This one pan dinner is going to change your life! That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but what’s not to love about this honey balsamic chicken? Quick & easy, loaded with superfoods, and ridiculously tasty.
Why do most of my favourite quick and easy dinner recipes seem to involve throwing chicken thighs into a baking dish with various other veggies and flavours?
Because they’re crowd pleasers, they include HEALTHY and DELICIOUS roasted veggies, and of course they’re SUPER QUICK & EASY. And that’s what we’re always looking for around here.
I’ve probably bored you to death already with the number I’ve times I’ve told you this, but I’m sure you’ll forgive me after you make this and find out for yourself just how delicious this honey balsamic chicken is.
So why is this so good?
This is a perfect easy weeknight dinner recipe for the following reasons (unless you happen to be a brussels sprouts or mushroom hater… and if so, I dare you to try this all the same!):
- It’s a skinless boneless chicken thigh recipe = super easy, affordable lean meat option.
- It includes super healthy brussels sprouts, mushrooms & onions!
- It’s a sheet pan meal, which means minimal dishes to clean up.
- It’s incredibly easy to prepare. Just marinate the chicken in the sauce, then throw it onto a sheet pan with the veggies.
- It’s ready in a little over 30 minutes.
- The honey balsamic sauce is absolutely divine – I can’t imagine anyone not liking it!
If you’re interested in finding tastier ways to serve super healthy green vegetables like brussels sprouts, then I’d highly recommend this recipe.
The sauce contains just 5 ingredients:
HONEY
BALSAMIC VINEGAR
MUSTARD
HERBS
CORN STARCH / CORNFLOUR
Garlic… or no garlic?
I considered including garlic too, but didn’t bother in the end. Partly because I hate peeling garlic (!!) and also because the dish already includes onions.
I thought I could get away without bothering with garlic in this instance. If you want to include it in your marinade though, by all means do so! (2 cloves would probably be about right)
A SUPER quick and easy dinner…
One of the best things about this sheet pan chicken dinner is how easy it is to prepare. All you do is throw the chicken thighs into a Ziploc bag with the 4 marinade ingredients and smoosh around.
Pop the bag into the fridge while you prepare the vegetables. Scatter the vegetables over a baking tray, then nestle the chicken in among them.
Lastly, pour any leftover marinade in the bag over the chicken.
… with a perfect easy sauce!
You’ll find the sauce pools all over the tray, mixing with the chicken juices as it cooks, which is exactly what you want.
It doesn’t drench the vegetables, so they’re able to brown and begin to caramelise nicely on the top, but you still get plenty of the delicious sauce in every bite.
Another ingenius thing is the tiny bit of corn starch / cornflour you add to the marinade. It slightly (very slightly) thickens the sauce, which I think makes it just perfect.
It’s so easy to make. Just throw everything onto a baking tray, and drizzle over the marinade![/caption]
Sounds delicious, but I HATE brussels sprouts!
Brussels sprouts hater? No problem!
Various other vegetables would work. How about:
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- sweet potato or butternut squash cubes
- bell peppers / capsicum
- small cubes of eggplant
- zucchini
All of these vegetables will do fine being in the oven for the half an hour that your chicken takes to cook.
If you choose sweet potato, butternut squash/pumpkin or eggplant, just make sure you cube them into fairly small pieces so that they’re nice and soft at the end of the cooking time.
What to serve with it
I usually just serve this sheet pan chicken with toasted bread sprinkled with olive oil and salt. I do this with pretty much all the sheet pan dinners I make! I’m so (un) original.
It’s just so tasty, and the easiest carb option…
Rice would work well too, as would some kind of potato side. I think it would go particularly well with this lemony Mediterranean rice with chickpeas. I’d probably make this the previous day, however, to keep the main meal nice and easy.
You can even add potatoes!
Or if you wanted to you could sneak a few diced potatoes onto the sheet pan. Just make sure you give the potatoes about a 20 minute head start in the oven if you decide to do this.
Maybe use a slightly larger baking tray, too. You don’t want the ingredients to crowd each other out too much.
