Sheet Pan Chicken And Brussel Sprouts (With Honey Balsamic Sauce)
on Nov 25, 2018, Updated Aug 12, 2024
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Everyone will eat up their brussel sprouts if they’re served this sheet pan chicken and brussel sprouts dinner with its super delicious honey balsamic sauce. It’s quick & easy, ridiculously tasty, and all baked on the one pan!
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this sheet pan chicken and brussel sprouts recipe
- Skinless boneless chicken thighs. I love this moist, lean and widely available cut of meat.
- 3 vegetables (tasty brussels sprouts, mushrooms & onions all on the one pan!)
- Easy sheet pan dinner. I’m all for minimal dishes to clean up, and I’m sure you are too!
- Perfect for busy weeknights. This is incredibly easy to prepare with simple ingredients. Just marinate the chicken in the sauce, then throw it onto a sheet pan with the veggies.
- 30 minute dinner. Or a little over. I don’t think you will mind.
- Amazing simple honey balsamic sauce that mixes with the chicken juices as the dish cooks. You’ll find it doesn’t drench the vegetables, so they’re able to brown and begin to caramelize nicely on the top. But you still get plenty of the delicious sauce in every bite.
5 star review *****
“Thanks – made this for dinner… I was worried it may be too vinegary for my taste, but it was just right and delicious. Thanks for the recipe.” Sally
About the ingredients
Can you believe you only need FOUR MAIN INGREDIENTS (and 5 pantry ingredients for the yummy sauce) to make this brussel sprouts and chicken recipe?
Chicken thighs: I always use skinless boneless chicken thighs for this recipe, because they’ll cook in the same amount of time as the rest of the ingredients. Choose 4 big ones to make a satisfying meal for 4.
Brussels sprouts: I usually wash the brussels, top and tail them, and slice them in half so that they cook in the same time as everything else.
Mushrooms: I like brown mushrooms, but use any you like. Even regular white mushrooms will work.
Onion: Brown onions have a stronger flavor than red onions, but any onion is fine.
Butter: This is the ‘magic’ ingredient! Dot it all over the dish before it goes in the oven. The butter will melt into the sauce as it cooks. Yum!
5-ingredient sauce: honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard, herbs, corn-starch/cornflour.
The corn-starch slightly (very slightly) thickens the sauce. You can use any kind of mustard but I usually choose Dijon or Wholegrain for plenty of punchy flavor.
Dried herbs: I like Italian seasoning with Mediterranean style herbs such as basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram. If you don’t have these, simply use any dried herbs that you have or like.
How to make chicken with brussel sprouts on a sheet pan
One of the best things about this 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.
Put the bag into the fridge while you prepare the vegetables. Scatter the vegetables over a sheet pan/rimmed baking sheet, then nestle the chicken in among them.
Lastly, pour any remaining marinade in the bag over the chicken.
Serving ideas
- I usually just serve this sheet pan chicken with toasted bread sprinkled with olive oil and salt. Not only does this keep dinner super simple, but it’s surprisingly delicious, too.
- Rice would work well too. I think it would go particularly well with this lemony Mediterranean rice.
- 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. And use a very large sheet pan. Alternatively, make a separate pan of diced potatoes. You can pop them into the oven at the same time as the chicken.
- More in the mood for mash? How about truffle oil mashed potatoes?
Variations
Brussels sprouts hater in the house? 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.
Top tip: Try adding 2 cloves of crushed garlic to the sauce as well. Or how about a pinch of red pepper flakes or chili flakes is great if you enjoy a little heat?
Helen’s recipe tips and FAQ
You really don’t have to. However… I find this is one of those meals where the baking sheet gets really sticky and messy. So what I do is line it with some baking paper to make clean-up a lot easier.
You can, but I’d pre-roast them for 10 to 15 minutes before adding everything else to the baking tray. I like to use skinless boneless because they cook in the same amount of time as everything else.
Yes. This is one of those meals that can somehow taste even better the next day. Just keep the leftovers well covered in the fridge until the next evening. Reheat covered on 80% power in the microwave for around three and a half minutes (check that the chicken is thoroughly hot and if not give it a bit longer).
The brussels sprouts won’t be as crispy as they were when you first cooked them but the dish will still be very delicious!
Simply leave the dinner in the oven for an extra 5 minutes. The brussel sprouts should be starting to brown/caramelize lightly. I find that you don’t overcook the chicken thighs in this time – they are quite forgiving.
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!
