In the game of weeknight cooking — which I feel, at best, is rigged and not in our favor especially if you (or you and your partner) are out working all day — our allies are as follows:
- Children, should you have them, happy to eat dinner at 8/9 p.m. on a weekday. (Let me know where to find them.)
- Prepping and planning meals over the weekend so everything is mostly ready to go when you get home from work. (Requires a desire to spend any part of the weekend prepping meals, which I, regrettably, do not.)
- Mastering the slow-cooker, so your dinner is ready when you get home.
- Mastering the pressure-cooker, so long cooking times can be reduced to smidgens.
- Contentment with quick simple meals (scrambled egg toasts, frozen tortellini, sandwiches) and/or a deep arsenal of great recipes that come together quickly.
- Meal delivery services, which take the recipe-selection, shopping and prep work out of cooking, making it go faster.
And so, with this, I am announcing that I’m leaving my job here at Smitten Kitchen LLC to go work for a meal delivery start-up. All the best food writers are doing it! I kid, I kid.
In fact, I wanted to talk about something that can fit nicely into the fifth item: sheet pan dinners, because I’m rather taken with them these days. It shouldn’t be a radical concept — everything on a sheet pan, into the oven, roasted at once — but I think in these days of restaurant chef-driven home cooking, subrecipes and cooking with multiple components has become more the norm than it should. The holy grail of the single-tray category I’d say is the 2014 Sheet Pan Suppers cookbook from Molly Gilbert, a paean to maximum ease, minimal cleanup and flavor intensification of roasting and broiling. Another great solo act in this category is Melissa Clark’s Roasted Chicken with Potatoes, Arugula and Garlic Yogurt as charming for its flavors and textures as it is for the stop-you-in-your-tracks stunning work of Andrew Scriviani’s camera.
But all I’ve ever wanted to add to this lot is a riff on an Indian-spiced chicken that favors roasting over a saucy braise. The chicken tikka you see in restaurants is, in the words of Meera Sodha, “so luminously orange you could see it from space.” Fortunately, in her excellent Made In India cookbook — a collection of recipes aimed at dispelling the myth that Indian food is intimidating or complicated, intended for first-timers and/or seasoned cooks, using no wild goose chase ingredients, which means if I could stamp it with the praise hands emoji, I would — Sodha shares her family recipe. But, because I’m a heretic, or someone who at best inauthentically dabbles in Indian cooking, I didn’t want my tikka on skewers as it’s usually presented, but with some aloo gobi (cauliflower and potatoes) in there for more of a meat-and-potatoes type meal. The results were so good, half the vegetables didn’t make it to the dinner table because my husband and I kept plucking away at them.
One year ago: Strawberry-Rhubarb Soda Syrup
Two years ago: Dark Chocolate Coconut Macaroons
Three years ago: Spinach and Smashed Egg Toast
Four years ago: Banana Bread Crepe Cake with Butterscotch
Five years ago: Blackberry Coconut Macaroon Tart
Six years ago: Radicchio Apple and Pear Salad
Seven years ago: Bialys
Eight years ago: Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake
Nine years ago: Arborio Rice Pudding
And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Cannoli Pound Cake
1.5 Years Ago: Better Chocolate Babka
2.5 Years Ago: Purple Plum Torte
3.5 Years Ago: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
4.5 Years Ago: Apple Pie Cookies
Sheet Pan Chicken Tikka
Chicken marinade adapted from Made In India
Notes:
- In the recipe in the book, Sodha has you mash the ginger, garlic, chiles and spice in a mortar and pestle to a paste. I suppose you could also process them in a food processor or blender. I went for the method that required the least extra objects and just minced everything and mixed it, which is how I’ve written it below. If you’d prefer not to mince, definitely use one of these other methods.
- I show this (perhaps confusingly) in a 10×15-inch pan, which is the biggest that fits in my tiny oven. I scaled the recipe for a proper sheet (technically a half-sheet) pan most of us use, a 13×18-inch. You could also divide this over 2 quarter-sheet (9×13-inch) pans. The 10×15-inch version you see here yielded an awkward three servings, fine for us, not for most people.
- Cooking times will of course vary by the size of your chicken pieces. When roasting chicken breasts (always large) and drumsticks and thighs together, I halve the breasts right through the bone to even up the cooking time.
- Don’t have garam masala? Sadly, neither do I after purging some dusty spices all of five days ago. (D’oh!) To roughly approximate 1 1/3 teaspoons (yes, slightly more than you’ll need because I’m presuming everyone will be missing a spice or two below) garam masala you can use: 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/8 teaspoon each ground cumin, cardamom and mustard, 1/16 teaspoon each ground black pepper and ground fennel, plus a pinch of ground cloves and ground cayenne. “Deb, you’ve got to be kidding me…” I know, I know. You could also just add a few extra pinches of several of those and have a delightfully spiced outcome.
- Worried about spiciness? Because I think this is a good thing to know about whoever is writing your recipes, I consider myself a moderate heat appreciator, but I cook fairly mild because my 6.5 year old is not. Even with a full jalapeno in there (which can run quite mild or hot, so not necessarily a perfect measure) and a 1/4 teaspoon spicy chili powder, this was just lightly hot. The yogurt really dulls the heat. Hope that offers a guidance so you can adjust it to your preference.
Serves 4
For the chicken
1 3/4-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced (see Note up top)
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 fresh green chili (I used a jalapeno), seeded and minced
1/2 cup whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder or cayenne, or adjusted to taste (I used 1/4 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 pounds chicken thighs, drumsticks or halved chicken breasts (all skin-on, bone-in)
For the vegetables
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 pounds (about 4 medium) Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled if desired, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
1 3/4 pounds (1 small or half a very large head) cauliflower, cut into 3/4-inch-wide florets
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
To finish, if desired
A few thin slices of red onion
Lemon wedges
Salt
Dollops of yogurt
A few tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro, parsley or mint, or a mix therof
Combine ginger, garlic, fresh chili, yogurt, salt, spices and sugar in a freezer bag, bowl or container. Add chicken pieces and toss to coat evenly. Let marinate for 15 minutes or up to a day in the fridge.
When you’re ready to cook the dish, heat your oven to 425°F. Line a half-sheet (13×18-inch) with foil and coat it with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add potatoes, cauliflower, salt, cumin and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and toss together with you hands until evenly coated.
Remove chicken from marinade and leave excess behind. Make spaces in the vegetables for chicken parts throughout the pan. Roast in oven for 20 minutes, then toss the potato and cauliflower to ensure they’re cooking evenly, and return the pan to the oven for 10 to 20 minutes more (i.e. 30 to 40 minutes total roasting time), until chicken and vegetables are cooked through.
While it roasts, if you’d like to use the lightly pickled onion rings that we did on top, which added a nice tangy fresh zip to the dish, separate the rings and toss them in a small bowl with a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Set aside until needed.
When chicken and vegetables are cooked, top with garnishes of your choice — we used dollops of yogurt, herbs and scattered the above onion rings all over. Serve right in the pan.
First! (Sorry…)
The colors are so vibrant!! I think a bit of chutney or raita would be fab too!!
I love oven dishes like this one. But I’ve never tried this qith Indian spices. Maybe I could get my kids to try this if I replaced the cauliflower… hmmm..
Thanks Deb, for all the great recipes and beautiful photographs :-))
P.S. and no more scares about leaving smitten kizchen, alright!?!?! My blood pressure…..
I want to make this for a meal train for my coworker who is recovering from surgery her family doesn’t eat potatoes could I sub for chickpeas? I wonder how many like 215 ounce cans? Do you think they would dry out?
I roast chickpeas and cauliflower all the time and they’re great. Just toss with the olive oil. I think one 14.5 ounce can would be the right amount for this recipe. Roasted butternut squash would also be a good substitute for the potatoes. Or use all three!
I find it uncanny how often you post exactly what I need in the moment I need it. It’s amazing how many times I make your recipes the day you post them. I’m making this for dinner tonight. Thank you.
This looks delicious!! Any suggestions (or is it even possible??) for how to substitute the yogurt for the lactose intolerant and dairy-averse crowd?
Coconut milk.
Wouldn’t coconut milk be a little thin?
Also a sub for cow-milk yogurt AND coconut milk, for family members with true allergies to dairy & nuts. Thanks@
Soy yogurt.
Coconut cream!
If you refridgerate coconut milk, you can whip it like whipped cream, and probably stop before it gets to thick to pull off a yogurt consistency! No sweetener. My mom and sissy are both lacto-no-nos.
I made the this with dairy free coconut milk yogurt – turned out GREAT! http://sodeliciousdairyfree.com/products/cultured-coconut-milk/unsweetened-cultured-coconut-milk
Coconut yoghurt.
I was planning to make your eggs puttanesca tonight, but now I’m thinking of saving that til later and making this instead, looks so yummy and easy!! PS thanks for the smoosh-worthy photo of the kiddos. I think yours are the same age diff as mine, boy 4 yrs older than girlie? Xo
Yes, yes, more recipes like this one, please. Sheet pan meals are great. Melissa Clark’s sheet pan chicken is like old faithful in my house.
I survive weekday dinners with these one pan affairs. I have yet to cook with garam masala, maybe this will be my intro. It could be delicious even without it.
Is there any non-dairy substitute that you can recommend for the yogurt? This dish sounds delightful and I’m hoping there’s a way to make it kosher.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your amazing recipes. And baby photos.
This is many months later, but I made this using coconut milk rather than yogurt. It was delicious, kosher and didn’t taste coconut-y at all.
I used cashews and it turned out beautifully!! Delicious recipe!
I make a slow cooker chicken tikka and replace the yogurt with coconut milk.
How do you feel about making the same replacement here?
OMG, you nearly gave me a heart attack with that second paragraph! (But you’re right…Jamie Oliver’s HelloFresh, Mark Bittman’s Purple Carrot, who’s next?)
I can’t wait to try this, but I have to try it with something other than cauliflower. It does not agree with me. Any suggestions? I was thinking some potatoes, onions and maybe carrots?
I LOVE your blog, and this might be my new go-to recipe!
This looks amazing! Unfortunately my daughter, who will eat almost anything, refuses to touch skin-on, bone-in chicken. Sigh. Can it be made with skinless, boneless breasts and thighs?
This recipe looks gorgeous! The writing has become so small and tight on your site. Is it on purpose or is it my computer? I need a magnifying glass!
Non-dairy — I haven’t cooked with soy yogurt, but it might work here. Mostly, you’re looking for something faintly creamy and tangy to help infuse the chicken with spice. A soy or almond milk plus lemon or vinegar might work.
Instead of cauliflower — Carrots might work too, although they tend to brown more quickly at high temperatures like this than potatoes do. I was tempted to add pieces of onion but didn’t want it to overwhelm and wasn’t positive they wouldn’t burn before 30/40 minutes were up. You might also use cubes of squash or sweet potato.
Leaving SK — Hehe, sorry, couldn’t resist. Keep hanging out here and trying the recipes (and you know, tell your friends and family and neighbors and mail carriers) and I hope to be around for a good while longer. :)
Sandra — Nothing has changed in size but I promise, if we ever finish this redesign (estimate this month! one can hope…) the font will be normal-sized and readable. In the meanwhile, Cntrl-+ on my Mac enlarges the font on any page.
Glad to see your take on the sheet pan dinner! This one looks delightful.
Being a working mom myself, I am fully aware of the struggle. I was silently saying “Amen” to your whole list of allies to us busy people. I love Indian food and this looks awesome and the one pan thing makes me so happy!
Also, RE non-dairy yogurts: I’ve successfully subbed both soy and coconut-milk yogurts for a number of recipes. I find them fairly vile for straight-up eating (though I’m glad to hear recommendations for brands that aren’t awful), but as ingredient substitutions they seem to work pretty well. Watch out for sugar; some varieties have a LOT more than plain dairy yogurts, which can throw things off.
I’m having an Indian Food night this weekend, and I found a recipe for tikka wings that have very similar flavors. I was JUST having a panic attack about not having garam masala..
Thank you!
This looks so good! And a dead ringer for the “traybakes” that British food writers have been putting in their cookbooks (and instagram feeds), forever (which I know we’ve also been making in America forever, but their name is more charming)
Also, one pan dishes are my favorite! Years ago, I made one from Nigella’s book and I’ve never looked back!
I, too, will be making this for dinner tonight. Thanks for the easy ingredients!
Sweet potato – of course…! Thank you for answering. I’ll definitely try this.
love sheet pan suppers! I’m currently reading Molly Gilbert’s book – the orange salmon with lentils and green beans was delicious.
Also, my WHOLE family loves the Wednesday Chef’s rendition of Melissa Clark’s Roasted Broccoli with Shrimp – it’s a keeper:
http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2009/01/melissa-clarks-roasted-broccoli-with-shrimp.html
I made this last night. I allowed the chicken to marinate 24 hours I used fingerling potatoes that were purplish. Not only was it beautiful to look at but It was phenomenally delicious and easy! Can’t wait to try other recipes from this website.
I’m obsessed with sheet pan dinners ever since one of my foodie magazines highlighted them! My favorite is red onion/sweet potato/spicy sausage links/kale, but I don’t discriminate in my love for something a) delicious, b) quick, and c) cleanup-free if you line the pan with parchment. It’s a thing of beauty.
YES! All hail the one pan meal! I am always looking for easy and delicious dinners to cook throughout the week and usually fall victim to the dreaded casserole but this recipe looks unique and flavorful – I will definitely try this out!
Is it weird to consider mayo as a non dairy sub for the yogurt?
The sheet pan chicken from the NY Times is my new favorite – my little girls love it! This sounds like a good one to try next.
Oh, I love Indian food and the only resto in town closed. This is much-needed. Husband won’t eat chicken, though, so I will have to try it with another creature.
Re meal preparation, in French Elle a couple of years ago, the always-hilarious Dr. Aga asked the question, “Can a man cook as well as a woman?” She invited a big-name chef to make a family meal in less than 30 minutes (the time studies showed the average French housewife spends on cooking). He failed miserably and it was hysterical. For one thing, Dr. Aga evicted the sous chef, and M. Chef had to chop everything himself and cut himself.
Years ago, when I was making the painful transition from single careerist who ate a box of raspberries for dinner at the computer and was OK with that to a mother who had to set a good example and serve at least two meals a day (kid and husband came home for lunch!) I tried to devise a kind of meal-delivery service, or at least a kind of program that would plan meals based on inputs (or exclusions like allergies or husband’s chicken aversion), then spit out a shopping list, because isn’t that the worst part? However, my computer skills stopped in 1980, so I fell short. I see I missed out on a fortune.
Indian grocery stores sell jars of equal portions of ground ginger and garlic. I know that the are not always in equal portions in all Indian recipes, but it is one less thing that I need to do to get food on the table– and much better than using the dried out hunk of ginger in the bottom of the vegetable drawer. Many of my Indian friends keep a jar in the fridge, that they have either purchased or made on their own, which makes me feel that it is an acceptable option.
I make ginger garlic paste, and freeze it for my indian cooking with a 50/50 ratio, plus a couple tbsp of water and blend in a food processor (however, you can use other ratios i.e. more ginger, or make the garlic and ginger pastes separately) and freeze in ice cube trays (and then put in ziplock bags) or put a thin layer in a quart or so sized zip lock bag and freeze flat. This way I always have ginger and garlic for indian recipes, it saves me time on the prep, and I can also use it in other recipes like salad dressings when thawed, saving time peeling, cutting, mincing, grating etc. I prefer the bag method with the paste in a thin layer, and I just break off approximately what I need each time. It keeps for months! Currently have this one in the oven and it smells and looks great (I used a butterflied whole chicken, so I had to use a cast iron for the chicken and one for the veggies).
This looks delicious – and, I hear you. My favorite weeknight allies are dishes that marinate overnight and then roast or grill fairly quickly and things I can drum up in my electric PC… Two other sheet pan recipes you might like – a chicken/sausage/potato tray bake from Nigellissima and a zahtar (sp) and sumac chicken with onions from Ottolenghi (added potatoes to that as well)…
I am in for this for sure!! Funny you should post this because I am doing a dish like this tonight. It has asparagus rather than the cauliflower. Love meals that can be cooked all at once. Oh and did I mention how flavourful they are?? Thanks again!!
This will definitely be in next week’s dinner lineup! This post combines so many things I love- Molly Gilbert’s book and sheet pan dinners, roasted cauliflower, and Indian food.
My husband’s go-to Indian take-out is chicken tikka, and mine is aloo gobi. I might have to make this a 2-pan dinner (I’m vegetarian), but this seems like a perfect way to get our favorites!
I have NEVER commented before, but I had to today, to say that my heart was legit in my throat and POUNDING when I read that you were leaving the blog. PHEW. Never leave me, Deb.
This looks so delicious, and I bet it’s super easy to make, just preparing everything and putting it in the oven while you relax on the sofa. Perfect for those evenings when you don’t want to stand in the kitchen for too long!
That’s a lot of work for chicken and potatoes. With cauliflower.
I literally got a little panicked when I read you may be leaving. Seriously, not funny……. I’ve just started trying to reliably get dinner on the table more than once a week and need all the help I can get. To that end, if I leave out the jalapeno and chili powder (husband’s intense heartburn) will the dish taste dull?
Sheet pan recipes are a life saver and this one tops them all! Thanks for taking the planning out of our dinner menu! Delish!
Really! Don’t scare us. :) Thanks for the heat index scoring.
any thoughts on subbing the chicken for fish? perhaps halibut?
Hi Deb, I recently had a tikka paneer (how I got to be a full blown adult before I learned that you could Indian-spice and grill cheese remains a mystery)… Have any thoughts on swapping some of the chicken for paneer here for a less meat-heavy meal?
I have used creamed coconut to sub for yoghurt for a lactose-intolerant friend when attempting Indian cooking, which has mixed well with spices (good for marinade, would have to be stirred in at end, rather than just dollops on top).
My solution to the dried-out hunk of ginger problem is to buy or make a jar of pickled ginger, you know, the kind that comes with sushi, AKA gari. It’s very close to the same flavour as fresh, I’ve used it in a load of different recipes with great success.
I love a dinner like this, just last night I made pork chops and a potato/onion/pea/broccoli gratin that hit the spot. I always think of Jamie Oliver as a great inspiration for this kind of cooking.
For a reliable supply of ginger-at-hand, peel a big knuckle of it and freeze it in a ziplock bag. Then just chop off a hunk when you need it, or grate it frozen. Works perfectly.
