Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken and Veggies

This easy Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken and Veggies meal is so delicious and cozy. Once you cut the vegetables, it’s pretty hands off.

Ingredients

For this sheet pan meal, we’re going to use a variety of root vegetables along with the chicken leg quarters. This cut of chicken is the chicken thigh and drumstick still together. The skin-on, bone-in chicken legs are what I use and they are usually priced very budget friendly.

The veggies that I chose to use are turnips, carrots, parsnips, and colorful baby potatoes. While you can switch up which vegetables to use, you want ones that will all cook in the same amount of time.

If you don’t have access to the small, waxy potatoes, regular russet potatoes can be used in their place, peeled or unpeeled. If parsnips or turnips aren’t available, or you just prefer something else, no problem. Additional carrots, peeled sweet potatoes, or even peeled and cubed butternut squash can be substituted.

Roasting Chicken And Vegetables At The Same Time

Chicken leg quarters, on average, can take 45 to 50 minutes to cook. The root vegetables need to be cut to a specific size so they are cooked through without burning but still become caramelized.

Cut the root vegetables into half-inch cubes. Anything smaller will burn, and anything larger won’t become caramelized because it will produce too much steam in the oven as it cooks.

How To Make Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken And Veggies

To make the Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies, first preheat the oven to 420°F.

Place the diced turnips, parsnips, carrots, and potatoes onto the baking sheet, then add the olive oil, thyme, and half of the salt. Toss everything together right on the pan until the vegetables are well coated in the oil and salt. Spread everything into a single layer on the sheet pan.

Rub the remaining salt all over the chicken legs – top, bottom, and sides – then place the chicken legs on top of the vegetables, skin side up. Sprinkle the garlic powder evenly over both chicken legs.

Place the sheet pan into the oven and bake for 55 minutes or until the chicken registers 165°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh.

Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Can I Double The Recipe?

Yes, you can double this recipe, but you’ll want to use two sheet pans. Why? In testing, I found that putting four chicken legs on the sheet pan with vegetables, even if I could make it fit, just didn’t work well. If you overcrowd the pan there is too much steam happening during cooking to get the veggies nicely caramelized. We want everything beautifully roasted, not steamed.

The solution? Use two pans so that everything has plenty of room. Halfway through the cook time, rotate the pans for even cooking. If one is above the other, switch the positions and rotate them around.

Podcast Episode: Roasting Chicken And Veggies