| Special for the Republic of Arizona
Even if it sounds too good to be true, you can use sheet metal cooking to prepare, cook and serve an entire meal – from the main course to the side dishes – in one fell swoop. Not only is preparation easy when the ingredients have a chance to cook together, blend and develop while frying, the result is layer upon layer of flavor with every bite.
You don’t need fancy equipment here. A large, sturdy sheet pan is best, but if you have smaller pans and need to use two for a full meal, this will work too. The nice thing about cooking in the sheet pan is that the side walls are low (as opposed to a casserole dish or roaster) so that all the edges of the food in the pan are exposed to direct heat, resulting in great browning.
Although a pan pan meal can be made with almost any combination of meat, vegetables and spices, in the example I offer below, tender chicken is seasoned with fresh lemon, garlic, rosemary and a touch of Dijon and then fried with potatoes and peppers.
As the meal cooks, the chicken’s flavorful marinade and hearty juices enhance the flavor of the vegetables while they caramelize perfectly. The food is fresh and light, and although prepared with very few ingredients, the flavors are high. That’s the nice thing about sheet-metal cooking.
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Can you cook chicken and vegetables on the same sheet pan?
Roasting meat and vegetables on a sheet pan ensures that every piece of food is cooked perfectly from the outer edge to the moist center. And the intense heat of the oven browns everything nicely without you having to constantly stir and be careful. Why is tanning important? Because “brown” means “taste”.
There are no rules for using meat and vegetables, just know: anything you’ve fried separately can probably be combined into a full meal. The trick is to make sure that your partner’s food is ready to cook at the same time.
To guarantee success every time, cut all the ingredients into uniform sizes and shapes (if possible). If you’re working with whole chicken breasts, pork chops, or steaks, you will likely need a head start in cooking.
For example, if you’re cooking pork chops and asparagus, the chops may need a head start of five to 10 minutes (the asparagus should be added when there are about 10 minutes left). Chicken and potatoes can start cooking together, while peppers should be added to the sheet pan for the last five to 10 minutes of cooking.
Using a simple roast time table, you can plan your pan in stages, from longest to shortest cooking time, but in many cases you can stack everything on the sheet and leave the rest to the oven.
What are the roasting times when cooking in a tray?
The cooking time depends on the size of the food. Chicken breasts, steaks, and pork chops take longer than smaller, thinner vegetables, but when roasting in a preheated 400F oven, the following times are a good place to start.
Chicken Breasts and Legs: 20 to 35 minutes, depending on size and boneless or boneless (a meat thermometer should reach 165 degrees).
Steaks, burgers and meatballs: 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the size and degree of cooking desired.
Pork Chops: 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the thickness (a meat thermometer should reach 145 degrees).
Fish fillets, prawns and scallops: 8 to 15 minutes.
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots: 30 to 45 minutes.
Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts: 15 to 25 minutes.
Zucchini, summer squash, peppers, onions, tomatoes: 10 to 20 minutes.
Asparagus, green beans, snow peas: 10 to 20 minutes.
Recipe: sheet pan with lemon and rosemary chicken
This recipe is endlessly customizable, so don’t hesitate to use what you have on hand. If you plan to use boneless chicken breasts or thighs, reduce the cooking time by about five to eight minutes.
Serves: 4th
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil, plus more for brushing the potatoes and peppers
- 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 ½ pounds of skinless chicken thighs or 1 pound of boneless chicken breasts
- 1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut in half
- 2 peppers, any color, pitted, cut into 2-inch pieces, or 4-6 mini peppers, halved and pitted
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Chopped fresh parsley for serving (optional)
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- In a shallow bowl or zippered bag, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, rosemary and garlic together. Add the chicken and toss to brush by working the marinade into the chicken with your hands. (At this point, you can chill the chicken for up to 24 hours if you’re not ready to cook.)
- On the prepared pan, arrange the chicken in a single layer. Drizzle the potatoes with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and arrange in a single layer around the chicken. Season the chicken and potatoes with salt and black pepper. Bake for 25 minutes.
- Drizzle the peppers with a little olive oil. Carefully remove the sheet and place the peppers next to the chicken and potatoes. Return to the oven and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through (a meat thermometer should read 165 degrees), the potatoes are tender and the peppers are slightly charred.
- Take the tray out of the oven and cover the chicken and vegetables with fresh parsley (if used). Arrange or serve directly from the sheet pan.
Questions or Comments? Email the kitchen team at cook@azcentral.com.