One sheet pans are just so amazing on busy weeknights!
Paneer — Good god, there is a chili paneer recipe in this same book that I thought I was going to need smelling salts after seeing, it looks so unbelievable good. I texted the picture to my husband and asked why we could not have that for breakfast. Anyway! Yes, I think paneer would be wonderful here.
Swapping for fish — Look for one that has an equivalent roasting time, or add it later in the vegetable roasting process.
Tamar — I think mayo sounds great here.
Jennifer — I, too, prefer the term traybake. Also used for bar cookies. So much classier.
Barbs — I’m not sure I’m suggesting this is a replacement dish for simple roasted chicken with potatoes and cauliflower.
Deb, how on earth did you know that I’m craving Indian/Middle Eastern ANYTHING?! I have made your Etherally Smooth Hummus twice in the past week, and my poor daughter keeps getting Garam Masala added to any dish I can get it in. Lucky she likes it. ;) I am now going to the grocery store for chicken. And after I’m done making this dish, I’m gonna pop in the carrot tahini muffins!
GIRL. That was SCARY. Don’t do that to us! Unless it is true, but then you must keep blogging, OK?
I was at Fairway yesterday and it was insanely crowded. As I waited in a crazy long line, my mind wandered to Plated or Blue Apron and finally to wondering why Deb Perelman can’t just send me the recipe and ingredients in the mail.
But sheet pan dinners are a nice development. I need help in the weeknight meal game and this looks awesome. Thank you.
Infrequent commenter, here, but I just have to tell you the picture at the top of the page looks so delicious I may not even have to cook this. Your photography is consistently gorgeous and mouthwatering, beats the heck out of anyone else’s I’ve seen.
The recipe looks terrific, too. Thank you.
This looks amazing, and so easy for a weeknight dinner! Adding to my to-make list ASAP!
Helllllllla mean.
Before the jump, I thought for SURE I was going to click and you were going to say you were contacted by Blue Apron/Plated and yada yada this meal is great and so easy and woohoo meal services are great. But you didnt and that is why I’ve been reading Smitten Kitchen since I was in high school. No shmeh recipes to fit in a sponsored post, no blatant brand plugs. I’m sure it’s wildly tempting, but it’s so refreshing to read a blog recipe and know it’s been posted because it’s tried, tested and truly great.
Majorly, majorly appreciated.
Any reason not to mix the marinade onto the potatoes and cauliflower?
Really loving this new phase you’re having! I have to say, I was a bit shocked about the joke about leaving SK too, phew…
Also, the pictures. They seem different than usual and I love the vibrant colors. It’s screaming at me “make me, make me!”. Which I will because guess who bought a cauliflower yesterday?
Emma on comment 52 said it all! Just what I was thinking.
Where did you find those odd marshmallows in pajamas with hair? Very annoyed at you. Normally you’d say where adorable ingredients were found, but APPARENTLY NOT!
YUMMMM!
More often than not, one or more of the dishes on our list of weekly meals will be “some kind of meat on a sheet pan with some kind of vegetable”.
This is definitely that but with so many flavors! I love it and I’ll definitely give it a shot.
This looks great and bonus -we have all the ingredients except cauliflower but we’ll find something. I don’t mind cooking when I get home from work, but I deeply despise thinking then. So we’ll have this tomorrow. Tonight we’re having nothing. I had crackers and cheese when I got home and l don’t feel like eating. The fella can make something if he wants. We generally share the cooking as we both like it but not when there is snow to shovel. Which there is. Heaps of. Then we turn without talking about it, into a turn of the last century couple. I do all inside work and he does all outside. Illput the chicken thighs into the yoghurt marinade tonight. There then. We even have a red onion. I made your cognac and dijon stew Sunday. Wow! So perfect. Okay. Later. I’m going into the tub and dream about other people’s spring.
Please do not joke about leaving Smitten Kitchen! I’m still having palpitations over here…
The hubs was already bringing home a roast chicken for dinner tonight, so I did a veg-only version of this with cauliflower and rutabaga. I used coconut milk instead of yogurt. It was very good.
Great t know coconut milk worked. Great on the rotisserie sub too!
My heart SANK for a moment as I was sure you were about to shill for Blue Apron, and I am so tired of constant sponsored posts everywhere else. Thanks for keeping this space such a place of integrity! I trust your recipes in a way I don’t any others!
NOT funny. not funny at all. Please don’t mess with us like that.
love all help with meal planning. Your everyday meatballs are now part of our rotation. They are my younger son’s favorite.
I just made this with a few adjustments for my Whole30 meal plan I’m doing this month. I had a random assortment of veggies in my fridge so I did cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, red pepper, and carrots. I coated them in olive oil and a seasoning blend and roasted them at 425. For the chicken I did Tikka Masala seasoning, added the fresh ginger, dried garlic plus garlic powder, some onion powder, black pepper, turmeric powder, coriander, and salt, and instead of yogurt I did a can of coconut milk that had been refrigerated. Scooped out the solid, added some back in to the liquid and whisked it, and then used that liquid with the spices to marinate the chicken. I just did two chicken breasts because that’s all I had thawed but definitely could have done 4 or even 6 chicken breasts to marinate in that bag that I used. My sheet of veggies was so full I did the chicken in a different dish, and added a bit of ground cashews on the top of the chicken breasts after I took them out of the marinade into the roasting pan. Roasted for sound 35 minutes at 425. Veggies were at 425, stirred twice, for around 30 minutes (maybe just under). It was PHENOMENAL. We added a lot of salt and used a little mustard and chile paste hen we ate it. Will definitely make again.
For dairy free / lactose intolerant – I’ve had a lot of success swapping coconut milk or coconut yogurt for plain cow’s yogurt in some of Ottolenghi’s recipes; bet it would work here. It gives you that thickness you’re looking for. (If I use coconut milk vs yogurt I usually throw in a dash of lemon or vinegar to add that zing)
Must be THE thing right now because Cook’s Country Magazine came out with One-Pan Roast Chicken with Cauliflower and Tomatoes in it’s August/September 2015 issue. I agree with many of your comments above that one pot or one sheet pan dinners make life easier for us all. Thanks for the Indian twist.
Literally came here today to find an easy dinner for tonight. Check! You’re the best.
As an Indian who regularly uses Indian spices to cook meats (chicken, salmon, pork) I assure you the yogurt in marinade is not actually necessary. I do a rub with olive oil “a pinch” (sorry i cook like my mother without good measurements) chili powder, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, ginger powder, asfoetida, black pepper and salt and either bake it or throw it in a pan no problem. It does have quite a bit of heat to it though. And you have to be careful about proportions-too much turmeric or coriander is not a good taste.
Hi Deb! This looks so delicious. I’m a vegetarian- do you think tofu or seitan would work with this recipe instead of chicken?
If it were me, I’d toss in a can of chickpeas for vegetarian version (maybe roast half of them to get nice and crunchy and toss the other half in at the end for some softer contrast).
Did you end up trying this? I love the chickpea suggestion; I think that or tofu could work well, treated exactly as the chicken is specified in the recipe. But I’m curious to hear from folks who have actually tried either. :)
really, really easy. we dbld the meat and there was still enough marinade. i couldn’t imagine we wouldn’t want this again tomorrow! i used a serrano and it was hot, but just right for two adventurous adults. also subbed in sweet potato (avoiding nightshades) and came into some grass fed raw cow yogurt…yeah it was that good. first recipe i have tried and now i see what the fuss is about ;-) Thank you!
Oh yum. This looks great and will be a wonderful addition to our weeknight suppers and we love traybakes here, especially chicken traybakes.
This was a great dinner! I couldn’t resist pouring the extra marinade on top but then I realized that the pieces of chicken with extra marinade didn’t get the brown crispy skin like the rest of it. Also the lightly pickled onions MADE it. I got those in a bowl with salt and lemon for about an hour while everything else was being assembled, marinating, and finally roasting. This was awesome and simple!
I’m so with you on the late-night dinners. As my rice is thinking of boiling now, let me simply recommend a late book by Madhur Jaffrey: Easy Curry. She says she’s old, she’s tired of all that fancy shit, she just wants some good, simple, easy food. That’s all good for me, and her stuff’s delicious to boot.
Sounds delicious. Love a good traybake (as we call ’em in Aus, like the Brits), thing I discovered them via Nigella. And I am definitely going to check out Made in India. I love Indian food but have never really found a cookbook that makes it simple!
This was such perfect timing! I had company coming for dinner tonight, and had all the ingredients on hand. Delicious!! Served it with a raita and some mango chutney, and made the strawberry summer cake for dessert.
Can’t wait to try this. Perfect for our Autumn weather.
That was NOT funny! You gave me a start.
Love Eastern Indian food. Have everything to make it but the chicken and tomorrow is shopping day. :)
Hey, starting a meal delivery service is serious business to many of us ….. Have you seen the success of Nadia Lim in New Zealand and the Food Bag business?
Her cook books are no 1,2 and 3 on the bestsellers lists along with Chelsea Winter’s nearby as they are understandable, achievable with a little twist of good taste and a little bit of difference.
It is an admirable goal!
I am averse to paying for such a service as I am of the older demographic and had parents raised during the depression and live across the road from a vege shop and supermarket but US city dwellers should leap at this, especially if you can provide some healthy add ons.
I balk at special stuff for kids because they have unpredictable tastes and may only eat a tiny bit of a purchased meal. I’d rather freeze a whole lot of stuff they actually like in small portions and cut up a few raw things.
In fact I think I’d wait till they are about 8 years old before I’d recommend making much of an effort ………..make them beg…..
Having said that my son loved olives , chilli and garlic , when aged 4 plus till now as an adult and quickly got tired of bananas, hash browns, chicken nuggets …. So you have to know your own kids, …. Adapt adapt.
Cheers
When our sons were young we routinely sat down for family dinner around 8 p.m. It wasn’t ideal timing, but it was what worked with my husband’s schedule. All these years later I still call him around 7:30 every night to say I am starting dinner. The kids survived with some heavy snacking when they got home from school. The point was sitting down together as a family and talking!
Just finished (literally) this yummy recipe for lunch and all of us kept coming back for more. Then again, what’s not to love…chicken curry, grilled cauliflower and crunchy/creamy potatoes!!!
Think I’ll sneak back into the kitchen for a couple of potatoes that might be left….(sshh, don’t tell).
This is why I always like to have a cauliflower on hand! And it’s true – you do seem to have an uncanny sense of what I want to cook for dinner. Don’t ever leave SK!!
Haven’t read EVERY previous comment, so I apologize if I’m being redundant here. A great way to deal with fresh ginger is to freeze it and then grate it into a recipe with a microblade as needed. You can peel it first or as you go along. This is a Martha tip, so can’t take credit. The taste is not affected IMHO. Thanks for your charming and so interesting site, Deb. You’re a treasure!
Noooooo! Don’t even kid about leaving Smitten Kitchen! Unless you’re prepared to include Momtpelier, Vermont in your delivery service—–only 5 1/2 hours away, right? And, thank you for the one sheet, one pot, one whatever meals that actually taste yummy. You don’t know how much you add to our little crazy family’s life up here in the hinterlands. Will try this dish tomorrow and maybe celebrate by adding your awesome Blood Orange cake!
What would the roasting time be for boneless skinless chicken breasts? I know it is wasteful, but no other kind will be accepted here. Comment # 14, Victoria, asked also, but no response, hope you catch it this time! Thank you for a delicious bake, I always use tinfoil too, no clean up!
awesome post! not only is this dinner getting bookmarked immediately but two books to add to my amazon wishlist and a bonus recipe? not bad SK, not bad. :)
ps, i too have no desire to prep All The Things at any prior-to-dinner point in time, especially not on the weekend. and while i don’t have kids, i do have a partner that walks in from work starving and wanting to know when dinner is every day, so. pressure cooker? pass. slow cooker? love mine, but every recipe now calls for multiple steps outside the slow cooker and worst of all the longest cook time you get is four hours…maybe six, defeating the purpose entirely. meal services? maybe if you have double your grocery budget to spend, and don’t have any feels about the insane amount of packaging. scrambled egg toasts? now those i can get behind.
pps, this is so not “a lot of work for chicken and potatoes.” (whiz up some stuff in the food processor, marinate, throw everything on one pan and bake…really? [huff-sigh])
to #14 victoria & #83 susan, i’m no deb but have used BSCBs in my roasting dinners when it was all i had on hand and it’s fine, but i only do ’em for 20 minutes. just keep them separate and toss them on part way through the cooking of the veg.
This sounds amazing. Unfortunately, I am on a diet and was worried about the skin-on chicken and potatoes. So just to be sure I ran it through a calorie calculator website. I am not going to list it here because it may be for profit but it was cool. I just cut and pasted her ingredient list (with a few edits for her occasionally less than conventional measurements), and it shot out a nutrition label like you see on packaged food. Here is what it said…
3 servings
1 serving 928 grams
Calories: 858
Calories From fat: 240
Total Fat: 27g
Sat: 6.2
Trans: 0
Cholesterol: 243g
Sodium: 1563
Potassium: 2228
Carbs: 55.7
Fiber: 10g
Sugar: 13.5g
Protein: 100.6g
Vitamin A: 10%
Calcium: 26%
Vitamin C: 263%
Iron: 34%
Nutritional Grade: B+
High in niacin
High in selenium
High in vitamin B6
Very high in vitamin C
In summary, I’ll have to watch what I eat the rest of this day, but I can make this work.
Ginger tip- keep it in a mason jar with a little apple cider vinegar in the fridge. Seems to keep forever, and the vinegar can be used in Asian dressings.
Brilliant. Now in my ninth month with twins (hurrah), cooking seems to get a trifle hard sometimes (and I am talking about tonight). We’ve got chicken breast in the fridge, where a great tikka paste is also located and hurrah, you’ve saved me.
So, one question about those bribe brownies you’ve made when Jacob was born, reckon they are good in the freezer for a month? I’ll try to bake them this week for exactly the same purpose and something to eat to stay awake in the first weeks.
Nicole xxx
Actually, since I’m low-carbing at the moment, I think I’ll just go ahead and eliminate the potato and use a whole large cauliflower. This is perfect!
Any advice for how to make this lactose free? It’s soooo cloooose but I’m not sure if the normal coconut milk or cashew cheese substitutions would work for a chicken marinade.
Coconut milk works.
I happened to have everything on hand, and the garden is already bursting with cilantro, parsley and mint, so I made this last night. It was fantastic! I hope this recipe makes it into the new book. I imagine this would also work beautifully with a rack of lamb.
Plus, I got a very earnest “you will make this again, won’t you?”. :)
This chicken looks absolutely amazing! I’m going to need to make this asap!
Ha, Diane (51)! Truly Deb, wicked mean. My heart stopped and I did not appreciate it. :) I’ve been wondering if you’ve tried any of those meal services though. I abhor reading sponsored blogs posts about them, but I got a freebie from a friend once. I felt like it turned decent cooks (my partner and me) into idiots who needed to check the recipe card 6 times before sauteeing 3 leaves of chard.
Deb!! You’re brilliant! I could kiss you but we’re in different continents (& it could get awkward). So simple and tasty.
I don’t remember when I read this tip for fresh ginger, but I have been using it for a few years with good success. When you get your big hunk of fresh ginger, grate it all at once. Form it into a long line about 1/2 inch in diameter (like a long carrot) on a piece of cling-type wrap. Roll the ginger “log” up in the wrap. I bend it into a freezer-safe ziplock bag but any freezer container will do. When you need fresh ginger, just take it out of the freezer and break off a piece. You can use it immediately (no need to thaw). Works like a charm.
To STEPHANIE, Commenter #85:
Thanks for the skinless, boneless chicken breast roasting tip! It is about what I guessed, but I am paranoid about undercooked meat, so wanted a 2nd opinion. Thank you again, you must read the comments very carefully!
One more +1 for you never doing sponsored posts! I lost one of my favorite blogs to the Blue Apron yesterday, and it was such a bummer. I turned off my Ad-Block for you because I appreciate the great recipes and authentic-ness of SK, I hope others do too.
In Argentina we have dinner at 8:30-10:30 pm, maybe you can move here in order to get #1 checked ;)
“1. Children, should you have them, happy to eat dinner at 8/9 p.m. on a weekday. (Let me know where to find them.)”
Love this recipe :)
Is it forbidden to make this in some nice, wide flat oven dish? Does that do any harm to the result? Or am I just being oldfashioned? And you made me scream with horror at the thought of your stopping with SK! Don’t do that again!
Made this last night and it was amazing! One of those miracle dinners where I already had everything for it on hand. Instead of mincing the ginger and garlic, I used a microplane to grate and get the juices out. And then to garnish, I kind of mashed together your ideas and made a lemony cilantro yogurt with garlic. Delicious!
NAUGHTY (saying you’re leaving)! But if you started your own food delivery service…I’d be one of the first to sign up!!!
Chicken tikka without sauce? An abomination.
I am a first-timer here. To make the process further easier, here is what I will do:
First, get equal (or per your taste buds ) part garlic and fresh ginger. Grind them in an electric grinder, not too coarse or too smooth, sort of medium. Store it in the zipper bags, thin it to 1/4″ flat and keep them in the freezer compartment. This way you can break & use it as needed. I assure you it keeps the taste & strength for months. We do this, along with green chilies (prefer serrano) for daily use.
Secondly, rather than running around to get all different and strange-sounding Indian spices, searching for the all illusive Garam Masala, go to the near by Indian grocers, and get a jar of Tikka Masala. Most of the American super markets carry them at the ethnic products aisleThose who prefer to keep it outside the refrigerator, can buy dry Tikka Masala packets (mix it with oil, coconut oil or yogurt). These steps will cut down several processes and help keep it simple and save time. I am an Indian. ethnically, and often use these methods as a short cut without sacrificing the fun and taste. BTW, for those who prefer meat, one can substitute beef or lamb (my preferred) in stew-size pieces, and will come out great.
So delicious! I added a sweet potato and the dish was a complete hit with my husband and me. Thanks for the recipe.
Made this last night. Husband said he could smell the deliciousness from outside the house (he was late home from work). It was just so good.
I used two deseeded green chillis and I think I’ll be adding another next time I make it. And I mixed both mint and coriander into the yoghurt which was divine. I’m also going to try using the marinade on a whole baked cauliflower. That could be good.
Left overs are in the fridge at work today and boy am I looking forward to lunchtime. This one is on the list for regular midweek meals (right next to Nigella’s Italian chicken and sausage tray bake).
