Sheet-pan Balsamic Chicken with Baby Potatoes and Mushrooms

Sheet-pan dinners are hot (pun intended) and for a very good reason. Who doesn’t want to put a freshly prepared meal on the table in an hour or less while skipping a tedious cleanup involving washing multiple bowls, utensils and pots? This recipe for balsamic sheet-pan chicken is from Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful cookbook, Everyday Dorie: the Way I Cook.

Sheet-pan Balsamic Chicken with Baby Potatoes and Mushrooms

Imagine coming home from work, lining a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and placing some protein, vegetables and aromatics on the pan. Drizzle some olive oil over everything and add a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Pop the sheet-pan into the oven and you are about 45 minutes away from an unforgettable meal that requires no fancy equipment and will please even the fussiest eater in your household.

A sheet-pan is a wide, shallow baking pan made from aluminum or stainless steel with low sides that encourage airflow and browning. The protein of choice in this dish is whole skin-on chicken legs, although if you prefer, you can use bone-in chicken breasts. The vegetables that supplement the chicken thighs are shallots, mushrooms and baby potatoes. Fat encourages browning and helps the ingredients on your sheet-pan to cook evenly. Olive oil is the classic choice and is used here. Sprigs of fresh herbs can stand up to lengthy cooking without burning. Rosemary compliments the Mediterranean flavors of this recipe without overpowering the components with its fresh, woodsy scent. Whole garlic cloves (unpeeled) turn a deep, golden brown while roasting, imparting a piquant, aromatic flavor to this dish. Dorie recommends that if you are serving a crowd, double the recipe and spread out the ingredients on two sheet-pans. This sophisticated meal comes together in minutes but tastes and looks like it took hours to make.

Assemble your ingredients.

Place the potatoes, mushrooms, shallot or onion, and garlic in a large bowl. Add 4 sprigs of rosemary, 1 teaspoon salt, a few grinds of fresh pepper, 3 tablespoons of oil and 3 tablespoons of the balsamic vinegar. Mix everything together and spread out the ingredients on a parchment-lined or foil-lined baking sheet.

Put the chicken into the bowl (you don’t have to wash it out) and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and another few grinds of pepper. Mix well and coat the chicken. Place the chicken on the pan with the vegetables, making sure that the potatoes are cut side down on the pan if possible.

Roast the chicken in a preheated oven at 450 F. for 45 minutes to an hour. Check the chicken at the 45 minute mark. A thermometer stuck into the thickest part of a chicken thigh should read 165 F.

Print Recipe

Sheet-pan Balsamic Chicken with Baby Potatoes and Mushrooms

Meat, Chicken and Fish

By Everyday Dorie: the Way I Cook by Dorie Greenspan modified very slightly by me – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes – Cooking Time: 45 minutes – Total Time: 60 minutes

Perfectly seasoned sheet-pan chicken with potatoes and mushrooms. It doesn't get easier or tastier than this.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds baby potatoes, cut in half
• 1/2 pound of button (white) mushrooms, halved or quartered if large
• 2 large shallots or a medium onion cut into 8 wedges
• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 4 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of fine sea salt, divided into 1+1/2 teaspoon
• freshly ground pepper
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided into 3+3 tablespoons
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided into 3+1 tablespoons
• 4 whole chicken legs (thigh and drumstick) or bone-in breasts if preferred

Instructions

1

Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 450 F.

2

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

3

Place potatoes, mushrooms, shallots or onion, and garlic in a large bowl. Toss in 4 sprigs of rosemary, 1 teaspoon salt, a few grinds of fresh pepper, 3 tablespoons oil and 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar. Mix everything together well and spread the coated vegetables on the lined baking sheet. Don't wash the bowl.

4

Place the chicken in the bowl and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and some more grinds of pepper. (Don't skimp on anything. It's going to be delicious.)

5

Coat the chicken well and transfer to the baking sheet. Move the vegetables to make room for the chicken. Turn the potatoes so that they are cut side down on the sheet. Try to make sure that the vegetables are not overlapping. You want them to roast and not steam. Tuck the sprigs of rosemary under the chicken.

6

Roast the chicken for 45 minutes to 1 hour depending how hot your oven is. (My chicken was perfect after exactly 45 minutes) The temperature of the chicken should be 165 F. when measured at the thickest part of the chicken, when done.

7

Transfer the chicken, juices and vegetables to a large platter or serve directly from the sheet pan.