise to make a creamy sauce. Cilantro pesto or basil pesto would be rich, or from-scratch tzatziki, a cucumber yogurt sauce.

If you like the idea of a sauce, be sure to try our sheet pan citrus chicken, with chicken thighs and a rainbow assortment of veggies! Sheet pan pesto chicken is another winner!

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerator: Refrigerate leftover sheet pan chicken thighs in an airtight container with the potatoes and green beans for 3 to 4 days.

Freezer: The chicken can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Store it in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag and thaw it in the refrigerator before reheating. The beans can be frozen, but they’ll be a bit limp when reheated. We don’t like freezing the potatoes, because they’ll take on a mealy texture after thawing.

To reheat: Reheat this recipe in a 350ºF oven (or the air fryer). Add the potatoes and chicken to a sheet pan and warm them first, then during the last few minutes of cooking time, add the green beans.

• Yield: 4
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 35 minutes
• Total: 45 minutes

Ingredients

FOR THE POTATOES:

• 1 pound baby yellow potatoes, halved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, more if desired

FOR THE CHICKEN:

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, fat trimmed if needed

FOR THE GREEN BEANS:

• 12 oz. fresh green beans, trimmed, rinsed and dried
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

TO FINISH:

• lemon wedges, to garnish if desired

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine halved potatoes, oil, salt and pepper until potatoes are coated with oil. Arrange in a single layer on one side of a large rimmed sheet pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix together parsley, olive oil, mustard, lemon zest, garlic powder, salt and pepper in the same large bowl you used for the potatoes. Add the chicken and stir, making sure the chicken is well-coated with seasoning.
4. When the potatoes have roasted for 10 minutes, remove the sheet pan from the oven. Stir the potatoes. Arrange the chicken pieces on the sheet pan in a single layer, next to the potatoes. Fold the thinner part under so the chicken is a nicely rounded oval.
5. Bake the chicken and potatoes for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix green beans with olive oil, salt and pepper.
6. Remove pan from oven and add green beans in a single layer, if possible, pushing aside the chicken and potatoes to make room, if necessary.
7. Bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until beans and potatoes are cooked and the internal temperature of chicken reaches at least 165ºF (it’s okay if it’s more than that).
8. Serve the chicken dinner with lemon wedges on the side, if desired.

Notes

Chicken: we like chicken thighs for this recipe because they tend to be more flavorful. Bone-in skinless thighs will work too but take longer to cook. Put them on the pan right away with the potatoes. If you prefer white meat, boneless skinless chicken breasts can be substituted. If they are large, cut them in half before cooking. Be sure to check the internal temperature of all cuts of chicken before serving.

Variations: Fresh asparagus can be substituted for the green beans. Fresh cilantro, basil, or sage can be used instead of parsley.

Recipe retested and revised 2/2025.