I received the newsletter email whilst standing in my grocery store wondering what the heck I was going to make for dinner tonight. So, chicken thighs, full fat yogurt and a hunk of ginger went into the cart. Just finished eating. Delicious and got RAVE reviews from my fiance! Thanks for saving dinner (again) Deb!
It’s been a real pleasure following you all these years. Wish you all the best in your new endeavor! You will be missed!
I love everything about this recipe! Easy to prep, the flavor was fabulous, and cleanup was a breeze. We served it with a fennel + coarse salt flatbread and we’re already fighting over who gets leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. :)
Love your site and your recipes- this looks amazing! I can’t wait to make it. I really appreciate how you keep your site free from too much promotion and giveaways. I can’t thank you enough for keeping me excited to see a Smitten Kitchen email in my inbox!
No garam masala??? I’m in a big garam masala phase right now – I will spread out almost anything on a cookie sheet and sprinkle garam masala all over it. My favorite is plain old chopped-up cauliflower, but sometimes I mix cauliflower and a drained can of chickpeas, toss them in a little oil, and practically coat the mixture in garam masala. I’ve also been known to throw in chunks of boneless, skinless (sorry!) chicken breast. I’m considering adding a little to the next pan of brownies I make…
Deb, thanks for posting this sheet pan recipe; looks easy enough to put together at the end of a workday for a quick and “exotic” dinner. My husband is now getting familiar with Indian food and is loving it, so I made Hyderabad chicken biryani for him last Sunday (definitely not a weekday endeavor). I use some cinnamon and a teeny bit of ground cloves when I make my garam masala. BTW, your photos are stunningly beautiful and delicious!
Oh, forgot to suggest that butternut squash would work in this recipe (for those who do not like cauliflower) since it would roast well and get crusty on the edges while soft and silky inside. I do like cauliflower, steamed and buttered or roasted. It’s sweetly bland and will perfectly harmonize with the spicy drippings from the chicken.
Hi Deb!
I love Indian food so made this for supper last night! It was fantastic! And so easy! Keep up the great work! Love your cookbook and blog!
Thank you for all of the good cheer and I’m sorry for giving you a scare. I was just kidding around! You’re not going to get rid of me that easily. I’ve never done any sponsored content here (I did a single giveaway in 2006 but nothing since) and don’t plan to ever. Also, I do get an email from Blue Apron about once a week about sending me stuff in exchange for posting, but they seem to think my name is Elena or Melissa. (Not bashing it, though, I know many people who love their meals and I find the concept pretty smart.)
Onto questions!
Molly — See above, I haven’t tried one but I absolutely understand why they’re popular. Weeknight cooking isn’t easy. Were I not a) someone who cooked everyday because it’s, like, my job and passion and b) in a giant city where I can get anything at any time and even good quality at that, I probably would have tried one by now. Wait, do you guys think I should for research? It might be fun! (I promise to pay so my opinion is as unfettered as you’d expect and no, I would not devote a post to it here, a recipe site.)
Kathleen — Perhaps you’re thinking of chicken tikka masala? That is a curry in a sauce. Chicken tikka is this, except it’s usually presented on skewers.
Cilia — No reason why not. I prefer the color and crisp I get from metal baking sheets, but it will work in other dishes.
Florencia — Done! :) (But I do always wonder how this works! I mean, my kid needs to be at school at 8/8:30am so he needs to be up by 7, which means he really needs to go to bed by 8, which means dinner is early. We’d be happy to eat later otherwise. Is the schedule just different or do you have magical children that survive on less sleep, heheh?)
Martina — I appreciate that! There’s just two ways to make money on a website: ads or sponsorships. If I won’t do the latter and people block the former*, you know, well, I’ll be at this as long as I can but… (*which I understand because on most websites the ads are terrible and the technology is invasive and greedy but I really try to keep things at a minimum and uncrappy here as possibly can and still earn my keep)
Non-dairy — I mentioned early one might try a soy yogurt, but to be honest, I also think you could just add these spices to some oil for a marinade, too. (See also Ihskas’s comment above.) Maybe with oil and lemon juice or vinegar for a little brightness? It’s not going to be as soft in the end, but it’s really all about the flavor anyway.
Rachel — Yes and no. I didn’t think I’d enjoy potatoes or cauliflower with a thick marinade — they wouldn’t get crisp. The flavors would be great, though.
Nicole — Absolutely they’re good for a month, even more, but I don’t want to scare you. Good luck with everything!
Using tofu or seitan — Okay, I confess I’ve never done anything with seitan because (I’m sorry) I can’t stand it, but I do like tofu, although nobody else in my family does, which means I haven’t roasted it in ages. I suspect you’ll be just fine with cubes of firm tofu marinated in this sauce (the thought of this is making me hungry) but as tofu is already “cooked”, it probably just needs 10-15 minutes at the end to pick up some texture, yes? So maybe roast the vegetables first and add the tofu halfway through. Hope that helps. Sorry for dissing seitan/satan. ;)
The photos on this post — All but the first and last were taken with my iPhone. Would you believe that the original battery on my 7 year-old camera had the audacity to just up and die on me this week, discovered when I went to take the first ingredient photo here? My husband was kind enough to pick up a new one for me on his run so I had a new one just in time. It was so much less work on the phone; I could edit photos while feeding the baby! Maybe I should do this more often.
For fellow vegetarians: I’m thinking some Quorn brand chicken tenders, maybe Tempeh, and/or lots of chickpeas?
We had this last night, and my husband and I loved it! Our two-year old daughter loved the potatoes :-) He has requested this go in the regular rotation of weeknight meals. I got home at 5, and had this on the table from scratch by 6:30. Next time I will marinate the chicken overnight to cut down on after-work pre-dinner prep. Thank you!
I made this last night and it was delicious! I wanted to make more chicken (two skin on, bone in breasts and two skin on, bone-in whole legs), so I used two 6-ounce yogurts to make more marinade. One of my new favorite roasted chicken recipes!
I’m a newly married and my husband is Indian (born and raised in India). While I don’t have a lot of experience with Indian cooking and could never replicate his mother’s fabulous authentic food, I always struggle with what to cook for him. Last night I found the courage and cooked this dish. After he ate everything and licked the plate clean, I finally got the nod of approval that this will go into our dinner rotation! Thank-you Deb for helping me find a recipe my husband will enjoy for years to come! :)
This was absolutely divine. Perhaps my most favorite recipe that you’ve posted (and I’m a long time reader/cooker!). The flavors were excellent and it is the perfect Wednesday night dinner! Loving these ‘weeknight favorites’!
Okay! I’m on a Smitten winning streak. In the past couple of weeks I’ve made Eggs in Purgatory, Hamentachen,Dijon and Cognac Stew and now this! All winners -all totally straightforward. Used broccoli and red peppers in this as cauliflower cost more than Madonna’s lingerie hereabouts. But yum! Thanks Deb, you make cooking all it should be.
Nice. I want. Now. please?
I will plan this for a near future meal. As a carb addict I would whip up a few whole wheat chapattis brushed with butter to go with it. Some Major Greys’ for a pickle-y bit.
And a buttermilk/mint lassi.
This is in my oven right now. The marinade smells phenomenal. I doubled the marinade and then used the extra to simmer on low with some chickpeas. They’re amazing.
I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious and easy. The yogurt marinade gave the chicken a delicate sweetness — and kept the pieces moist and juicy. The only change I made was serving it with lime wedges, not lemon. The dollops of yogurt and fresh cilantro gave it a tangy, zippy finish.
Just made this tonight. LOVE IT. I overlooked including the chili powder /cayenne but didn’t miss it. We are dairy free here so I used plain soy yogurt. Worked out well with that. The sauce that comes together at the bottom of the pan is ridiculously delicious. I found myself smashing some of the potatoes, just to pick up more of the sauce! It is great that it is a low salt recipe but I’m not quite there yet so, added some at the table. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks
Just made this for dinner – easy and absolutely delicious. I made potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and mushrooms and the roasting and the spicing with the veggies was divine. Also used boneless, skinless thighs. This is a keeper.
Ooh, and I forgot to say that I used coconut milk instead of the yogurt, which worked perfectly.
Made this tonight. Delicious! Love the one-pan dinner idea for weeknights. Though I trimmed my bone-in thighs of all extra fat/skin, there was a whole lot of liquid in the pan. Maybe things were too crowded…or too many thighs. I mopped with paper towels and blasted everything under the broiler for 5 minutes at the end. Fabulous, as always. Many thanks.
Fantastic! I am a recent convert to sheet pan dinners, and this one looks super yum!
I feel compelled to tell you that stamping the book with the praise hands emoji is in fact possible, and now I need to buy these because it seems like such a good/obnoxious thing to do: http://shop.abeautifulmess.com/shop/stamps/emojis
Hey Deb- made this last night and it was a little underwhelming in the flavor department on my end- which honestly boggles my mind, but I’m pretty sure it’s my fault.
In the recipe, when taking the chicken out of the marinade where it states “leave the excess behind”, I wiped the chicken off with some paper towels (as is often done with grilling)- looking at your photos again now, I’m not entirely sure if you did the same.
If you didn’t wipe, that would explain a *lot*, but if you did, I might need to crank up the spices by quite a bit. Veggies were phenomenal thou- never knew I’d actually enjoy cauliflower.
I have some thighs and drums sitting in spiced yogurt in the fridge ready to be thrown on a pan with cauliflower and spuds tonight This looks so simple and so delicious, I’m looking forward to dinner!
Wondering if I can do this with frozen chicken? just defrost in marinade? Closest real grocery is 25 miles away :-(.
PS. Everyone comments about the pics of your children but I never see them. I am sure it is my poor internet skills.
This was fantastic. I hope it make it again next week. I used sour cream instead of yogurt and since my chicken was mostly frozen I defrosted it in the marinade all day. And don’t skip the pickled onions!
Love this riff on pan meals! Firstly, I and my Indian food cooking parents usually puree the tiger garlic mess in a Cuisinart mini prep (not the same one I used for baby food!) and it’s perfect for that job. Second, I might create a little raita with the yogurt (finely chopped or grated cucumber, little cumin, maybe some cilantro if you want). Thirdly, I take exception to the chicken skin being on! Indians don’t leave the skin on their chicken and I’m concerned that the spices don’t stand a chance of getting in to the meat flesh if they’re just smeared on the skin. In fact, Indians often cut slits in the meat to really work the spices in. Although I’m not sure how well the chicken would stand up to the roasting without the protective layer of skin and fat. Thoughts?
not tiger, but ginger!
@Barbara Heymann #134: At the beginning of Deb’s post, under #1 in the list, click on the word “them” in the sentence “(Let me know where to find them.)” – the link should appear in a slightly different color. Each post has such a link; in my browser, the link color is barely different from the rest of the text, so sometimes I find the links hard to discover.
This. Was. Awesome. I followed the recipe and used all bone in, skin on, chicken thighs. I’ll probably add more chili powder next time!
Hi Deb–I’m a law student knee-deep in exams, and this dish saved me from another week of Subway for dinner, for which I am eternally grateful. Made the chicken marinade the night before, took only a few minutes to chop the veggies and then into the oven it went! A delicious meal and leftovers for the next few days, all quick and easy. Thank you! Love your site.
Hi Deb,
This is printed and on the counter waiting for the weekend cook-a-thon! Looks like the perfect meal to take us through a few days of the week.
To Barbara #134 – You can marinade frozen meat – I have done this many times when I forgot to defrost but as the chicken thaws, it will dilute the marinade. In a pinch, its okay. Beats driving 25 miles!
My husband asked if we had a dinner plan as he left to pick up our toddler. Me: I’ll defrost some chicken. I reviewed this recipe, happily realized that we had all the ingredients, and then started rice. I was able to get the veggies in the oven while the boneless chicken was still defrosting and then make the marinade. It all came together easily and was delicious! Thank you :)
Hi again, Deb! I forgot to mention that I added some dried garlic and garam masala to the vegetables. YUM! (I love garam masala!!) I also forgot to mention that you and these wonderful recipes are a huge part of my finally learning how to cook. (My husband is very pleased!) I’m also enjoying cooking dinner, which is huge. Thank you!!
I also love your stories about your cooking and your life! Thank you for sharing with all of us. :)
@Joe #132– I did not wipe, in fact, I dribbled the extra marinade over the veggies in the pan and it was a fantastic choice! Don’t wipe it. Keep all the deliciousness!
Question about the vegetables: ingredient list calls for cumin seeds, instructions say to toss the veggies with salt and cumin. Are we supposed to be toasting/grinding the cumin seeds, or tossing veggies with the whole cumin seeds?
This totally resonates for me! Crockpot – eh. Cook ahead on the weekend – I don’t want to! Don’t have a pressure cooker. Get tired of quick meals like avocado on toast. Kids will not wait past 6. THIS IS A CONUNDRUM! So I too have wound up basically roasting the s** out of everything. My sheet pan is in heavy rotation. If a recipe says, sautee, I toss it. Plus, most everything tastes better that way. Baked salmon/chicken/pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes, roasted veggies, etc. I adore summer, but always have this moment when I realize that all my cooking basically involves cranking my oven to 450!
This was awesome! I added a can of chickpeas to the vegetables. Will definitely make again.
Tried this with sweet potatoes instead of Yukons and they tasted great!
Deb – I think you struck a chord. As a long time reader I always scan the comments to see what others have said about the recipe and it is rare that so many people make something so quickly after you’ve posted. This was a real winner in our house and I will be on the lookout for more “tray bakes” as a way to feed the hungry kiddos faster! I especially love recipes that I can prep the night before, giving me time to hang out with the kids when I get home from work rather than try to keep them from tearing the house apart while I chop and prep things. I marinated the (boneless, skinless) chicken thighs and prepped the cauliflower the night before, then only had to chop the potatoes and throw it all in the oven tonight. So yummy! Thank you for this!
Dearest Deb! When do we add the the sugar?
Priyant — Whoops! With the spices. Now fixed.
I hope this isn’t a dumb question, but can one replace the sugar with stevia or a different sweetener? (I am trying to avoid processed carbs/sugars these days) I’ve had success baking with stevia but wasn’t sure how it would work in a chicken dish.
Just skip it. It’s so little and there’s so much else going on, you won’t miss it.
Cooked it for Friday dinner (Shabbat), and it came out AMAZING! I didn’t have cumin seeds so I replaced with cardamom seeds. Thank you for this lovely recipe!
Add me to the “will make again” crowd. Besides being delicious, this dish offers other pluses for me – I can divide prep into stages throughout the day and barely have to tend it once it’s in the oven (important because of a disability and limited energy) and it also presents cauliflower in a form my Cruciferae-shunning husband lapped up.
I loved this. Sheet pan dinners are an amazing concept and I hope you’ll come back with more! I posted a photo on instagram and got lots of feedback about how some people skipped it because it looked time consuming which is the opposite of what it’s supposed to be and what it really was! I took more shortcuts which made it even easier to get on the table.
OMGosh…This was just perfect. I omitted the jalapeno and used 1/4t for the chili powder as I have a heat averse daughter, yea, I know… I also used boneless chicken and watched it closely…everything was done the way we like, potatoes and cauli were just great. I think I will try adding some of the spices listed for the chicken into the oil/cumin see mix for the veggies… A little more would be just about right. Everyone raved. 10 and 12 yo granddaughters included..thanks so much for posting this. xo
The beautiful photo caught my attention and I love Garam Masala-I put it in tons of stuff-so I was looking forward to making this dish. I came home from work this afternoon and put the yogurt spice marinade together (I made a double batch so I would have left overs for work). The instructions were very through and easy to follow! The only thing I did differently was that I roasted the cauliflower on a separate, foil covered, baking sheet, after tossing it with the remaining marinade left over from the chicken. The potatoes and cauliflower were delicious and the chicken thighs were very flavorful and moist, but not (spicy) hot. I used one large jalapeño. Thank you for making Indian food so easy and quick to prepare with ingredients I usually have handy. I have been following your blog for years. Your recipes are flavorful and creative and the prep instructions are easy to follow. My only suggestion is that you add a print recipe option so I don have to print so many pages to make a copy of the recipe:).
This was dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious! So easy to put together and clean up in advance, but the real point is the wonderfully layered flavors. I ground the ginger, garlic, jalepeno, etc. together in a mini chop, then mixed it with the yoghurt and spices to make a lovely paste for the chicken marinade. I left the paste on while the chicken baked with the potatoes and cauliflower. What a winner!
Made this tonight. Amazing!! Rave reviews from everyone, including my 20 month old, who ate more dinner than I’ve ever seen, happily munched on a drumstick and then ate all the juices left in the roasting pan. Had to finally tell her there was no more food-she ate it all!!
Very long time reader saying hello and that this looks great! For vegetarians, do you think it would go well with paneer or tofu? Or just on its own as an adapted aloo gobi?
Also, I’m coming to NYC and looked at your list and I adore you for your “no freebies” policy, which is increasingly rare and unchangingly awesome. Any NYC food obsessions of the moment to recommend? Especially for people with Russian husbands who have never been to NYC?
I made this last night and it was fab! I used the full amount of chili powder, not too spicy for us. Thanks Deb!
I had such a delicious weekend thanks to you, Deb! Sheet pan chicken tikka, obsessively good cucumber avocado salad, peach cupcakes…I feel like I’m finally starting to get my kitchen mojo back after the birth of my son–and he’s 2 1/2! I’m obsessively planning a friend taco party with your tres leches cake (which got rave reviews LAST weekend! Cheers and thanks from Chicago!
Marilyn (156) – You can print the recipe by going to the very end (just before the comments) where you”ll see:
“Do More: Link ! Bookmark ! Pin ! Print ! email !
Click on “Print” and you”ll get the recipe only.
I made this tonight and was very impressed! I added a can of drained, rinsed chickpeas to the vegetables and used boneless, skinless chicken breast so my sons would eat it! I left the breasts whole and they were done in 30 minutes. I marinated the chicken for 4 hours and it was flavorful and juicy.
I made this exactly as written. So delicious. Everyone in my family loved it. I also love Melissa Clark’s sheet pan chicken. Next time I will use a mix of dark and white meat, or a mix of skin on and skin off, to decrease the oiliness. I was so happy because I put it out on a beautiful platter and garnished it the way you have and it ended up looking exactly as gorgeous as in your photos. That is what I like about your recipes, Deb. The end results always taste amazing and they always end up looking like yours do in the photos. Thanks.
