One Pan Ranch Chicken With Veggies

Here’s how the (flavor) magic happens: Roasting bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (or thighs) with chopped broccoli and carrots causes the fat from the protein to flavor the vegetables while the heat from the oven turns the chicken golden and the vegetables bronze. A zingy homemade ranch sauce, fresh herbs, and a final squeeze of lemon keep the dish bright and perky, something that can often get lost in the lazy heat of the oven.

I plan to make a version of this sheet pan chicken all year, varying the ingredients based on the season. Try cauliflower and chickpeas in the winter, zucchini and red onions in the summer, leeks and leafy greens in the spring. Anything goes!

A few tips on the sheet pan dinner

• Cut your vegetables into equally-sized pieces so that they cook at the same rate.
• Don’t crowd the pan. If your ingredients are too close together, they will steam instead of crisp. If you’d really like to stuff more vegetables on the pan (I hear you), just finish cooking under the broiler— that should blast the ingredients with enough heat to get them golden brown. Better yet — just use two sheet pans.
• I like this dish with bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts because they stay juicy and succulent throughout the cooking process whereas boneless, skinless cuts almost always dry out. Chicken legs or thighs would work wonderfully too. Or a whole chicken!

Let’s make One Pan Ranch Chicken with Veggies

Add fresh broccoli and carrots to your sheet pan and season everything with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Take a bite and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables and pat them dry with a paper towel (this helps to encourage browning). Season the chicken with olive oil, salt, and pepper on both sides. Roast the chicken and vegetables for 45-50 minutes at 425°F, or until the internal temp of the chicken is about 165°F.

Meanwhile, mix sour cream, mayonnaise, parsley, dried dill weed, granulated garlic, granulated onion, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and vinegar in a small bowl.

Taste and adjust seasonings.

Transfer the chicken breast to a cutting board and let it rest at least 10 minutes. Turn the oven off, place the sheet pan with the vegetables (without the chicken) back in the oven to keep the vegetables warm while the chicken rests.

To serve, cut out the rib and breast bone and slice the chicken crosswise against the grain. Enjoy with the charred veggies, a squeeze of lemon, and a dollop of ranch.