Brussels sprouts season? Why not try these honey balsamic brussels sprouts with caramelized onions, pine nuts and feta too? They make an AMAZING side dish with a difference!
Love sheet pan / one pan chicken dinners? Here are some more ideas:
- This amazing sheet pan chicken tikka really is… amazing!
- We make this baked Greek chicken and potatoes time and time again… for good reason.
- This one pan baked chicken with chorizo is another recipe that we keep coming back to time and time again. Pile just 5 main ingredients into a baking dish and bake.
- Ever tried a tagine? This Moroccan chicken stew is aromatic, sweet and delicious – sure to become a family favourite!
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Honey balsamic chicken with mushrooms & brussels sprouts (one pan dinner)
Ingredients (UK/Australia? Click below for grams/ml)
- 4 chicken thighs (large skinless boneless)
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon mustard Any, but I’d recommend French, English or wholegrain
- 2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
- 1 teaspoon corn starch (mixed with a little water) UK = cornflour
- 14 ounces brussels sprouts
- 5 ounces mushrooms sliced into large pieces
- 1 medium onion sliced into large chunks
- olive oil and salt & pepper for drizzling
- 2 tbsp butter for dotting (rough estimate)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
- Put the chicken thighs into a Ziploc bag, then add the balsamic vinegar, honey, mustard, herbs, and cornstarch (corn flour). Close the top of the bag and smoosh around until the chicken is well covered in the marinade. Place the bag on a plate and store in the fridge while you assemble the rest of the dish.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper, then scatter the brussels sprouts, mushrooms and onions over the tray. Drizzle over a little olive oil, then toss with your hands or a big spoon.
- Tuck the chicken from the Ziploc bag in among the vegetables, then pour the rest of the marinade over the chicken. Dot the top of the chicken with little bits of the butter.
- Sprinkle with plenty of salt and pepper, then roast for 35 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are starting to caramelise in parts.
- Serve with toasted crusty bread, rice or potatoes.
Janet Schilling says
You never say anything in the directions about the olive oil or butter so I am using the oil on the veggies and dotting the chicken with butter. Fingers crossed.
Helen says
Hi Janet! Great catch! Sorry about that. You guessed correctly and I hope you enjoyed the meal. I’ll change it in the recipe right now 😉
Kay says
The chicken in this recipe was wonderfully moist and tender, but the small brussel sprouts and the squash that I added were still hard. I reheated it later in the week; veggies were somewhat softened, but the chicken was overcooked.
Helen says
Hi Kay! Sorry to hear this! What I normally do is cook the veggies until they are starting to brown/caramelize, then taste to check they’re cooked. It’s OK if you go slightly over the cooking time. The chicken won’t overcook for the sake of 5 to 10 minutes longer. I hope you’ll give this another go – it’s one of my favourite sheet pan dinners!
Mindy says
What herbs do you recommend? This looks delicious!
Helen says
Hi Mindy! I decided to just use dried mixed herbs to keep things simple, but you can use any dried herbs you happen to like or have!
mimi rippee says
This is a beautiful meal. My husband thinks he doesn’t like Brussels sprouts, so I could never use your combination, but after almost 37 years of cooking for him, I know what he would like. It’s a great recipe!
Helen says
Thanks, Chef Mimi! I really appreciate you saying that. Maybe you could replace the brussels with broccoli or cauliflower? Good luck!
Wilhelmina Wessel says
This looks amazing! I love the simplicity of one pan meals!
Helen says
Me too! Thank you, Wilhelmina!
Abeer Rizvi says
Omg! I am literally salivating over my screen right now. This looks amazing!
Helen says
Thanks, Abeer! I really hope you give it a go soon. It’s soooo delicious and easy!
ann says
Sounds good to me including Brussel Sprouts (luv them) but might leave it until it cools down a wee bit ……currently 40 deg C. I’m not putting the oven on for anything!
Helen says
Oh wow – 40? Temperature keeps swinging up and down here still. Beautiful day today – about 23 degrees! Good plan to save this for a cooler day!