“… and much better than using the dried out hunk of ginger in the bottom of the vegetable drawer …”
Ginger can be frozen. What I do after I bring the hunk of ginger root home is peel it and cut it into thumb-size or smaller pieces. Then I throw them in a freezer bag and pop the bag into the freezer. When you do need ginger, use a piece from the bag. Frozen ginger grates easily. Let it defrost a minute or two and you can also smash it easily because the cells have already burst from the freezing.
Look delish and you write up very well can’t wait to try this,thanks for sharing
Made this for dinner this evening. Only sub-out was butternut squash and red capsicum instead of cauliflower, as caulis are $10 a head here in NZ at the moment.I was home in the afternoon,but knew I’d be out till later in the evening, so I prepped veg and marinated chicken, and left it for my husband to throw in the oven. Came home tired and hungry to a fabulous meal, the bonus being that the marinating time produces truly succulent chicken. This one is going on repeat. Cheers from the edge of the map,karen
Someone asked about dairy free alternative – my daughter is allergic to dairy so when a recipe calls for yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk, I substitute rice milk with a tablespoon of either lemon juice or vinegar, depending on the recipe. I let it sit for a bit until it curdles. Rice milk is sweeter than soy or almond milk (she’s also allergic to soy and almonds) so you have to think about that when you are making the rest of the recipe. But I’m going to make this one tonight so I’ll let you know how it turns out!
This was our fabulous dinner tonight! Thanks, Deb.
Couldn’t leave well enough alone and turned it into a veg meal (there’s one – or four – in every crowd). Made lentil meatballs and marinated them uncooked, just as you directed with the chicken. Cooked as indicated in the recipe.
Absolutely delicious. Our girls 8 and 10 loved it and leftovers are neatly packed for their school lunches tomorrow.
Keep up the great work! We love Smitten Kitchen….
I made it for dinner on Sunday- the whole family enjoyed it. Cooking everything in a sheet pan is brilliant- if you can think of other sheet pan dinners (would love some vegetarian options) I would be very thankful!
Re: Blocking ads. Deb, Thanks for 1) an awesome website and 2) for making real to me the downside of ad-blocking.
I do use an ad-blocker, but am happy to selectively disable ad-blocking for websites I want to support and that might not exist without the support of readers like me.
I made this last night and it was great! Since it is just my husband and me, we had leftovers. So the plan tonight is to make wrap sandwiches with the meat, veggies, fresh pickled onions,and parsley/mint/cilantro blend, like gyros. Instead of tzatziki sauce, I’m going to use yogurt blended with the spices used in the marinade.
Hi,
This looks very delicious, Same Seefood Pizza, LOL :D
Thanks for sharing!
I made this a couple of days ago. I was really excited because I had been wanting to make something Indian inspired. I followed the directions exactly. I opted to let the chicken marinade overnight because I realized the potatoes I had were no longer good and wanted to get more. I thought the chicken would be extra flavorful because of the marinade time but it was not. What could I do to make sure the chicken is more flavorful next time? I don’t usually eat the skin and that’s were all the spices were. I was hoping it would somehow permeate the inside of it didn’t. Suggestions?
I made this this weekend and it was awesome. The onions were perfect with it. I’ll be making it again this week! Thanks!!
I made this tonight and my husband’s comment was “You can make this again any time.” He does 99 percent of the cooking in our house, but this looked so good I had to do it. Yum!
Made it tonight, and it was a hit with my picky family! Thank you!
Was so excited to make this and really enjoyed it!! Potatoes and cauliflower were delicious and chicken was moist. Loved that it was such easy prep and just one pan!
I would definitely marinate it overnight next time as it was flavorful but not super flavorful, and I think a little more salt, though my spices are kind of old and due for a cleaning out/re-buying.
Thanks for another great recipe Deb! Looking forward to making this again!!
Vera and others who like the “sheet pan supper” idea I encourage you to buy Molly Gilbert’s book. It’s fabulous. Molly created 3 recipes for us at Sunset Magazine and they are all delicious. Here are links for the tasty dishes.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/baked-eggs-leeks-mushrooms
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/broiled-salmon-asparagus-creme-fraiche
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-chicken-thighs-summer-squash
This is genius!!!!
Made this to the letter tonight and it was great, though I like a bit more heat so will up the spice content next time. And there will be a next time. I have to say that we do subscribe to Blue Apron due to crazy schedules during the week, but try to cook up our own meals (or really ones we find here) at least on the weekends and early on in the week before the box arrives. I can see sticking the chicken in the marinade on Sunday so meal prep on Monday is a snap. Thanks for this tasty and weeknight friendly recipe!
I just made this, and it was INCREDIBLE. My 11.5-month old daughter ate an entire chicken drumstick and a huge portion of the cauliflower! (To be fair, she has always loved Indian food since I frequently gobbled them while she was in my belly, heh!)
This recipe is immediately going into my recurring favorite recipe files–THANK YOU :)
Made it tonight with boneless skinless chicken breast and added grated ginger, cumin, and gram masala to the oil for the veggies and it was great! Whole family loved it and I’m looking forward to the leftovers!
Made it tonight. It was good, but I was definitely hoping for something quicker based on the opening paragraph. It was fairly easy to make, but it took me almost 2 hours start to finish. Maybe I’m just slow :/
Really good! I used coconut cream (from Trader Joe’s) instead of yogurt to make it dairy free, and it worked perfectly. Will definitely make again.
Made for my family last night – no cauliflower or nice potatoes in the house, so I made it day-glo with sweet potatoes (the orange kind, I think you call them yams in US) and peppers (red, orange, green cause that’s what I had). It was seriously BRIGHT! I tossed the veg in gram masala (I always have it on hand, easy to get here in UK) and also added some cubed halloumi, as we were 6 for dinner, 2 of whom are teenage boys and one always hungry partner. It worked really well and was delicious. Next time I’ll marinade the chicken overnight I think. Thank you Deb!
For #178-Ashley- I made this yesterday but peeled off the skin and made deep cuts into the drumsticks before applying the marinade. I think that helps to make the chicken more flavorful. Deb-thanks for an awesome recipe. It was such a hit at my place and the house smells deeelicous :)
Made this last night and it was so delicious! The potatoes and cauli alone are worth making – the cumin seeds work so well here. Made with boneless skinless chicken breasts – cooked for 40 mins total and put the chicken in for the last 20 which worked perfectly.
Thank you Deb for giving me so much inspiration and confidence in the kitchen!
I made this last night and my hubby said it was the best baked chicken he’s possibly ever eaten. High praise from him as he doesn’t really like chicken to begin with. I didn’t have cilantro and mine was far less beautiful than Deb’s, but it was delicious. You can add a sprinkling of crushed chilis to half the pan if you have kids that don’t like spice like we have!
I made this recipe literally 3 days after post. Delicious! I have tried cooking indian or indian-inspired foods previously with fail. This was so easy to make, healthy and very tasty. I added some steamed spinach and it just soaked up all of the garam masala and cumin seed flavor.
I’m sorry to say that I did not like this recipe. On all the blogs I go on and use their content I try very hard to post positive things. I’ve done that here, but this recipe did not work for me. The cauliflower and potatoes were very bland. I can’t imagine how 15 minutes in the fridge would be enough time for the flavors to blend into the chicken. I left my chicken over night and still had a very mild taste. The skin of my chicken was very soft and not very tasty. Bummer.
Oh my goodness, that was delicious. Used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and smaller cuts of veg. Will make it again.
Only recently I’ve started appreciating Indian food, thanks to recipes such as this one. Loved the flavors which are not overpowering. This recipe definitely goes into my recipe box of favorite recipes.
Made this last night and it was so delicious. What really makes this dish feel so special are the little finishing touches – the yoghurt, the herbs and especially the quick-pickled onions, which took this from “delicious” to “wow, I feel like I’m at a restaurant in my own home”. What a treat on a Thursday night. :) Thank you, Deb.
I made this for dinner last Sunday and it was very good. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and marinated them for 24 hours before cooking. I did not make the onions, but did dollop yoghurt and cilantro on the finished dish. Fast, easy and a breeze to clean up. I will make this again but next time I will add more potatoes and more vegetables. Leftover chicken made a nice sandwich for lunch the next day.
Another winner! This was fantastic and even better the next day. I did add onions to the vegetables, but I’m a sucker for roasted onions…
Made this tonight and it’s going into the keeper folder! Added a can of garbanzo beans to the veggies and tossed them with the olive oil and spices AND the leftover chicken marinade. I couldn’t throw it out! Used boneless, skinless breasts. Tossed a bag of spinach in a serving platter, scooped the pan contents on top and added the herbs, onions and dollops of plain Greek nonfat yogurt. I definitely think it needs all the garnishes for the flavor pop. Just what we needed tonight!!!
Could you comment on questions numbers 14 and 84, please? I too wondered about using boned and skinned chicken.
Feeling uninspired for dinner, I quickly scanned this and beamed because I had every spice on hand. It was quick prep which was exactly what we needed because my baby boy required extra cuddling after getting his 4-month shots today. The chicken tasted like it had been roasting for hours :). I will say, I only cooked a pound of chicken (without reducing the spice ratio) so the flavors/heat were a bit more intense, which is the way we like our Indian food. Between hubby and I, we polished off the entire pan (veggies were carrots and broccoli). I seriously considered deglazing the foil, making a little sauce to be sopped up by bread; maybe next time!
Just made this last night. Soooo good! You are right about the veggies though. Next time I think I’ll double the veggies and use two pans. Thanks Deb, you rock!
Another winner from Deb! Made this for our Friday night dinner (we try a new recipe every Friday night) and this might end up in our regular rotation. Though I think we might even double the veggies and halve the chicken next time around, the charred and caramelized potatoes and cauliflower were definitely the best part.
Any thoughts on setting some of the marinade aside before the chicken goes in and saving it as just spiced yogurt to go on top of the veggies? Or what to do with cold leftover chicken tikka?
Deb I commented above but as I find myself making this for the third time in a week and a half I have a question – could this work on the grill? Or would it burn? It is getting warm and I try not to turn the oven on as much in the summer… but I can’t imagine going 3 months without this dish!!! :-) Thanks!
This was seriously delicous. We love a lot of spice and flavour and this dish delivered exactly that. I didn’t have plain yogurt but ended up using a vanilla greek yogurt that was in the fridge and it was really delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Deb- THANK YOU! It’s amazing…
Speaking as the mom of a scarily active 8-month old who is currently refusing to nap more than 20 minutes at a go and requires constant attention at all other times (kid can’t walk, but apparently can climb): this was probably the easiest meal I cooked last week, pickled onions included, and all family members, including the 8-month old, found it delicious. We’ll definitely be making this again.
Made this last night as kabobs on the grill with some grilled bread and was excellent. A hit with both the kids and the adults. Thanks for the great work, keep them coming.
Made this last night and LOVED it. Kids loved it too. This was so easy, and SO tasty. It also occurred to me while eating it why there is so much cauliflower used in Indian cooking (aside from the obvious veg centered focus in certain regions) – b/c it soaks up the taste SO well. The cauliflower was almost the best part of this dish, b/c it picked up SO much of the flavour from the sauce.
I made this on Friday and leftovers served as 2 yummy lunches. Everything was so delicious, thanks for the recipe! Although now I’m out of garam masala and have to replenish! :)
This recipe was a complete winner. Easy prep and clean up. Thank you Deb for including how to make garam masala! Am I missing something, or could this recipe also be tagged gluten-free? After 40 minutes of roasting, the skin on my chicken was still pretty soft, so I took those pieces out and ran them under a broiler a bit. Yum!
I made this the other night and it was yummy.
THIS RECIPE IS A FOOLPROOF WINNER!
Re, gluten-free — Thank you. Now tagged!
rebecca — I have a page of New York favorites (incomplete, but of course it will get you started) over here.
Deb, I made the perfect dinner last night. This chicken tray bake with Joy the Baker’s pistachio strawberry crisp! I made raita and my own mint chutney too. I read your and Joy’s blogs religiously! Anyway, this chicken is amazing! Also the mint chutney is super easy to make, who knew? I pickled green onions instead, because that’s what I had and I’ve been into Indian inspired dishes lately, so I had all the spices. I love a good tray bake( learned that trick from Nigella) and it was nice to eat a lighter Indian spiced dish. It can be really rich, so I don’t eat it too often, this was a perfect stand in. All those species and herbs are so good for you. Yum!
Wow! I printed this out a few days ago, since it looked promising, but didn’t get around to making it until this evening. The poor little potatoes and cauliflower looked rather naked and boring, but once baked with the chicken (and I scraped the marinade onto the chicken for roasting) everything smelled and tasted fantastic! This recipe goes into the binder for sure, and I imagine we’ll be making it over and over again. Thanks!
Once the marinade is made, this is a pretty easy dish. It is not hot, despite the jalapeno. We liked it with chicken legs. Because of the mildness of the dish (and I might crank up the heat next time), the condiments are essential, especially the pickled red onion. Chutney and some minced cilantro are also nice. I made some chapatis (from the new Hot Bread Kitchen cookbook) to go with it.
wow superb good looking delicious foods thank you for a good artickle
If you make a bunch of extra chicken breasts (I marinated them with everything else and then just put them in their own little pan) and, once cooked, you put them in a bowl with a little extra pan juices, leftover herbs, leftover pickled onion and dollop of yogurt and then shred them, it makes, hands down, the BEST CHICKEN SALAD IN THE UNIVERSE. And is no extra work. Ate it all week.
Oh, wow….this was really something special: I have never been able to make Chicken Tikka as good as my husband’s favorite at Naan’N’Curry in San Francsico. This came so close….the spices are perfect! I mashed them all in a big coarse mortar, mixed with Greek yoghurt and marinated boneless, skinless chicken thighs for the afternoon. Threw it on top of the chunked potatoes and cauliflower. Just wonderful.
I keep a hunk of frozen unpeeled ginger in the freezer just as it comes from the store…grate with a micro plane, and voila, fresh ginger when I need it….one doesn’t even notice the skin. I threw a Serrano in the spice mixture, ’cause I was out of crushed red pepper, exactly the right amount of heat. I expected my husband would fuss as there was no sauce or naan, but he said it was delicious!
Yeah, Deb, for the win!
I also cut down the oil in the sheet pan, lined it with foil and sprayed generously with Pam, worked very well indeed.
Thank you so much, Deb, you are my absolute favorite cooking site…I would happily pay for access and look forward to your next cookbook….the first is a real winner.
Hi Deb- If I want to make this with skinless, boneless chicken thighs, will I have to adjust the baking time? Thank you!
I made this and it was delish! My only wish was that the veggies were covered in that spice mix too
I made this exactly as the recipe states and it was utterly delicious and wolfed down by the whole family. I will definitely be making it again and might try with fish for my non-meat eating friends. Thanks Debs!
My kids liked it even better when I switched out the potatoes for sweet potatoes!
What kind of yogurt did y’all use? The recipe says to use a whole milk yogurt and the only kind I could find that wasn’t a giant container was greek yogurt, but I don’t think that’s what Deb means. Do I have to go get a giant tub of plain yogurt I won’t otherwise use or can I use Greek yogurt and just get a small container of it? Thanks.
Karen — Many commenters here have mentioned using boneless, skinless thighs or breasts with success, but nobody has mentioned roasting time. Just consider how long they usually take to roast (20-25 minutes?) and add them a little later in the veg-roasting process.
bloomie — I use Greek here and for just about everything. Use what you’ve got. I promise to warn if a kind won’t work well. :)
made this last night for dinner – it was awesome!
i made the marinade in the food processor and left the chicken (4 thighs & 1 monster breast cut in half) in it overnight (probably started it about 8/9pm the night before and cooked it around 5pm the next day). boyperson went in the fridge during the night and announced “it smells good in here!” definitely the best smelling marinade of all time. i used everything mentioned with the following small changes:
1. i used curry powder instead of turmeric as i didn’t have any (and turmeric is the first ingredient in my curry powder)
2. for spice: 1/4t berbere, a whole jalapeno, & a whole serrano. delicious with great spice (i.e. flavor) but not “spicy” at all, for anyone concerned.
3. for veg: a handful of baby red potatoes, halved, one small yukon gold & a big sweet potato, peeled & cubed. served it with blistered shisito peppers & a dipping sauce made of mayo, sour cream, sriracha, lots of fresh lemon juice, paprika, s&p and more fresh lemon wedges for squeezing, and some pickled red onions from the escarole salad recipe which i always keep on hand because they’re amazing.
delicious, easy, everyone went back for seconds. took an hour to roast everything through & get potatoes cooked. definitely going into the rotation, thanks again deb!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was so good, thanks Deb! I wanted to share a product I use in Indian and Bengali cooking when I’m in hurry or am feeling too lazy to peel, mince, etc ginger. You can find this paste in any Patel Bros. or Apna Bazaar or any Indian grocery stores. The company also makes garlic paste and a ginger/garlic paste.http://shop.khanapakana.com/swad-ginger-paste-7-5-oz-212-grams/?gclid=CJ-6p9qev8wCFdRZhgodDM0H3A
I made this last night and it was an instant family favorite. I added the sliced leeks with lemon zest, olive oil, and salt from Melissa Clark’s recipe you mentioned above (also a family favorite) about 20 minutes in, and that just made it even more delicious. Thanks again for your consistently fabulous recipes, which, among other things, have enabled me to say that my children will eat Indian food!
Cannot wait to try this! I’m always looking for baked chicken recipes because I am just so bad at stovetop/skillet chicken. What is wrong with me, ha! Love that the veggies are included!
Thank you thank you for all your recipes. It seems like no matter which recipe I try from your website (savory or sweet, appetizer or entree) they are all delicious and huge hits in my household! It’s got to be something about the way you write your recipes or the extensive testing that you do. Thank you again!
For the vegetarians: I used a mixture of paneer, chickpeas, and white mushrooms – delicious! I halved the mushrooms but should have left them whole – I imagine this would be very good with larger mushrooms.
I made this with boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks (sale at Whole Foods!) and they came out so nicely, not dry like I was worried about! I think next time I’ll add even more spices to the marinade as mine came out a little gingery and not as crazy full flavored as I had hoped. But I’m so excited to see this easy take on it because one of my favorite foods is the chicken tikka Greek salad at Ebeneezer’s in Hong Kong and I’m making my version for lunch this week using your recipe! Thanks so much for posting!