More one pan chicken dinners
- This amazing sheet pan chicken tikka really is… amazing!
- Greek chicken and potatoes! Such a classic with a Greek salad on the side.
- 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. In more of a risotto kind of mood? Try this oven-baked chicken risotto with chorizo instead!
Sheet Pan Chicken And Brussel Sprouts (With Honey Balsamic Sauce)
Ingredients
- 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, (Italian seasoning or any dried herb mixture such as basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, parsley, rosemary.)
- 1 teaspoon corn starch , (mixed with a little water) UK = cornflour
- 14 ounces brussels sprouts, (Topped and tailed and cut into halves or even quarters if large.)
- 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.4 chicken thighs, ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, ¼ cup honey, 1 teaspoon mustard, 2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs, 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 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.14 ounces brussels sprouts, 5 ounces mushrooms, 1 medium onion, olive oil and salt & pepper
- 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.2 tbsp butter
- Sprinkle with plenty of salt and pepper, then roast for 35 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender and starting to caramelise in parts.
- Serve with toasted crusty bread, rice or potatoes.
Awesome recipe! I’ve made this dish several times. Like many others commented, the sprouts didn’t fully cook. I made the following changes:
1. Increased oven temp to 400.
2. I halve the sprouts.
3. I cover the pan with foil for the first 20 minutes. Then removed the foil, poked the sprouts and
used thermometer to check temperature on chicken. Returned dish to oven to continue
roasting till veggies and chicken are done. About 15 minutes.
I also used Tarragon (solely) as the spice.
Thanks for the feedback on the sprouts, Susan! I’ll look at tweaking the instructions to reflect the changes you made since a few readers have experienced the same issue. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe though! Have a great day!
Thanks – made this for dinner. I added fresh herbs rather than dried (rosemary, thyme, oregano and parsley) as we had them in the garden, plus some fresh garlic and ginger to the marinade. I cooked on roast function in my Instant Pot Duo Crisp, so reduced the cooking time a little.
I was worried that it may be too vinegary for my taste, but it was just right and delicious, thanks for the recipe.
Hello Sally! Thank you so much for the feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed this, and I love that you adapted it for your particular IP. So many readers are telling me how they’re using home grown produce in my recipes lately, which I so appreciate! Would love to start growing some veggies in my own garden soon (just got to deal with the weeds first!). Thanks again for your support, and have a great week 🙂
This was a delicious recipe, but I had a couple questions/comments about it. I wasn’t sure what dried mixed herbs to use, so I’d be interested to know what herbs you use, or if this is a type of spice you can buy. I used Herbs de Provence and it was good. Also, it may be my oven, but the brussels sprouts weren’t done after 35 minutes, so I turned it up to 400 and left them in another 10 minutes. They could have used 15 minutes. I even cut the bigger ones in half.
Hi Linda, Herbs de Provence are absolutely fine. Also Italian herbs or any kind of herb mix. Thanks for the feedback on the cooking time. Next time I make this again I’ll double check the cooking time and temp and make a note of your findings in the recipe. I’d definitely cut the brussels in half and maybe in quarters if they’re really big. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks so much for the honest feedback! 🙂
Thank you so much! It was scrummy! Did garlic and it is worth the peel! I learned that spooning the jus over everything whilst serving maxed the sweetness and flavour. Might try replacing the balsamic with soy and adding a little chilli, Asian transposition? Yum, will keep checking and trying your Scrummy recipes. I have an amazing Sri Lankan chicken curry recipe from a holiday experience that is probably my death row meal after a Super Supreme with extra cheese from Pizza Hut. Stuffed crust and garlic bread with cheese on the side not withstanding 😝
So happy you enjoyed this too, Trevor – thanks so much for taking the time to leave feedback. I like the sound of your Asian twist. The Sri Lankan curry sounds incredible. You’ve got me thinking now about what my death row last meal would be hahaha. I wonder if I’d be feeling too sick already to eat anything at all, but in theory I’d go for Thai too… or Mexican… followed by something very gooey and chocolaty.
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.
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 😉
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.
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!
What herbs do you recommend? This looks delicious!
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!
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!
Thanks, Chef Mimi! I really appreciate you saying that. Maybe you could replace the brussels with broccoli or cauliflower? Good luck!
This looks amazing! I love the simplicity of one pan meals!
Me too! Thank you, Wilhelmina!
Omg! I am literally salivating over my screen right now. This looks amazing!
Thanks, Abeer! I really hope you give it a go soon. It’s soooo delicious and easy!
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!
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!