Sheet pan chicken thighs and vegetables are so easy to throw together, bake, and enjoy with your family. A healthy meal with tons of flavor for the win. This easy chicken thigh recipe is a really cheap dinner meal!
Jump To
- Baked Chicken Thighs with Potatoes
- Sheet Pan Frozen Chicken Thighs
- Is it better to bake chicken thighs at 350 or 400?
- What should you marinate thighs with?
- What are the best vegetables to bake with chicken thighs?
- Ingredient Notes
- How do you keep sheet pan chicken from drying out?
- Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs Recipe
- Variations
- Air Fryer Method
- Slow Cooker Method
- How to save leftovers
- Other easy chicken thigh recipes you’ll love
Sheet pan chicken and veggies are the bomb! We added brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes and onion to ours and even my kids loved it. With a little seasoning and a bit of time you’ll have fall off the bone chicken drumsticks in oven while at the same time the outsides will create a yummy crispy chicken in no time.
Baked Chicken Thighs with Potatoes
You could even add small diced taters into the mix so they get tender too, cut into large bite size pieces. Russets or sweet potatoes are our favorites in this case to make it a one pan healthy meal we all love.
The trick is choosing veggies is to choose those that cook tender at about the same time. Meaning I wouldn’t choose broccoli and brussels because the latter takes a whole lot longer in the oven to get soft. The other would be mush when it’s done. OR you could cook air fryer vegetables close to when the meat is done instead.
Sheet Pan Frozen Chicken Thighs
Cook time for meat is measured when it is defrosted. If yours is not then follow our Baking Frozen Chicken Thighs timing which is longer (like 90 minutes total) but still possible and quite successful. Biggest difference with right out of the freezer is that you cannot marinate them.
Is it better to bake chicken thighs at 350 or 400?
That depends on the outcome you desire. If you want crispy skin like you see here you want a higher temperature so we use 400F. In the event that you are going to peel that off and want it as tender as possible then lower and slow is better.
I use them often in recipes over and above breasts because they’re so inexpensive and don’t come out dry at all. Our Instant Pot chicken thighs and boneless skinless chicken thighs Crockpot recipes are a great examples of this.
What should you marinate thighs with?
There are many choices out there already made and bottled. We just Chicken Stir Fry Marinade with some balsamic vinegar, olive oil and 2 other ingredients. You could use teriyaki or a bottle of Italian salad dressing if you didn’t want to make your own though.
What are the best vegetables to bake with chicken thighs?
Choose a mixture that is rather firm. In this case I used brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes and onions (you could add carrots too). I like this mixture because it is cheap, they take a while to get tender (so they don’t get mushy with the meat) and I can find them all year round at the grocery store.
Ingredient Notes
Chicken thighs, bone-in are cheapest and work quite well. I like skin on to make it crispy. You can do this by cranking up the heat at the end or with the broil function.
Vegetables like sweet potatoes, onions and brussel sprouts like we share below, if you add potatoes too they need to be small bite size in order to get tender
Olive oil will keep them moist, avocado oil is a good alternative
Balsamic vinegar we like, use your favorite brand for this but a good one is worth it
Honey adds a bit of sweetness, agave is a good substitute if need be
Salt and pepper are basic seasonings but you could use the dry rub in our beer can chicken in oven for a pop of more flavor too.
How do you keep sheet pan chicken from drying out?
If you feel like the result is not as moist as you would like it to be you should cover the pan with foil for the first 30 minutes. Then you would want to remove it for the rest of the time so you get that crisp on the outside you likely will want, but as tender as possible for the meat.
Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs Recipe
Equipment
- 1 sheet pan
- 1 freezer bag
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 6 large chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/4 cup olive oil, + 2 tbsp. to coat vegetables
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, halved, sliced into 1" pieces
- 1 lb brussel sprouts, cleaned, trimmed, cut in half
- 1 large red onion, peeled, cut into 8 equal sections
- 1 pinch salt, and pepper if you like
Instructions
- In a bowl mix together vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, honey and thyme. Mix well.
- Pour mixture into a gallon size freezer bags. Put chicken thighs into bag. Zip closed and move around so chicken is coated. Then lay flat and put in fridge for at least 2 hours to marinate.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare veggies as stated above.
- Prepare 2 large sheet pans with foil lined on top for easier clean up. Spray each with non stick spray or use non stick foil.
- Put veggies in a bowl and drizzle with last 2 tbsp of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste, toss to coat.
- Put vegetables on a sheet pan. Remove chicken from marinade and place on 2nd sheet pan.
- Cook for 50-60 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and veggies are roasted to your desired tenderness.
- Serve some from each pan on a plate and enjoy.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Variations
What vegetables go good with chicken? Sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts and red onion work great with this particular easy dinner recipe. If cooking them separately I might choose a head of broccoli, Instant Pot spinach is better this way or try jicama for a change.
Air Fryer Method
These are healthier than fried of course. We make air fryer chicken thighs quite often and that is a good method as well. Using hot air instead of oil the fat drains away from the meat in the cooking process. If you do have that machine I would give them both a whirl so you can compare the two.
Slow Cooker Method
You can do the same thing low and slow like our slow cooker chicken thighs and potatoes meal but it won’t get crisp like these do.
How to save leftovers
Have leftovers? You can save them and enjoy again for lunch the next day too. You want to make sure it’s saved properly, in a sealed container or freezer bag is best. Refrigerate for up to 3 days but within 24 hours will give you the best results. Reheat in a covered pan with a bit of olive oil or in the microwave for 1 minute.
If you love this sheet pan chicken dinner ideas, try these others too! Wanna make another favorite sheet pan dinner? Try our slow cooker bbq chicken thighs I swear once you try it this way that takes just about an hour it just might change your life. Ok, maybe just change the way you cook a bird from now on.
Other easy chicken thigh recipes you’ll love
Steak and veggies on a sheet pan would be a great choice too some night, or smoked chicken thighs. Can squeeze a bit of lemon juice on top like our Instant Pot lemon chicken, my family loves this one during the week. If you love this recipe try our Instant Pot honey mustard chicken with a yummy sauce too.