Deb, I have loved 99% of your recipes but this one didn’t do it for me. I inadvertently marinated the bone-in chicken breasts for 36 hours and I still found them to be totally lacking in flavor. I think a roasted chicken with a pan sauce is more flavorful. Thanks anyway!
I love this kind of meal. Am a big fan of the Melissa Clark versions and am so happy to have a new variation to play with. I added a little sugar to the pickled onions, and before serving, put the hot roasted veg on top of some baby arugula to make a wilted salad. Add onions, lemon juice and a little hot sauce–so good. I’ll be making this again for sure.
Just made this for dinner last night. Since I have three kids and a heavy schedule, I am always on the hunt for easy dinners. The chicken was really good, but mild on spice. It may have been due to the fact that my garam masala is a year old and has been sitting in a mason jar. I deliberately took the heat down because of the kids, which was a bit of a mistake. The sauce cooked beautifully, and I used 4 boneless breasts, and 2 boneless thighs. I much preferred the thighs, but the kids liked the breasts. Vegetables were delicious, but I used broccoli instead of cauliflower because it is what I had on hand. Needed a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper at the end. I would make it again. I might try mixing the spices, garlic and ginger in a food processor next time. May have provided a depth of flavor that was missing.
I made this last night, with boneless/skinless chicken thighs, and carrots in place of the potatoes since it’s what I had on hand. I also made a cucumber raita in place of the plain yogurt to accompany. I loved it! I think my husband did as well. The kids tolerated it as with most things that are not chicken nuggets/mac n cheese/pizza, etc. They ate it nevertheless which is a win in my book. Thanks for a great recipe!
Made this last night and we really liked it. I like putting the marinade together and then returning later to cook it all in one pan. I think thighs are the way to go with this dish.
Made it as suggested (with bone-in skin on chicken). Enjoyed it but didn’t care for the skin at all (which is typically not eaten in South Asian cuisine anyway). Making it tonight with boneless chicken breast (which is what i have on hand so will follow the inspiration recipe and put on skewers). One little trick that I think really helped develop the flavor is that I “bloomed” the spices by mixing them with a tiny bit of oil and then zapping that in the microwave for 15 seconds. Looking forward to more sheet-pan meals!
Really good marinade recipe that worked well both in the oven and on the grill! My British husband, who grew up eating stuff like this, suggested adding dried fenugreek, which we did, and a bit of mustard oil that help the marinade adhere better to the chicken.
Made this last night and it was amazing! We ate all of the meat, but had leftover veggies from the dish, so I heated them up for lunch and ate them with a fried egg on top. It was delicious!!!!!!
This was just so delicious. I used buttermilk instead of yogurt and marinated it for several hours. Served it with raita, chopped cilantro, and the quick-pickled red onions. Hard to save enough for leftovers (I made the full recipe…for two of us). Another winner. Thank you so much!
Loved this! Next time I think we’d add whole garlic cloves with the veggies, because what isn’t improved by roasted garlic?
Do you think that the chicken could be grilled after marinating, instead of roasting?
Deb, I was underwhelmed by this recipe. It didn’t help that my better half brought home these massive, dense chicken pieces and it took them an hour to fully cook in the oven.
It was by no means a bad recipe, as written. It just wasn’t great (when you factor in the effort). Your other recipes are wonderful and so much better! But this one, for me, needs some tweaking before I’d consider making it again.
I made this with tofu cut into square slabs and made the recipe with no changes…it came out amazing. The tofu prepared this way had more surface area than the chicken so I had to use a second pan. I put all the tofu in one pan and the rest of the stuff in the other in case the tofu needed to come out earlier, but it didn’t. But when I bake tofu I like it really, really baked; I think the texture is nice that way.
Thanks for yet another great recipe!
Just used this exact marinade for boneless skinless chicken on the grill and it came out phenomenal! Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe!!
A week ago, beloved family came to visit from Omaha, 2 young couples, all business professionals. They shooed me out of the kitchen and proceeded to fill our house with tantilizing aromas. OMG!!! Not only did we ALL love this dish, we actually got out more bread to mop up every drop from the platter! I am making it for company this week; will add a generous amount of carrots (2″pieces). Love those pickled red onion slices, so I got 2 red onions! Totally dreamy recipe, meaning I really did awake wanting this again the morning after we had it for dinner! Subscribed to your newsletter; I am excited to try more of your recipes, like the wild rice gratin with kale, since kale is in season! Thank you a gazillion times over!!!
One of my new favorite foods!
You have opened my eyes and my tastebuds to the world of garam masala. This recipe, and your curried lentils are now two staples in kitchen. Thank you!
I made this awhile back and was delish. I am thinking about subbing with sweet potatoes. Thoughts?
OMG – amazing! Those pickled onions were perfect.
I made this tonight! I used bone-in skin-off thighs, patty pan squash instead of cauliflower (not because we don’t like it, but because we had a ton of squashes from the CSA) and forgot the chili powder/cayenne… so when we were eating it I thought next time I’d increase the spices – but now that I realize my mistake I might just try it the right way first. Because next time is totally happening!! It really was so good and so easy.
This was very good and simple, though next time I will double the spices in the marinade, as my kids are getting older and they can handle flavor now.
I made this twice, once exactly as written and once for a friend who is dairy free. Both times were wonderful and received *rave* reviews. For the dairy free modification, I put the spices in about a 1/4 cup of olive oil and lime juice (I used 3 key limes) and then whisked it all up and marinated the chicken in that instead of the yogurt.
It’s a magic dish, really, because the veggies are so simple, yet so delicious and amazing. Definitely a great one for casual entertaining.
OOH! I also made this and realized I would benefit from a dairy free version. Thank you for sharing!
I strongly recommend making it with coconut milk. It will change your life! ;)
I’m making this for dinner AGAIN. I think this is the fifth time. It’s quickly become a family favorite and I’ve passed it along to everyone I know. Thanks for another great recipe, Deb. If you’re on the fence, MAKE THIS. It’s gloriously simple and so, so delicious!
We loved how easy and tasty this was!
I doubled the marinade the first time I made this and tossed the extra in a bag with some thighs to put in the freezer. The frozen meal turned out just as delicious, maybe even more so because of the extra time in the marinade. Thanks for a great recipe!
i had to write in because i have been eyeing this recipe since it was posted and finally made it for dinner last night (and then had leftovers for lunch today)! it was incredibly easy, clean up was a breeze, and tasted delicious! i am skeptical of sheet pan dinners bc i have had bad luck in the past with uneven cooking times and used to have a sensitive smoke alarm, but i saw the note and halved my split bone-in skin-on chicken breasts and it cooked up to perfection in just under 40 mins. i also don’t usually follow recipes so exactly but i am not familiar with cooking indian flavors so i actually followed the recipe and am glad i did. i used a food processor for the garlic/ginger/jalapeno because i am out of gloves and wanted to handle the pepper as little as possible- the aroma from the food processor was incredible. it was not too spicy for my spice-sensitive bf/roomie but had enough of a kick for me. also i would bathe in that yogurt marinade if i could. this dish was a hit! will def be repeating in the coming weeks.
Hi Deb, just wondering if you can make this with boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I know, I know, but it’s what we have) or if it will end up really dry. I’m thinking the yogurt in the marinade might help prevent that from happening?
You may have made this already and got your answer, but I always make this with skinless boneless thighs and although it may possibly not be as good as with bone-in/skin-on, they don’t tend to get dry at all (as long as you stick to the cooking time) and is absolutely yum. You’re right, it may be the marinade keeping them from drying out. One day I’ll remember to buy skin-on, bone-in, and see the difference!
I used coconut water instead of dairy. Was great!
This was THE BOMB diggity! Next time I think I’ll add some red peppers to bake in the oven with the veggies, I have a feeling it would be reeeal tasty. And also double the marinade and split half of it into a sauce that can simmer while the chicken and veg is in the oven.
Thank you so much for a deilcious and easy recipe.
It’s such a beautiful thing to behold, food that almost makes itself!
I’m making this tonight for probably the tenth time, and just had to leave a comment…. It’s just so good! I love Indian spices and this dish is a tasty, quick and very simple way to quell my cravings. My 4 year old loves this too, although my husband and I are looking forward to the day he’s able to tolerate even the slightest hint of chilli! Until then, we go without ):
This was perfect. Did this for a dinner for 8 and everyone raved. I forgot the sugar and played it loose on the spices because I didn’t have all – but it worked out (don’t ask me to repeat what I made – but that’s a different issue)
Thank you!
Deb…Why can I no longer print your introduction and pictures ? All I get is the printed recipe with none of the gorgeous lead-in.
Thanks,
Susan
The print template has always been set to just include the recipe or people yell at me that it takes up 8+ pages. :)
Kosher salt
How often do you come across recipes asking you to use “kosher” salt? It happens to me a lot. I’m Jewish, and I find it quite disturbing. It shows a total lack of understanding of what kosherness is all about. It is of course a Jewish thing. There is the Islamic Halal thing, which I don’t know about and cannot comment. I’ve never heard of Halal salt.
In the scriptures, God creates all the beasts of the field etc, and pronounces them all good. He tells Noah the same thing: Genesis, 9, 3 : All the animals are OK for you to eat..
There is a caveat about blood, Gen 9, 4 “you must not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” which I don’t really understand, but is actually at the heart of this issue about salt.
Shortly after God declares all animals to be edible, he then comes along and tells his people to avoid pork and all nice seafood, saying they are an abomination. What sort of god changes its mind? So kosher has come to mean no pork and no nice seafood. There’s also the thing with milk and meat. Abraham meets messengers from god and gives them a meal of veal with bread and cheese. The Talmudic message says to avoid eating milk and meat in the same meal. This is based on a line, repeated three times (so it must be true) in Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy saying do not cook either a calf or a kid in its mothers milk. Somewhere else in the scriptures are instructions about what kind of fabrics silk or wool or linen can be worn in combination. Egyptian cotton does not seem to figure. This paragraph then is a summary of what kosherness is about as far as orthodox Jews are concerned.
When I first came across the demand for Kosher salt, I checked up on it via a kosher website – there are such things. Ultra-orthodox Jews are keen to spread the message about what the faithful should do to fulfil the requirements of the religion.
First, it will tell you that contrary to many deluded opinions to the contrary, the prohibition against pork etc is not for health reasons. There is in fact no reason at all not to eat these except that “It is written!”.
Regarding salt, it says that salt can not be kosher or not kosher. It is neutral.
It suggests that there is a confusion between “kosher” and “koshering” salt.
The scriptural line about not eating blood leads to animals being slaughtered by having their throats cut and then draining the blood. The blood is then wasted – no lovely black pudding for orthodox Jews!
Orthodox Jews will buy kosher meat from a kosher butcher, or online equivalent and then proceed to “kosher” it by sprinkling it with lots of salt in the mistaken belief that this will draw out whatever blood remains after the initial draining. This process will only draw out water, and flavour the meat. The pink colour of red meat is not blood, it is Myoglobin, a muscle protein resembling Haemoglobin.
So, all you food bloggers, do not ask for “kosher” salt in the recipes. There is no such thing.
This is absurd. Boxes of salt in every store are called “kosher” salt; it is simply a kind of salt, which is why recipe writers everywhere — not just all us food bloggers — call for it. My job is to point people to the ingredients they need to buy for recipes, not argue religious tenets over whether it has the right to be labeled as such.
The word “kosher” has a religious connotation. i am merely suggesting that it is being used in the wrong context.
there is such a thing as kosher salt though. yes, the salt itself is not necessarily kosher, but it exists as a product labeled as such on grocery store shelves. it’s like saying there are no such things as kleenex because they should be called tissues. and if you don’t call for kosher salt, or another kind of salt, many people will use table salt, which cannot be substituted 1:1 unless you want something grossly salty as a result.
so if talking semantics, while i do agree a more apt term would/should be koshering salt, until those that produce kosher salt choose to change their labeling there is very much a need to specifically call for it in recipes, wherever they may be written.
Yuo come to a blog to write a full page of wording that sounds like preaching more than pointing something out. RELAX ! That was unnecessary for us readers.
hahaha this comment is hilarious. Deb, don’t worry your regular readers know what you mean :) (though, in Australia there is no such thing…that is beside the point though – I just worked out what you meant)
Perfect plate for us Indian Cuisine lovers.
Loved this Deb, such an easy dinner – threw it in the oven and went for a run, it was cooked by the time I got home! Have made this multiple times now.
Just a quick question, any thoughts on how to make this dairy free? It sounds so good but I can’t eat the yogurt
Oops. Never mind. Just saw you already answered this. 😀
For dairy-free, because I have a hard time finding plain soy yogurt, I substitute tofu sour cream in recipes that call for plain yogurt. So far this has worked out ok. Tofu sour cream has a similar consistency and tang to the plain yogurt. But you have to be used to it. Although our dairy-free family can’t taste the difference, my dairy loving friends can.
I am not dairy free and always make it w coconut milk because it is amazing!
Oh, great call on the coconut milk sub! Going to try that. :)
So kosher salt is an american thing. I had no idea, living in England as I do,
PS. This recipe looks fantastic!
Absolutely delicious. I recommend marinating in the yogurt as long as possible as well. I switched out potatoes with cut up carrots and the whole family enjoyed every bite. I love that this is a relatively easy way to get an Indian dinner together!
I made this last night and it came out well. I took others’ advice and doubled the spices, which I did not regret at all. I also added some cayenne and garam masala to the veggies to make them a little more exciting. I did find that the potatoes benefited from a longer time roasting – I took the chicken out after about 35 minutes, but then returned the veggies to the oven for another 15 minutes, which made them browned and delicious.
And, a fun accompaniment was a sweet tomato chutney from Meera Sodha’s Made in India cookbook: Saute a minced jalapeno in a little olive oil + ~1 Tbsp ginger paste (~1.5″ minced ginger) for 30 seconds + 0.5 tsp tumeric. Then add ~2 large tomatoes, chopped, and 1 tsp sugar + 0.5 tsp salt. Cook for about 20 min, until it has a jam-y consistency.
This was super tasty! I’d never tried sheet pan recipes before, but I can definitely see the appeal. All you have to wash in the end are your cutting board and knife! I’d echo other commenters and advise spice-lovers to double the spices listed here. There’s not much of a kick otherwise. I also think that for those without garam masala, an easy substitute is curry powder bumped up with a bit of coriander and black pepper.
Oh, and I’d also add mustard seeds to the cauliflower and potatoes if you have them!
I have to confess to being a fan of Sharwood’s Tikka paste which I found in an Indian grocery near here. It would work well in this recipe with the salt and sugar added with the yogurt. Knead it all together in a bag and proceed. It doesn’t add any florescence to the color! LOL This is on the menu for this week! Thanks Deb.
I’m excited to try this. I can’t have dairy though. Would you know of a good substitute for the whole milk yogurt? Or just leave it out?
Do you have a recipe for quick pickling red onion/any onions?
I was going to ask the same question!
It’s not an official recipe (there’s a more measured one here) but I describe how I do it for this recipe in the second to last paragraph.
THANK U THANK U!
What makes the vegetables yellow? I don’t see turmeric on the vegetable ingredient list.
Yukon Gold potatoes were yellowish, cauliflower is white with warm-colored spices on it. You could add some turmeric if you wish, however.
Yumm. If you can get your hands on Madhur Jaffrey’s ‘Easy curry’, your life will be changed. Her delicious cooking, revised for when you’re old and tired, or just want something quick and easy. Last I looked it was only published in England, but that shouldn’t be a problem in NY :-).
As to the children and dinner at 9pm, do as the French do: a slab of good bread with thick butter and a stick of chocolate, around 4-5pm. Generations have sworn by it.
This doesn’t really qualify as Indian food at my house, because it is quite mild. That said, it is absolutely delicious! The chicken is juicy and full of flavor, and the cumin seed elevates the cauliflower into food for the gods ;-) My husband whipped up a quick raita to serve with it.
I made this tonight and it turned out delish! I added some harissa paste for a spicy boost and used whole thigh+leg combo’s. Great recipe, perfect directions. I used a stick blender to make the marinate and didn’t even require any chopping! Seriously, that’s one kitchen tool I reccomend.
Made this tonight but substituted brocollini for cauliflower (because I didn’t feel like going to the store). I also added chunks of onion that got carmelized during the cooking process. It was really yummy and although the chicken was good, the vegetables were stellar.
Great recipe! My family loved it (18 month old was eating it by the handful!). Will definitely be making this often. And I agree it would work well on a weeknight if you marinate and chop the night before, then roast when you get home.
I followed the recipe closely but wanted to relay a few changes that really worked: I used smoked paprika, which lent a great smoky flavor. I added baby carrots halved to the potatoes and cauliflower; they cooked up beautifully and provided nice color and texture. I pureed the garlic and ginger with a shallot and splash of water in my Magic Bullet for a more traditional Indian garlic-ginger-onion paste; it added a nice burst of flavor to the marinade (and meant minimal chopping). I kept a few tablespoons of the yogurt marinade separate in the fridge then reconstituted it with some water and cooked it down for a few minutes as a sauce (to make the raw aromatics less pungent). Mixed with a bit of sour cream at the end, this was a perfect sauce to pour over the couscous, meat and veg. Yum!
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve made this (without changing anything and definitely making the garnish as suggested). Wish I had one more sheet pan dinner this good and this full of flavour.
I made this dish twice recently, both times for an event in the Maine woods. My estimates for both evenings were for about 40 people. I sized the recipe up times eight, chopped a green salad, and hoped that the crowd would appreciate an Indian-inspired dish. Both times, everyone loved it. Huge hit.
Also, I made a vegan version (kind of). I took the spice mix without the dairy and tossed the veggies and some tempeh in it, then broiled it. Worked pretty well!
I’ve made this 3 times now. Each time, I just sit there in awe at how delicious it is, how simple it was to make & how easy the clean up will be. Definitely my favourite recipe of 2016! Thank you so much. :)
This has gone into regular rotation at our house. Now, whenever I make it, I double the recipe for the marinade/chicken and freeze 1/2 of it. That second batch is always even more flavorful!
Is it okay to freeze the chicken/yogurt marinade if it has yogurt in it? I would love to be able to do this but have heard that you should not freeze soups that have cream in them — wondering if the same sort of thing is true for yogurt-based marinades. Thanks!
I froze five chicken drumsticks in the marinade about a month ago. Took them out last night, defrosted in the microwave and then baked as per recipe. They came out perfectly!!
