One Pan Baked Chicken And Sweet Potatoes With Maple Orange Sauce
I can't get enough of easy one pot chicken meals. They're great for crowd pleasing midweek meals, but also for easy entertaining. Sweet potatoes, green beans, garlic, spinach, and chicken all get bathed in a delicious sweet maple orange sauce. Oh, and don't forget those lovely crunchy pecans.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- ½ sweet potato (medium) peeled and chopped into small chunks (1 to 2cm)
- 8 cloves garlic unpeeled
- 3½ ounces green beans (about 1 large handful, topped and tailed and sliced in half)
- 1 pound chicken thighs skinless boneless, 4 to 5 large thighs
- 1 orange zest and juice (try zesting the orange with the thick grater for larger pieces of zest)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (or a large pinch) optional
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup spinach (I used baby spinach - a big handful)
- 1 ounce pecan nuts (about a handful)
to serve
- toasted bread with olive oil and salt, or rice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F / 200C.
- Add the sweet potato, garlic and green beans to a medium baking dish. Tuck the chicken between the vegetables.
- Whisk the zest and orange juice with the maple syrup. Add a large pinch of ground cinnamon, if using.
- Drizzle the whole dish with the oil, then pour the juice / syrup over the chicken.
- Grind over plenty of salt and pepper, then bake for 50 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the sweet potatoes are tender.
- 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the spinach, tucking it down into the sauce as much as possible, and sprinkle over the pecans.
- Serve with the bread or rice.
Video
Notes
Using bone in skin on chicken thighs: This is fine, but you might need to add around 10 minutes to the cooking time. Also add the green beans around half way through to stop them overcooking.
Garlic: No need to peel before adding to the dish. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin and into the juices as you eat. Delicious!
No maple syrup? You can use honey instead!
Orange zest: I like to zest the orange with the large side of the grater so that there are bigger pieces of zest in the marinade.
No pecans, or got a nut allergy to consider? No worries. Either skip the nuts altogether (the dish will still be delicious) or replace with hazelnuts, macadamias or walnuts.
Making ahead: This is a perfect dish to make ahead, especially if you're entertaining. Just throw everything into the dish apart from the spinach and pecans. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.
A note on portion size: This dish serves 4, but the portions are on the modest side! If you or your guests have appetites on the larger side, I'd suggest using a bigger baking dish and adding a little more of everything ;-)
Try it with salmon: Give the sweet potatoes and garlic a 15-minute head start in the oven (drizzle with a bit of olive oil first). Then add everything else including the salmon and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes until the salmon is cooked. I'd also skip the pecans!
Nutrition
Calories: 427kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 113mg | Potassium: 569mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 5049IU | Vitamin C: 25mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 2mg