Oh, and I put a piece of parchment on top of the foil and oil that a bit first. Nothing sticks, and easy clean up.
This is super. Yummy and quick!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was every bit as good as your pics look! A wonderful combination of spices and it was so easy to prepare. And the one pan makes clean up a breeze! Will definitely make this again – thanks!
Deb I already commented back when you first posted but had to comment again – this is part of a regular rotation at our house now! So delicious, easy, healthy and flexible! I’ve substituted ground ginger for fresh- different flavor obviously but totally works in a pinch and I’ve used boneless chicken as well. Such a wonderful, yummy recipe perfect for Fall/Winter :) Thanks for your wonderful writing and amazing recipes through the year. You bring a delicious warmth to the lives of your readers. Truly :)
Happy Hanukkah to you and yours!
I made this on a weeknight when I was super tired and didn’t even go shopping for food until after work, and I could not have been happier. It tasted soooo good, was super easy, and we had enough that both my husband and I could bring some to work for lunch the following day. Saving this one to make again and again. Thank you!
This is amazing! My husband and I finished our servings then stood over the stove eating straight from the pan before we cleaned up. We used a purple cauliflower and it worked fine.
We had this two nights ago, and of course it was delicious (I haven’t had a failure yet from any of Deb’s recipes). The only tweak was that we dispensed with the foil. Why would you need it? I used a nonstick lasagna pan (roughly 10×15?) but I think even without a nonstick, it’d be ok. Next time, I’m going to add carrots, as someone mentioned above, and more cauli–one of my fave veg that I don’t have enough recipes for! Thanks for yet another hit, Deb!!
This smelled wonderful while cooking, but was truly disappointing in the eating. It’s frankly not Indian tasting at all; I wish I’d read the comments first and doubled or tripled all the spices to make preparing the marinade worth the effort.
I’ll definitely make this again though, just stronger.
LOVE THIS RECIPE SO MUCH. I added lemon juice and the same spices to the yogurt sauce and it was amazing.
Deb! I have to know where you got that gorgeous oil decanter, I’ve been looking for an amazing one like that for some time.
-Ben
I have this one. I balked at the price and got the smaller one, huge regret. Definitely buy the larger one unless you want to be refilling all the time.
This looks delicious!! I keep kosher- what can I use to replace the yogurt??
It’s not urgent here, just skip it.
A wonderful, easy, healthy meal. Thank you x
Recipe was great. Two thumbs up from kid and husband. Will definitely make again. Made as indicated other than doubling spices (and should have tripled). I used boneless skin off chicken thighs (it was what I had on hand) and it still came out tender. I had marinated it for about 8 hours. I did stick the veggies in first for about 15 minutes and then I added the chicken. And the onion rings in lemon juice really added a nice final touch- I used white onions (what I had on hand). Served with store bought naan and a quick raita (cucumber/yogurt/salt). Thank you Smitten kitchen for yet another go-to recipe :)
oh and I did add mustard seeds and a bit of turmeric to the veggies.
Major yum. I had to physically distance myself from the pan or I would have eaten it all. And the pickled red onion really makes a difference – I love when you suggest little easy garnishes that make all the difference, Deb. Thank you!
Wow!!! This was delicious! Thank you Deb. As a full time student that also works part time and has a boyfriend that can’t cook, this was perfect! Also great for eating on a budget. The garnishes were a nice touch, added the perfect zing to the dish! I used a mortar and pestle for the spices because I got one for Xmas, it was so fun smushing them together!
I made this! Delicious, and as we don’t eat meat and dairy together, I used coconut water in place of the yoghurt.
I made this again, except 4lbs chicken thighs, double yogurt, quadruple of everything else in the marinade. Four jalapeños, 16 cloves of garlic, etc. The yogurt was non-fat. I ran the marinade ingredients in a food processor, and marinated the chicken for 48 hours.
It came out truly bland, again. Not just mild, but not really Indian. Is it the nonfat yogurt that’s ruining the dish? Is it something else? How can something that everyone raves about go so wrong? Suggestions? Advice?
Sengkelat – I definitely think the non-fat yogurt is your culprit. Most of the key elements of the marinade — including the garlic, turmeric, cayenne and jalapeno — have flavour compounds that are fat soluble. Using non-fat yogurt means they can’t infuse properly, and won’t bind to the chicken.
I have to second the above reply! Fat is an important vehicle for flavor–not to mention, saturated fat, and fat from dairy products in particular, is not nearly as unhealthy as it was once thought to be. Saturated fat helps raise your good cholesterol numbers. I never buy non-fat dairy anything anymore.
This was amazing! I made it for dinner tonight, and everyone loved it. I have a teenager who is trying to be a vegetarian and a pre-teen who can’t handle spice. So I used a pasilla pepper in place of the jalapeno to satisfy the younger child and added a block of firm tofu cut into large cubes for the older one. The head of cauliflower I used was huge, so I ended up using two sheet pans: one for the chicken thighs and one for the tofu. The tofu was perfect: well-seasoned and just a little crispy on the outside. I also added half a sliced red onion to the pans halfway through the roasting time because roasted onions are fabulous. There were plenty of leftovers, which I love. Now the kids have something to take to school for lunch tomorrow.
I was going to ask if tofu would work here (we’re vegetarian), so was happy to see your comment! Did you treat the tofu exactly like Deb suggests treating the chicken, but just cube it up first?
This was AMAZING!!! I rarely comment on recipes but I made this last night for my boyfriend and we were both amazed at the flavors. I appreciated the tip to add a little cayenne! Thank you for the great recipe!!!
I cannot get over how good this is. My fiance and I fight over the pickled onions, so I finally just started making a whole onions worth. I don’t bother chopping the marinade ingredients, just toss it all in the Vitamix and blend it up. So good. This is a 2x a month recipe that I double each time I make. So good.
did i mention this is SO GOOD? hahahaha. really. it’s a must make. i’m tossing some defrosted frozen peas in with the veggies at the end this time.
This was on my “try someday” list when a foodie friend mentioned it and raved about it.
I was worried about how the kids would respond but one 5-year-old couldn’t get enough cauliflower and the other had his face literally in a piece of chicken the whole dinner. I can’t remember the last time I got that kind of reaction to a new meal (that wasn’t pasta).
We made as recommended and loved the pickled red onions. I might double the spices for an adult-only meal but I thought this was perfect family fare as is.
Made this for dinner tonight – yum! I had sour cream on hand and used that instead of yogurt, also added a green bell pepper to the veggie mix. Husband approved, and leftovers for lunch tomorrow – double win! Will definitely make again.
This has been bookmarked for such a long time and now, having made it, i’m kicking myself for not getting round to it earlier: absolutely delicious. My husband was extremely complimentary and for good reason: full of flavour and quite easy to boot. Thanks for the recipe.
Made this with some modifications based on what I had around – turned out great! Skinless boneless thighs were fine here. Subbed in sweet potato and added in wedges of red onion. In the last few minutes, I added peas to the pan. Served with brown rice, yogurt, and chopped parsley.
I had this in my “to try” list for the longest time. I finally made it tonight and it didn’t dissapoint! I added some more spice by rubbing the veggies with a mixture of salt, curry powder and red pepper flakes. I used a whole chicken cut in 4 pieces, and roasted for about 35 minutes. The breasts got a bit overcooked. I finished it with chopped fresh mint and loved it!
Deb, thank you for sharing! This is a fantastic weeknight meal – delicious, healthy, inexpensive (if you already have the spices), and quick to prepare. I was tempted to skip the cauliflower; glad I didn’t – the florets soaked up the spicy goodness that oozed off of the chicken. Not too spicy – I shared it with my 14 month old.
This was ok, but not nearly as good as SK’s curried lentils and sweet potatoes. The veg released a lot of water so there was very little browning. Thankfully, I added a handful of small carrots, which made it much more visually appealing. I enjoyed the yogurt/red onion/cilantro toppings but my family did not, so their plates looked pretty bland.
tried this recipe. it was easy to assemble but definitely lack flavor. the chicken was very bland. the vegetables and potatoes came out good though. i think next time i’ll just buy jar tikka masala sauce and cook my chicken in that. sorry.
This was fantastic – SO easy and great flavors!
I halved the recipe but left the spice mix the same and used a whole jalapeño so I was shocked that it was SO BLAND. I would definitely increase the chili powder or use another spice mix recipe if I ever made again. Not only no spice but very ,title flavor.
I find a rasp a handy kitchen tool for this kind of recipe. I keep a baggie with knobs of ginger in the freezer. When I need something in the way of a “paste” I use the rasp to finely grate the ginger. Also works very well with garlic.
Sorry about the super late question, but I’m responding to the repost. I now live in Germany, where it’s near impossible to find bone- in chicken breasts. I assume I can use skinless breasts/filets and adjust the cooking time, but would you have a suggestion how long to cook (or tell me if this just won’t work)?
I haven’t made it with boneless/skinless but I see dozens of comments above from people who have (here are a bunch and more). I think it would work fine but probably only needs half the cooking time of the vegetables, maybe just put it in for the last 20 minutes in big chunks. Enjoy!
Would it be bad if I put the chicken in the marinade the night before and cooked at 6 pm the next day?
Shouldn’t be an issue.
This was great. I have the Made in India cookbook but I also have a broken right arm so skewers were a no go right now. I doubled up the spices and everyone loved it, plus it was doable one handed which at this point is necessary. I threw a handful of broccoli in with it at the mid way point since my cauliflower was tiny. Also added a cut up onion. I’ll definitely do this again.
So I made this delicious chicken for dinner and had some leftovers. I hate reheated chicken and was considering options when I came up with a yummy idea.
I took the breasts (mine had skin and bones) and soaked them in 4 cups of chicken broth for a few hours. I then chopped chicken and threw out the skin and bones.
Added the potatoes and cauliflower to broth and used immersion motor to purée half, leaving the other half chunky. Added a. Bit more spices and the chicken.
Result, awesome Indian Chicken soup! Great use for second meal with this recipe!
Hi Deb, Do you reckon this could be made as a prep-freeze-cook type of dish ? Prep everything (perhaps in 2 bags?), freeze and thaw and cook on the day of ?
I think so. I find that frozen vegetables don’t crisp up as well but also that this is delicious no matter what. :)
This was a dinner miracle! I made as directed, minus the jalapeno, and it pleased three preschool kids (who ate FIVE drumsticks between them), a chicken-averse husband, and a mother-in-law, whom I caught picking at the minimal leftovers in the pan afterward. And almost no clean-up! So awesome!
This was delicious! I was able to make it with just a spray oil on the pan, and only about 1 tablespoon of oil on the veggies. The flavors are wonderful in the marinade, and the cumin seeds on the vegetables are addicting.
The one thing that I would stress about this recipe is the duration of the marinate. The longer you can leave the chicken in the marinade the more delicious and juicy your chicken will be.
I personally prepare the marinade the night before and cook the chicken for dinner then next day, giving it close to 24 hours in the marinade.
The difference in taste is worldly.
Hi! I’m making this right now, and its the first time I have done a pan sheet dinner. I was always brought up with the notion you should roast meet and veggies separately! In any case, I was wondering how you manage to get a crisp roast on the veggies? I found there is so much liquid coming out of the chicken that the potatoes and cauliflower are steaming rather than roasting. After the first 20 minutes, I “drained” the liquid off the pan, hoping the veggies will roast… any advice?? Thanks!! Smells delicious so far!!
Meat and vegetables have been roasted together since the caveman days. Want something delicious? Roast oil-slicked and seasoned chicken (small whole (3-4 lbs.), thighs, whatever) with potatoes and carrots (or just potatoes) in the same pan. Toss the veggies in a little olive oil first, just to coat. Salt and pepper, maybe a little thyme. Roast at 400 until done – whole chicken maybe an hour and 15 minutes, thighs/parts 45 minutes. Use a sheet pan or a pan with low sides. Or a big cast iron skillet. That is a perfect example of meats and vegetables roasted together.
I think that part of the issue for roasting the vegies is the size of the pan being used. In other words the ratio of amount of chick/vegies to open pan. Deb says in the notes “I scaled the recipe for a proper sheet (technically a half-sheet) pan most of us use, a 13×18-inch. You could also divide this over 2 quarter-sheet (9×13-inch) pans.”
So, for the future, I’d look at Deb’s pictures……does the amt of vegies and chicken look like them? If more (particularly chicken), use 2 pans.
I had a similar issue. When I took out the pan to stir the veggies at the 20 minute mark, there was quite a bit of liquid in the pan released from the chicken and the veggies never stuck to the pan (there was too much liquid) – they steamed more than roasting. I increased the temperature of my oven for the last 15 minutes and I think that helped dry everything out a little. Still an excellent meal and good tasting. Will make again.
Silly question here: does the recipe call for a one and three-quarter inch piece of ginger, or one (1) three-quarter piece? I’ve gone back and forth convincing myself of both. Thank you!
It’s not just you and it will not be a vote of confidence that I just did the same! But it’s 1 3/4-inch. I see in the picture that’s what I used and also I think 3/4-inch would be too little for such a big dish.
This recipe is the jam!!!
We loved this! Thanks for the recipe. I love roasted cabbage so I sliced some cabbage up to cook alongside everything — so good!
My whole family (including my toddler) loves this recipe. I’ve followed the recipe many times but lately have added thick onion slices to roast with the vegetables, and then I scatter peas over everything when it comes out of the oven. I also add lemon juice & minced garlic to the yogurt. So easy & so so good.
I can’t wait to try this for this weekend’s dinner party! My daughter says this is fantastic. Any tips for preparing early and serving from a crockpot for my dinner for 24? I can’t think of a good way otherwise to serve it all at once and warm.
P.S. Can’t wait for the new cookbook!!!!!!!
Thank you and I’m not positive, the crockpot really makes things softer, you won’t have the crisp. Any chance you can load up two or three big trays and roast them shortly before everyone comes?
I’ve got this marinating in the fridge right now and it looks/smells amazing!
My question is: seeing as it’s mid-August and I just can’t bare to turn on my oven on, how do you think this would fare on the grill? Any cooking temp/time recommendations?
You mean in one pan or a cast-iron skillet on the grill?
Can you use a glass brownie pan for this?
Yes, but sometimes it’s better to use a slightly lower temperature (25 degrees less).
This looks incredible!!! Would you please suggest any non-dairy substitutions? Unfortunately, my husband has a dairy allergy…
Thank you so so much!
this was so so good…a family favorite!
Very good. Gut said, “Use parchment so the potatoes don’t stick”. Didn’t listen.
Yup, gut was right – next time.
Thank you!
I would love to send you a small jar of my homemade garam masala! There is nothing like it!!
Don’t tease – recipe, please!
From this book! https://www.amazon.com/Recipes-Cooking-time-life-books/dp/B000OIVUUC
Thank you!
Do you think this would freeze well if I baked it and then put it in the freezer? Any recommendations on reheating protocol?
The flavours here are delicious, however if you’re going to use all these ingredients, I think you definitely need two pans. I omitted the potatoes and it was still very crowded and ultimately everything ended up steaming.
Mmm this is a favorite in our house! I switched it up tonight, subbing broccoli and sweet potatoes in for the cauliflower and potatoes. I also always double the spices in the marinade and I never regret it. So spicy!!
NYT just posted a recipe for sheet pan chicken with crispy chickpeas- this looks way better, but I think adding the chickpeas would make this absolutely amazing!
It looks so good. I really want to make it with… meatballs? I have an idea brewing. :)
Lol, I just spotted my old comment here. Look what I made in January 2018: https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/01/sheet-pan-meatballs-with-crispy-turmeric-chickpeas/
Deb, the flavors are delish but something happened when I omitted the potatoes and I subbed boneless thigh meat. The cauliflower cooked in half the time and the chicken got all watery! I’ve never seen that before! Fortunately I saved it by putting the chicken in the skillet to brown. I served it on naan with your cucumber raita and those quickle red onions and yum!
Hi! Your adorable glass spice jars — where did you get them? I love them. And I’m looking to reinvent my kitchen organization to motivate more cooking. Thanks!
This was delicious! It was my first go at the recipe and I definitely would have let the chicken marinade overnight (or for longer than an hour), had I known. The flavors were fantastic, but I would have liked my chicken to have a flavors that were a bit stronger. Other than that it all roasted perfectly! The veggies were great – I used baby yellow potatoes (all my grocery store had by late Sunday afternoon) and I added 1 tsp of cumin to veggies. I will definitely be making this next month as the weather gets colder. Nom nom nom!
I was honestly surprised how amazing this was. I mean, I thought it would be really good – but all conversation stopped outside of “OMG this is so good” as we proceeded to inhale this meal. My advice is to make extra veggies because they are so good. (Why? Just olive oil, salt, and cumin seed? But man were they good.) And make extra pickled onions! We ate those onions all by themselves and wanted some in each bite.
My changes: I forgot yogurt at the grocery store, so I just made the marinade with olive oil. I marinated for about 6 hours but would do longer next time if I think of it. I’m not sure how it is with yogurt, but the olive oil gave the chicken a very crispy, golden skin and it was perfect. Also, I did not seed my (small) jalapeño and it still wasn’t very hot. I’d probably use a bit more cayenne next time to suit our tastes.
Thanks, Deb, for this great recipe! It will scale easily for guests. Can’t wait to make it again.
Bimbels – Yogurt (buttermilk too) tenderizes the meat all the way through in a most wonderful way. You will notice the difference.
This is seriously so easy and so delicious. I prepped everything in the morning and threw it all together right before it was time to put it in the oven. Leftovers are even more flavorful. The seasoning is on point. I made zero alterations, and I am one of those weirdos that actually has garam masala in the pantry. I used chili powder instead of cayenne, and I chose to leave out the onions because I’m not an onion fan.
Looks great. Can I use parchment paper rather then tin foil? All your recipes looks very appetizing, will be trying the Dutch apple pie.
I wonder how f I could adapt for dairy free option and use coconut milk? I know it’s not thick like yogurt, but…?
Here are two threads with responses, and another comment too, about non-dairy options.
I made this tonight with boneless skinless chicken thighs and tandoori spice rub instead of garam masala (it’s what I had). It was excellent. Instead of plain yogurt I made a little yogurt sauce of Greek yogurt, garlic, salt and lemon juice, which paired very well. Definitely need to toss the veggies at 20 minutes to prevent burning, and I recommend trying to move the chicken around a bit too to prevent it from sticking to the pan or tin foil too much.
This was amazing! Another winner Deb!
I followed the suggestions of doubling the spice since I had no kids to feed. I added ground fenugreek in same proportion as the paprika and garam masala and a couple of dashes of Maggi sauce (the Maggi added a nice unami touch and made a huge difference). I already had some homemade garam masala that I made for another recipe so used that – it has fewer ingredients than Deb’s ‘recipe’ for it but worked fine. I didn’t have any fresh chili’s on hand so I added a liberal scoop of dried jalapeno from last summer’s garden.
I made more than double the yogurt marinade and reserved some back for dipping sauce with the meal. The flavors developed A LOT from the time I made it until I defrosted the chicken and used some of it (about 4 hours later) to the time we actually cooked and ate the meal (about 30 hours). Taste it as you make it and adjust to your liking. Keep tasting it as you go, it’s kinda cool how it changes. By meal time it was amazing and quite a bit more spicy.
I sprinkled some granulated garlic onto the veggies and roasted them for 15 mins before I added the chicken to make sure the potatoes would be cooked through and the cauliflower slightly charred. We smashed the potatoes with our forks on our plates and mixed with some of the pan juices – so good.
I’m going to guess that those who found it bland didn’t use full fat yogurt and/or didn’t marinate long enough. Do it overnight and you will not be sorry. Super quick dinner and easy clean up but you should plan ahead for best results.
Now to figure out new things to dip into the reserved marinade!
This was delicious, but not easy. There is a decent amount of prep work involved. But it has great flavor! I skipped the jalapeño, and subbed sweet potatoes for the potatoes. I sprinkled the veggies with garam masala rather than the cumin seeds. My kids loved it too, even my picky six year old (who refused to try the cauliflower, but gobbled up the rest). I agree with other reviewers that the flavor is all in the skin and doesn’t permeate the meat – I will try making deep cuts into the raw meat before marinading as someone else suggested. As leftovers this isn’t quite as good since the chicken skin is no longer crispy, but all in all I would make this again.
I made this last night and it was really good! Will definitely make it again. I marinated the chicken the night before (so about 20 hours) and used a combination of bone-in, skin on chicken breasts and chicken thighs. I cut the chicken breasts in half so they were more the size of the chicken thighs. I used a whole jalapeño in the marinade and 1/4 tsp of chili powder and it was NOT spicy at all. I was nervous the meal would be inedible because it would be too spicy. Even my 4 year old son ate some chicken! I used whole milk Fage Greek Yogurt and the marinade was a little thick, so I did add a few tablespoons of buttermilk to thin the marinade very slightly. When I make this again I will add some carrots to the sheet pan for more color. I had no problems with any chicken or veggies sticking to the pan – the quite opposite happened – there was liquid released from the chicken during cooking and the potatoes and cauliflower steamed more than roasted. I LOVED the pickled red onions and I made a yogurt/cilantro/lemon juice “sauce” on the side. I would recommend this recipe to others.
Oh my delishishness!! I just made this tonight and it was so good. And not super difficult to put together. The flavor of the spices are amazing. The little pickled onion slices (i used shallots because that’s what I had on hand) were so simple and yummy. This will be in the dinner rotation often.
Made this last night, it was great! I have a 2 month old and it was so easy – prepared the marinade when i got time in the day, then it was just 5 minutes to chop the veggies, toss and chuck in the oven. Very tasty too. Australian here so no fresh jalapenos, but i used a chopped green chilli plus some chopped pickled jalapenos and it tasted great.
Wow, this is good! Made it exactly as written and we loved it. My partner, who is a reluctant eater of Indian food, went back for seconds and kept saying “this is really good!” When trying a new recipe, I usually have a lot of post-mortem ideas for what I’ll do different next time. This one needs no adjustment. Thanks, Deb!
Oy! So good! I changed it up a bit tonight by adding a 1/2 cup of frozen sweet peas to the pan during the last three minutes of cooking. Lovely sweet flavor addition!
I’ve made this several times, and when reading the prep work I realized something we may both be missing…. I had always minced the ginger, garlic, chilies, et al for the yogurt marinade, and was perfectly happy with the results. Since the last time I’ve made this, I have succeeded in making traditional Thai style papaya salad at home. I struggled with getting this dish tasting right for a long time, until my Thai neighbor shared her recipe. All the same ingredients I had been using, but rather than mincing the garlic and chili, SMASH THEM WITH IN A MORTAR WITH A PESTLE! With the salad you don’t make a past, just smash them up well and the difference was crazy. The flavors seemed to really come alive and everything popped. Going to make this dish again, but use the mortar and pestle for the spices… hoping for the same jaw droppingly good effect.
Easy peasy! Did not read comments in advance, but heaped all the spices, yogurt, used a bomber sized jalapeño, extra garlic and food processor to pulverize. Marinated bout two hours in the fridge. Was worried bout sticking so used parchment instead of foil and it was fine. Put chicken breasts on pan with bones up so wouldn’t over cook. SUPER tasty! Loved it was a quick clean-up too.
I’ve made this a dozen times – different vegetables, chicken cuts, seasoning. It’s always great. My husband has a dairy allergy so we use coconut yogurt and it goes very well. The first time I cooked it exactly as written, and since we’ve used this recipe more as a guide to cook up veggies and chicken for a fast, delicious weeknight dinner.
We made this for dinner last night and it was a great weeknight meal! We really don’t have a ton of time between getting home and getting our toddler in bed, so we put the chicken in marinade and chopped the cauliflower and potatoes (storing the potatoes in water in the fridge so they didn’t oxidize) the night before. All we had to do once we got home was throw everything on the sheet pan and cook it.
I loved the flavor of the marinade; that being said, it was flavorful but not intensely flavorful. This was a huge plus for our family given the aforementioned toddler, but I could definitely see doubling the spices as some other commenters suggested. My husband and I enjoyed it with a little bit of hot sauce on the side in addition to the (to die for) pickled onions. And even with the toddler, the next time I make it, I’ll definitely up the cumin on the veggies.
All in all, a great addition to our weeknight meal routine and very amenable to prepping ahead of time.
I made it and it was sooooo good! I swapped the yogourt for lime juice because my kiddo is allergic! Everybody loved it! Thanks!
I don’t use cookbooks any more, much. However, I was given your Everyday Cookbook and am LOVING cooking my way through it. I am newly obsessed with sheet pan cooking. (Love to cook-hate to do dishes). I relate to your “steam of consciousness” way of thinking and writing.
You are an adorable, unpretentious, clever young woman and I applaud your success.
When I saw this recipe posted I thought it was the Smoked Paprika Chicken Sheet Pan recipe. I have made that at least 4 times in the last month. ( once to take to a sick friend.)
Just the slightest ingredient adjustment and it’s a new dish. Sorry, this was the wrong forum for this comment but I wanted to say: Bravo and Thank you.
I made this and it was great, but as we were eating it, my husband and I were making plans for future renditions. I don’t like raw onion, so I added red onion slices in the last 5 minutes of cooking. In the future, I would use thicker onion slices and do the same. It added a nice sweet element to the dish. I was missing a tart element (I ended up eating it with pickled okra, which was a GREAT addition). In the future we would marinate the chicken all day, season the vegetables with more spice and depth with cayenne and cumin and a splash of lime at the finish. The chicken was amazing, but I want to crisp up the skin a little more, so I might set it to broil for the last few minutes. It was delicious, easy and such a hit!
My family loves this recipe – especially the kids ages 11 and 9. That’s pretty high praise! Thanks for the excellent recipe Deb!
I’ve made this a couple of times before and it was good but tonight, it was fantastic. I spatchcocked a whole chicken, doubled the spices in the marinade and rubbed it under the skin and all over the outside. I roasted the chicken with cauliflower and then threw in some frozen peas at the very end. I served it with the grilled yogurt flatbreads from the second cookbook.
This was wonderful. Thank you!!
Could I make this recipe in a slow cooker/how would I do this?
Do you think this would work with sweet potatoes instead of Yukon gold?
Yes, but watch the color on them, they can sometimes brown faster.
In our house this has long been in rotation as a tray bake, but tonight we barbecued the chicken (did the vegetables in the oven as usual). For chicken legs hubby used indirect medium (350 to 400°C) for 40 minutes with the skin side down, then flipped them skin side down onto direct medium for 5 minutes. Juicy!
Made this tonight and we loved it. I did have to bake it for 50 minutes to completely cook thighs and potatoes. The seasoning was perfect——great pungent flavor but no heat. Easy and delicious…will make it again and again! Thanks for the great recipe.
I can’t wait to try this, I love cooking everything on one sheet pan because it makes clean up so much easier. Keep the sheet pan recipes coming!
AMAZING!!!!!!!
I made this for dinner tonight. A little dollop of yougurt soothed the mild heat. Made as directed, including garnishes. Delicious.
Hello, I made this for the first time yesterday and it was a big hit with everyone, from the 14-month old to my 70-year old father. Instead of using only chicken thighs, I split up a whole chicken and roasted all of the parts together. Next time, I will probably marinate longer (i.e., plan ahead better) and take out the breasts a little earlier. Everything tasted very good and was pretty moist. Thanks!
I’ve made this tray bake 5-6 times at this point and its always fantastic! Sometimes I just use what I have around to complete the recipe– occasionally I’ll forget the fresh ginger or won’t have garam masala in my spice cabinet (which is replaced with ‘tikka masala spice’, whatever that is)– and honestly it always turns just as good as ever. My picky meat-and-potatoes father even enjoys it.
This is definitely a go to recipe recipe for me. My boyfriend is actually dairy allergic so I’m going to try it with alternative yogurt to see if it works out.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
My son is dairy allergic and last time when he was home i made it with Daiya brand “plain greek yogurt alternative” and it was just as good. I couldn’t even tell the difference. I LOVE this recipe!
Update: I made this with Kite Hill almond milk yogurt and it worked perfectly. Literally, could not taste a difference, as the response commenter also noted. Still a hit. Definitely still a go-to.
I’ve had this bookmarked since it was posted, and finally made it last night. This was easily the best thing I’ve ever made in my life. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and marinaded them for only about 45 mins in the yogurt sauce. It was divine. If you can get the ingredients, I wouldn’t mess with the sauce, because it is perfect! Raita on the side and you can’t lose!
This recipe is so wonderful! I mean, you can’t go wrong with any Smitten Kitchen recipe…but this one is so so so good! I used two jalepenos in the marinade and luckily had all the dry spices Deb’s recipe called for. I added sweet potatoes into the cauli/potato mix and that turned out to be AWESOME. I also broiled the chicken for a few minutes at the end because we like it crispy. The pickled onions are a must. A stellar recipe!
Oh, and I marinated this for about 10 hours. Last time I made this I only marinated it for 1 hour and I think the extra time really made a difference.
This came up when I searched for freezer meals. How would I prep and freeze this? Expecting my second baby next month and trying to avoid ordering tons of delivery and gaining weight again.
I think you could make everything and freeze it, tightly, maybe packed in a freezer bag. Warm it through on a tray.
Thanks! We’ve got a baby due in a month and already have a 4 year old, so we’re cooking and freezing like crazy. This one looks so yummy!
That was SO good; thank you!
I’m having trouble with this. Using the yoghurt makes this very, very watery while cooking – I have to absorb the water with 5-6 paper towels throughout cooking.
I’m surprised. What kind of yogurt are you using? What happens if you ignore it — might it cook off on its own or absorb into the chicken as it cools?
I made this last night and it was a hit with everybody. The level of heat was just right as made, and the chicken was incredibly tender despite being marinated for only 20 minutes. Next I am going to try making it for the crowd (40+) at our weekly cohousing dinner. Thanks for this great recipe, Deb.
This was delicious. I whirred all the marinade ingredients in the blender so no mincing needed. Used unpeeled russet potatoes. Next time I will maybe add some fennel wedges, and cook on parchment paper, because lots of stuff stuck to the foil and the foil stuck to the pan!
Deb, I made this tonight with butternutsquash in place of potatoes and it was absolutely amazing. Thank you so much!
Made this last night for dinner and it was OMG delicious! We just did the chicken, nothing else, and the flavours were perfect. If there was a rating system this recipe would get five stars from us. Thanks for a great recipe.
This is excellent! I would make this every week or two if my husband didn’t want a little more culinary variety, haha. I doubled the spices in the marinade, and I don’t think it would have been flavorful enough for my taste otherwise (even though I am not a fan of extremely spicy foods). I served it with homemade naan and raita. Mmmm.
If I didn’t have time, would it be acceptable to use a jar of tikka masala sauce? And if so, what kind?
I made this for dinner last night, and it was delicious. My whole family enjoyed it. I used both chili powder and cayenne by accident, but that was a happy mistake.
When I make this next time (there WILL be a next time) I think I’ll drain the juices from the pan midway through cooking. My veggies ended up cooked in juices and were not as crispy as I would’ve liked them. Or maybe I won’t do that and will just know what to expect.
We served with the pickled red onions, yogurt, cilantro, and tamarind chutney I had in the refrigerator.
Yum!
This was one of the most delicious and EASIEST dinners I have ever made. On Sunday night I blended up the yogurt mix in the food processor then let everything marinate until I was ready to cook Monday evening. I followed the recipe except for two things, I added a little curry powder to the vegetables for flavor/color, and I used a bag of frozen cauliflower I had on hand. It turned out absolutely perfectly! The skin of the chicken got nice and crisp and the meat was so tender and flavorful. I cut the potatoes into smaller pieces too and that helped everything finish cooking at the same time. 35 minutes at 425 for 4 chicken thighs worked just fine. This will definitely be in our regular dinner rotation! Thank you!!
I’ve made this twice and both times delicious. I’m a vegetarian living with a carnivore. I tossed some chick peas with all the spices and added them to the pan for the last 20 mins. Divine!! I’ve made chicken salad with the leftovers which the carnivore says it’s the best he’s had. I love you blog and your recipes are always winners.
I made this for me and my roommate we LOVED it. Definitely over filled the sheet pan with veggies and my oven is horrible (still living in a dorm), but it was easy to put together at the end of the day and it was delicious. I used greek yogurt instead regular in the marinade, adding a little bit of milk to make it the right consistency and the greek yogurt on top was was really tangy with the lemon.
I’m almost tempted to make this dish again because of *all* the rave reviews, but this dish just didn’t work for me. I’ve double and triple checked that I followed all directions and ingredients correctly, and it came out feeling much more bland that I expected. Deb, I am generally a huge fan of your dishes (has anyone tried the Italian stuffed cabbage?!) so this is definitely an outlier and I will perhaps give it another go.
This recipe is one of our family’s favorites. My husband and three-year-old especially love the cauliflower, so I had some leftover potatoes from last night.
Potatoes (with the lovely cumin flavor) + scrambled eggs + shredded cheese + avocados + warmed corn tortillas = DELICIOUS breakfast in five minutes in one pan. Thank you, Deb!!
I am loving it……
https://indianzaayeka.blogspot.com
I tripled the spices and it was still very mild. Just okay. I will use an authentic Indian recipe next time.
Made it, loved it! Thank you so much.
ps. i added peas
I’ve made this probably a dozen times. I strongly recommend doing the following:
– double the spices
– use a mortar and pestle with the spices and ginger and garlic OR what i do: dump the spices on top of the garlic and ginger and chop it all together into a paste
– to the veggies, add a combo of the spices you like most out of the original mixture as well as the seeds
– put the veggies in the oven 10-15 min prior to chicken if you like to get them really roasted
– roast some veggies in a separate pan if you like them super browned and crispy (or put the chicken on half the veggies and leave the other veggies without chicken on top)
here are some other things that we’ve done that we prefer:
– we are lucky enough to have access to fresh turmeric and use the same size piece as ginger
– coconut milk instead of yogurt is a dang revelation
– pull some marinade aside before adding chicken, and bake it alongside in a ramekin to use as sauce for rice
– boneless skinless thighs work the best in my opinion
– add any or all the following veggies: carrots, mushrooms, onions, squash, brussels sprouts, broccoli, peas, tomatoes
Made this tonight for supper it was delicious , followed your recipe exactly except I made it with deboned skinless chicken breasts and it worked fine ,
Wondering if I could add red peppers ?
SOOOO good! My wife is on the Keto diet and this totally compliant (if you just omit potatoes). But beyond that it’s just friggin’ tasty!
This is in regular rotation in my house. Husband loves it, family (including my one year old nephew) loves it, I’ve made it for coworkers who rave. One modification I always make: I toss the vegetables in the same spices as the marinade, minus the yogurt. We love spices so I just measure by eye and err on the side of more. I’ve also mixed up the vegetables, depending on what we have, but always include the pickled onions and yogurt.
Oh and one time we grilled the chicken due to oven space limitations and, dang, I’d recommend trying that out if you have the ability.
This looks really tasty, and I’ll definitely add it to my “to cook”, but it’s definitely not tikka. Tikka always has tomato in the marinade
I have the pickiest child. Every night it’s grilled cheese or chicken nuggets, ranch beans, fruit. Every. Night. Except for nights that I make the sheet pan chicken tikka! I was standing there at 3 pm contemplating what to make for dinner and I, thankfully, had the ingredients on hand for this meal! I even did it in the air fryer (just the chicken) for a fast and easy dinner after a late afternoon park hang. Deb, you make me so happy!
Ugh! My sheet pan dinners always turn out too juicy. I’m guessing it’s the chicken. Any tips for keeping the juices in so that my veggies will roast and not steam? Thanks!
I don’t think there’s any harm in basting or tipping off some of the liquid if it’s a lot. It’s likely from the chicken.
Loved it!
Skin on just doesnt retain any flavors and my kids want a sauce.
This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it. But just a comment on No. 3 on your how-to dinner list: A slow cooker confounds those of us with long workdays + commutes. I can easily be gone 9-10 hours between those two things, which means a slow cooker will result in overcooked food (even with the keep-warm setting, methinks). And a programmable model is no help because you can’t leave out protein for a couple of hours or more. If I am wrong here, I would be delighted to know.
Doesn’t the slow-cooker keep things warm for a few hours after the cycle is done? Not positive but I thought it did.
I found this underwhelming.
While the basic idea is there, prepared per the directions, the moisture from the chicken marinade didn’t allow the veggies to crisp up. Also when tossing the cauliflower and potatoes, some spices would lend towards a more flavorful and better looking end product- i’d definitely toss them in some cumin, garlic powder and turmeric next time. Also I’d do the veggies in one pan and chicken in another and plate together at the end.
I thought this was easy and yummy! Yes to serving w. pickled onion!
What quantity of chicken; I’m not seeing it listed other than as ‘chicken’
It’s the last ingredient under the first group: 2 pounds chicken thighs, drumsticks or halved chicken breasts (all skin-on, bone-in)
I wanted to love this and felt it was soooo, close, but too bland. I even increased the spices and used a Serano pepper, but the seasoning left me wanting MORE. I will make this again, but really amp the spice and probably cook the chicken in the marinade separately. Close. Oh so close.
If I made this again, I would increase the oil in Part 2 to 3 Tbsp (rather than 2) and double the Indian spices. The flavor was quite “Indian-lite.” In the version as written, it could be served to people who are wary of Indian food.
Sadly, this recipe was not a hit, and probably only the 2nd time I’ve made a SK recipe that wasn’t amazing (out of dozens and dozens of other successful recipes). I used bone-in, skin-on thighs and after 40 minutes they weren’t cooked, I let them cook a bit longer and then they were overcooked.
The potatoes and cauliflower didn’t have a great flavor either and some of the potatoes were on the harder size. I did all the suggested toppings but just didn’t love this recipe.
Deb – your other sheet pan recipe of meatballs and chickpeas is excellent though!
Wow this looks great! Have you ever tried/any luck with using tofu instead of chicken?
I have! I do this regularly with tofu instead of chicken. I just put everything in the oven all at once for the same amount of time.
I suspect you’ll be just fine with cubes of firm tofu marinated in this sauce (the thought of this is making me hungry) but as tofu is already “cooked”, it probably just needs 10-15 minutes at the end to pick up some texture, yes? So maybe roast the vegetables first and add the tofu halfway through.
Also, here is a response from someone who has: https://smittenkitchen.com/2016/04/sheet-pan-chicken-tikka/#comment-832007
Delicious!. Did not change a thing, except dividing in half. Husband approved. It was the potatoes(😉) No, we loved this. Love your recipes. Thank you.
I made this last night with cashew yogurt, and half chicken and half tofu for my veggie husband. It’s perfect! Can’t wait to have the rest for dinner tonight.
I’m so glad you liked it!
We made this for shabbat last night. Possibly the best chicken I’ve ever made. Thank you!!
This recipe delivered everything it promised: ease of preparation and wildly good flavor! A little squeeze of lemon before serving elevated it to crazy deliciousness.
I love this recipe! It’s a long-time weeknight favorite in my house. I have made it as written with chicken and also substituted large-ish cubes of pressed (extra-firm) tofu for the chicken for a vegetarian take on it. Both are delicious.
Hi, is the chicken skin-on or skinless? Thank you.
Skin-on
Just FYI, this recipe also works GREAT with coconut cream (the thick stuff at the top of the can) and some added lemon juice to mimic the acidity of yogurt. A++++ all around! Love this recipe.
My family absolutely loved this, and not just because they did the dishes of only 1 pan. The flavors won all my picky eaters over. It’ll now be in my fave dinner rotation. Thank you!
This has been my go-to recipe this year. Love it!!! I have substituted sweet potatoes for the potatoes. Starting to make naan with it on request from the hubs. Yum!! Love all your recipes.
This was spectacular! I didn’t use your sauce, rather a Tikka mix my husband bought at Costco. We licked the pan. My kids, 8, 6 and 3 ate all rhe cali and potatoes too!
This recipe is wonderful and has become one of my regulars. It is so easy to make and it also very easy to double and scale up. I usually make the marinade the night before and also cut up the cauliflower. Then when I need to cook it is pretty much just ready to put into the oven. I love it and everyone I have shared it with has loved it too. Thanks for another great recipe!
Question- do you think this would work out ok with bonesless/skinless chicken thighs? It’s the only chicken I have in the fridge…and feeling like I don’t want to head to the market. Thoughts?
Yes but it will need less cooking time.
This was super easy and amazingly good. I used boneless chicken – bc it’s what I had – and marinated it overnight in the fridge. I received a romanescu cauliflower in my CSA share today so that made for a nice color contrast with the otherwise white elements. It disappeared in minutes and is destined for our regular dinner rotation!
Hooooooly cow this was good!!! Followed the recipe to a T and my goodness. Yum yum and yum!
I made this with some carrots since I didn’t have enough cauliflower, and it turned out perfectly. My boys sometimes are willing to try new things, but not always, and despite this being a new flavor profile for them they loved it! Smoky Sheet Pan Chicken is a family favorite, and one of my kids said this one was just as delicious, and they can’t wait to have it again. I marinated the chicken a little over a day, and definitely recommend doing that if possible. Loved it with the pickled red onion.
I made this for dinner last night and we loved it! The chicken was so tasty and the simply-spiced veggies were a perfect compliment. I’ll definitely be making this again and next time will try it with coconut milk, as others have suggested (dairy intolerance).
I’ve been making this as written since it was published, but then on Saturday my oven died just after I’d put the chicken in to marinate (and just before Thanksgiving!). I reasoned that we could still eat the chicken if we prepared it a different way, so my husband grilled it, and I made the vegetables on the stovetop, low and slow in a cast iron pan (I gave the potatoes a head start and added the cauliflower when the potatoes started to soften, maybe 20 minutes in?). It came out GREAT, so if anyone is oven-less for some reason, you can still make this, OR you can have it during the summer when you don’t want to run your oven for too long.
This was amazing.
That is all.
Thank you for bringing it to my life.
Very tasty and super easy. Could have had a little more heat but then we like heat.
Heading into our third week with this in the rotation, I realized I was out of bone-in chicken, so I decided to give it a go with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. 🤌! I think the yogurt makes boneless, skinless chicken a sheet pan staple. For week four, I mixed salsa verde with the yogurt, marinated and cooked with cauliflower and onions. SUCCESS!
Great, versatile method. Thank you!
This was so good! Definitely making it into our rotation. Things I did because it was the only thing I had on hand: boneless/skinless chicken thighs, and no paprika added. It was great! To make things easier with the chicken I just popped the garlic, pepper and ginger in my food processor so I didn’t have to chop things. Rave reviews from everyone :)
This was so good! Definitely making it into our rotation. Things I did because it was the only thing I had on hand: boneless/skinless chicken thighs, 1 sweet potato and 1 Yukon, and no paprika added. It was great! To make things easier with the chicken I just popped the garlic, pepper and ginger in my food processor so I didn’t have to chop things. Rave reviews from everyone :)
Yummy!, how am I just discovering sheetpan dinners? Both my 3 and 1 yo loved this. It was slightly spicy even with cutting down on the heat but they pushed through and gobbled it up. I used skinless boneless chicken thighs bc that’s all I had and they were delicious.
This was very very easy to make and my young kids inhaled it, despite me adding a lot of chili powder and hedging my bets and making extra plain chicken for them just in case. I didn’t have cumin seeds so used cumin powder. I used cauliflower and broccoli instead of potatoes as it was all I had in. I also used greek yogurt as I had no plain yogurt. And just chicken breasts cut in half. The chicken was cooked to perfection and had a soft kick from the spice. I added some of the picked onions on top for the last ten mins of baking. The taste to effort ratio was insane. I loved it. Thanks yet again, Deb, for helping us eat well in this eternal lockdown.
As always, Smitten Kitchen recipes are perfect. Well tested, well described, and results come out exactly as described. This was absolutely delicous. Not a quick prep so I don’t think the weeknight part of this would work unless you had chopped the potatoes and cauliflower another night. I made the sauce in my blendtec and added some parsley because I had a ton of it and I doubled the potatoes because my family is big and eats a lot. It was a perfect 1 pan (well, technically 2 here) meal. Veg, starch, meat, and the flavors were stellar. I’m literally never disappointed with something I make from this site. But in case anyone is on the fence – make this. It is so dang good.
this was just superb!!!!Made it last night- and used 4 bone in chicken thighs- BUT used the exact marinade amount- and useda mixture of cauliflower AND broccoli- I also just mixed up the veggies into the marinade and roasted it all together- I had forgotten to buy potatoes so served with basmati- the picked onion was an amazing side- will def use the potatoes next time- but would suggest that amount of marinade is GREAT for 4 pieces of chicken- and yummy on the veggies- has anyone done this with BONELESS chicken- I have a couple of family members that will NOT use bone in chicken-(cant understand why as we adore it) but wonder if time needs to be adjusted so chicken doesnt dry out?
Deb, you had me at sheet pan! And then cauliflower…we’re having this for dinner Friday, so I can pick up the ingredients at the grocery store on Wednesday. Thank you so MUCH!
I made this tonight and it was incredible! One of the most beautiful and delicious dishes, and a “simple” recipe that tastes so complex. I used a food processor to make the chicken marinade and after tasting it I decided to save some (before adding the chicken) in a separate dish to use as a sauce. I am so glad I did and would highly recommend doing so to add on in place of plain yogurt at the end. Thank you, SK!!!
I have the same questions about using boneless chicken— neither of my kids will eat chicken with a bone in it :(
You can. It cooks faster. You’ll probably want to put the vegetables down first so they get enough time.
Thank you!
What a delicious, easy dish! I used a tablespoon measure for the spices, a whole Thai red chilli (all I had in the fridge) and smoked paprika, and the heat level was perfect for my like-it-spicy palate. Along with the cauilflower, I roasted broccoli, brussel sprouts and sweet potato. The perfect winter, WFH mid-week dinner. Deb – you never disappoint!
This was really yummy, and even my 5 year old liked it! It was perfect. Will definitely make again.
A friend made this for us in the first days home with our newborn and it was the best gift I never knew I needed! The flavors are amazing, it reheats beautifully for leftovers, and was visually stunning. I have been daydreaming about it ever since!
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This little beauty is part of our repertoire now. Agree with comments about spices. I have never used skin on chicken because I am convinced the skin will not be crispy.. am I wrong? Anyway I always use boneless, skinless thighs. I also let the chicken cook for about ten minutes before tossing on the veggies. I usually toss the red onion in with the veggies because my husband objects to raw onions – even the slightly pickled ones which I though were very yummy with this. Great recipe.
I’m vegetarian so this recipe has always been something that looked amazing but I never made. I made it tonight though with a mix of tofu and paneer (used a package of each) and it was incredible! I cut both into large cubes, marinated 24 hours and then tossed it all together and cooked as per the recipe. So delicious. Definitely going to be a new staple in our house. As my three year old says, “We love Deb!!!” Thank you :)
This dish never disappoints – I’ve made it several times and it’s always a hit. Last night I did it with your cucumber yogurt raita salad on the side, and the extra yogurt dressing from that is an amazing accompaniment with this chicken. So good, and leftovers are good cold from the fridge the next day.
This is another SK recipe that has become part of our standard repertoire. I don’t change anything, but I will use whatever chicken I have on hand. My favourite is boneless, skinless thighs. Love this recipe. Easy, flavourful and easy prep and clean up.
This was excellent! We used to have a friend from India who did something like this as a marinade for chicken that he would grill. It was so good and I never figured out how to make it. This brought back such good memories. Not sure what was better, the chicken or the potatoes and cauliflower. We really loved it and I’ll be making it again soon.
I love this recipe! It always comes out yummy, but I will say that I’ve had the most success with a longer marinating time, and the lemony onions are a clutch move. Thanks also for the sheet pan supper recipe, I love that cookbook!
The most amazing sheet pan dinner! Will be on the short list for sure. Could be excellent for company. Impressive presentation and flavor , thought not difficult to execute.
Love this – so simple and tastes great. Thank you.
Phenomenal recipe! I made this Whole30 by substituting yogurt w/ coconut cream and omitting the sugar. I also went traditional Indian and skinned the chicken pieces and slashed the meat so the marinade gets in there real good! Thanks!
Made as written. Marinated for 24 hours, roasted veggies and chicken on two separate trays. It was perfect – delicious level of spice. Thanks for a great recipe!
I make this often. My adjustments for my taste were to use curry powder instead of the masala. I also take the chicken skin off prior
to marinating. I found it got too soggy. I seasoned it with salt and curry powder and added it back on top of the chicken for cooking
It was nice and crispy!
I love this recipe as is with chix breasts. A little on the greasy side with thighs, though. Would cut back the oil on veggies to 2TBSP total if using thighs; grease comes off thighs in the cooking process and you can kinda mix it into the veggies at the halfway point. Thank you Deb!
This is a go-to recipe for my family. It is delicious. Chicken has excellent flavor & the chicken juices flavor the verges. Weeknight meal, but also good for dinner party
This looks so good. I’m having company and due to the heat wave we are having wondered if I could cook this some other way beside the oven since it heat up our house so much?
The chicken would be delicious cooked on a bbq/grill, & if you have a pan you can sacrifice to use on your bbq (or one of those bbq wok baskets) you could cook the potatoes & cauliflower on/in that – all you’d lose would be the chicken fats/juices that help to flavour the veg as they cook, but the smoke (esp if you have a charcoal grill) would be an added bonus.
This is a really splendid recipe; 5/5 family members aged 7-47 devour it! (Though one disregards the cauliflower.) I make it dairy-free by using 1 cup warmed full-fat coconut milk for the yogurt. I use 3 lbs. of yellow potatoes and a whole cauliflower whatever the size. I roast those on two sheet pans first and then add the marinated (for an hour if that) chunks of boneless skinless chicken thighs in amongst the roasted veg, drizzling the remaining marinade over the veg to ensure all is deliciously tasty with sauciness. After one plate for breakfast there is not a morsel left over but for a few lemon wedges. Excellent erved with romaine and avocado salad.
Loved this recipe!! I used sweet potatoes instead of regular and roasted the red onion with the veggies. I like my veggies extra crispy so I followed another commenter’s advice and cooked them for 15 min before adding the chicken. YUM!
My husband keeps kosher. Is there anything non dairy I can substitute for yogurt to marinate the chicken? Thanks!
I just searched the comments for the same reason- several recommendations to use coconut milk (which I’ll do), soy yogurt, or just oil with a little lime juice.
I have made this a couple of times and it’s amazing!!!! And oddly enough was thinking about making it again when the recipe popped back up…
I made this the other night, and it was just absolutely delicious. Looking forward to leftovers! Did not adjust anything (used Greek yogurt because I had it), but did cook it with the marinade. Used two 13×7 casserole dishes, and divided everything up. The pickled onions are a smashing addition, and I’ll probably use them in other recipes. 100% recommend.
Made this for friends yesterday. Like EVERY recipe from Deb, it was delicious. I marinated overnight and the chicken was moist and full of flavor. I used frozen cauliflower florets, to save time.
This was really yummy! I made a few modifications, using pork tenderloin since I have one who doesn’t like chicken. Conveniently, the chicken eater doesn’t like pork. So I made both! A pound of pork tenderloin and a pound of boneless, skinless thighs– everyone was happy! I marinated it all together and then baked both meats in a 9×13 baking dish while the veggies baked on a different rack, which worked great. Both kinds of meat were very tender and juicy. I needed about 45 min to get everything fully cooked. My sheet pan is 16″x22″ and there was no way I could have fit the meat on there anyway– the potatoes and cauliflower took up the entire pan. I used 1 lb cauliflower and 2 lbs potatoes, since that’s what I had and it was fine. I added a little more cumin and a lot more salt to the veggies than what was called for since I used extra potatoes and it’s pretty hard to get a potato too salty, as far as I’m concerned :) I also made the marinade 1 1/2 times, keeping a third of it aside before adding the meat to the 2/3 portion of the marinade. Then to the 1/3 amount set aside, I added more yogurt and some mayonnaise and we had a lovely and pungent dipping sauce. I’ll definitely be making this again!
This was SO good, definitely putting it on the rotation list! My husband and I devoured. It took me longer to assemble (hello 1-1/2 yo at my feet constantly wanting to be picked up) but it could be a weeknight dinner with night before prep (home at 5:30, throw on sheet, eat by 6:30-ish).
I went less spicy (half the cayenne) because we have littles, and my 6-1/2 yo daughter refused the veggies with cumin seed, but more for us!
I have 3 kids, one of which is a 5 month old that likes to be held during dinner prep. I managed to make this during his extremely short nap & 6 & 3 ate every bite without complaining! 10000% making this on repeat.
Also I didn’t have yogurt so I used canned coconut cream/milk and it was great.
Amazing. I actually made it with sweet potato instead of just potatoes. Crazy flavors. So good. I also put the yogurt sauce on top of the chicken to cook with it. Soooo yummy. Where is the pickled onion recipe?? I couldn’t find it. But that doesn’t mean it could be staring me straight in the face bc I have a 5 year old. Haha
I had the Chicken Tikka at my friend’s house. It was incredible. I can’t wait to make it for my family! I will be a fan of Smitten Kitchen and am so glad to have found you!
Another resounding winner! Made this exactly as written, including the pickled onions, and everyone at the table was delighted. Thank you, Deb!
I have been making this recipe perhaps monthly for several years now – I love it!! Just dropping my favorite little hack here: when I bring home my Costco haul of chicken, I make a bunch of this marinade, divide it into two gallon zip locks, and fill with boneless skinless thighs before freezing them (flat). Thaw overnight when you need a super easy dinner. Also, I often half ass the spices and use powder for the ginger and garlic and it is still wonderful.
Made this tonight for the first time. All I can say is “wow”. I made it exactly as written in terms of ingredients and proportions. I did end up switching my oven to convection bake set at 415 at the 20 minute mark to encourage the chicken and the veg to brown a bit more. Did the full 40 minutes and everything was cooked perfectly. Served with yogurt, cilantro and the quick pickled onions, as suggested. I used parchment paper instead of aluminum foil to line the pan. Clean up was a cinch. This one is defintely going in to regular rotation.
Love this recipe so much. Trying to cut fat so going to try making it with just chicken thighs with the skin removed.
Thank you for this life saving recipe that easily converts into a yummy vegetarian dish! I make extra marinade and use cubes of extra firm tofu as well as chicken for my split vegetarian/omnivorous family and it’s loved by all. It’s hard making what feels like 2 separate meals every other night, so when I find a recipe that can easily split into something that makes everyone happy, it’s nothing less than a miracle!
This is an excellent recipe that I plan to make again. I made it with potatoes, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower. I used boneless chicken thighs, so I started roasting the veggies and then after 20 minutes added the chicken thighs so they wouldn’t overcook. I decreased the amount of cayenne pepper to accommodate my kids’ preferences. Other than these changes, I followed this recipe carefully and it was a big hit with my family and our guests.