Easy Sheet Pan Chicken and Potatoes with Asparagus And Lemon
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This sheet-pan chicken and potatoes recipe makes dinner easy and cleanup a breeze. Lemon, herbs, and garlic flavor the tender chicken and fluffy, crisp-edged potatoes, all cooked together on a single sheet pan. It's a straightforward, flavor-packed meal that's perfect for any night.
My sheet-pan harissa chicken and sheet-pan cod recipe were both inspired by this chicken and potatoes recipe. If you're looking for more easy chicken recipes, you will love my one-pot roast chicken and rice recipe. My grilled Moroccan chicken is always a winner.
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⭐️ Why this recipe works
- Easy to Prepare: Requires minimal prep work; chop, season, and bake.
- Versatile: Perfect for a cozy family dinner or impressing guests.
- Healthy and Flavorful: Combines lean protein with nutritious potatoes and herbs.
- One Pan Means Easy Cleanup: Everything cooks on a single sheet pan for less mess.
- Customizable: Easy to adjust herbs and vegetables based on what's in season or personal preference.
🧾 Ingredients overview
- Chicken breasts: Lean protein that's marinated for tenderness and flavor.
- Lemons: Used for zest and slices to add brightness and tang.
- Garlic: Grated for a more intense infusion into the marinade.
- Olive oil: For marinating and roasting, adding moisture and richness.
- Herbes de provence & basil: Aromatic herbs that elevate the dish with a French flair.
- Honey: Adds a hint of sweetness to balance the acidity of the lemon.
- Salt/Pepper: Essential for seasoning.
- New potatoes: Chosen for their tender skin and sweet flavor, cut lengthwise for quicker cooking.
- Asparagus: Adds a crunchy, green component, making the meal more rounded.
For precise measurements and additional ingredients, refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
👩🏻🍳 Here's how to make it
Sheet pan chicken and potatoes recipe step-by-step
- Marinate the Chicken: Start by preparing your marinade by mixing olive oil, grated garlic, lemon zest, honey, and a blend of dried herbs. Coat the chicken breasts thoroughly in this mixture. Let them marinate as you prep the rest of your ingredients, allowing the flavors to soak in and tenderize the meat.
- Prep and Roast Potatoes: Slice your potatoes in half lengthwise to ensure they cook quickly and evenly. Toss them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange them on your sheet pan, leaving space for the chicken. Add a few sprigs of thyme for an aromatic touch and roast in the oven to start them off.
- Add Chicken and Lemon: Once the potatoes have begun to soften and crisp at the edges, make room on your pan and add the marinated chicken. Place lemon slices around the chicken for a burst of citrus flavor that will infuse the dish as it cooks.
- Finish with Asparagus: In the final stretch of roasting, add asparagus to the pan. A light drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper is all it needs before it goes into the oven. This last addition cooks quickly, preserving its green color and adding a tender crunch to your one-pan meal.
How to keep baked chicken moist
- Marinate: Use olive oil and lemon juice to lock in moisture.
- Avoid overcooking: Use a meat thermometer; remove chicken at 165°F (74°C).
- Rest it: Let chicken rest after cooking to redistribute juices.
- Moderate oven temp: Roast at around 350°F (180°C) for even cooking.
- Proper pan size: Use a pan that fits the chicken to prevent juice evaporation.
- Baste sparingly: Keep the oven closed as much as possible to maintain temperature.
- Skin-on: Cooking with the skin on can help retain moisture.
📖 Substitutions and variations
- Vegetables: Swap asparagus for green beans or broccoli based on availability or preference.
- Herbs: Mix and match herbs like rosemary or oregano for different flavor profiles.
- Sweetener: Maple syrup can replace honey for a different kind of sweetness.
💡 Chef's Guide: Expert Tips
Drawing from a decade in Michelin-starred kitchens and Cordon Bleu training, here are my top tips for recipe success.
- Marinating time: For deeper flavor, marinate the chicken for a few hours or overnight.
- Vegetable size: Cut the potatoes and asparagus to ensure they cook evenly in the allocated time.
- Vegetable swaps: You can add other vegetables that roast well, such as carrots, bell peppers, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes. Just keep in mind their cooking times; you may need to add some later in the cooking process to prevent overcooking.
- Asparagus tips: To prevent asparagus from becoming too soft or charred, add them to the pan during the last 10 minutes of cooking. This preserves their vibrant color and tender-crisp texture.
- Broiling finish: For an extra crispy finish, consider broiling the dish for a couple of minutes at the end of the cooking time. Watch closely to prevent burning.
🍯 Storing and reheating leftovers
- Fridge: Keeps well for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
- Freezer: Freezing is not recommended due to texture changes in the vegetables.
- Reheat: Best reheated in the oven to maintain texture, though a microwave can be used for convenience.
❓Recipe FAQ's
Yes, you can use bone-in chicken for this recipe. You may need to adjust cooking times, since bone-in chicken typically takes longer to cook through than boneless cuts. Aim for an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) and keep an eye on it to ensure it's fully cooked.
Yes, you can substitute chicken thighs for breasts. Keep in mind that thighs might require a slight adjustment in cooking time due to their higher fat content and thickness. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer to ensure they've reached an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C).
Absolutely! This sheet pan chicken and potatoes recipe is great for meal prep. You can just prepare the marinade and chop the vegetables ahead of time. On the day of cooking, assemble and bake.
Cutting the potatoes into uniform halves and placing the chicken breasts in a single layer on the sheet pan helps ensure even cooking. Using a meat thermometer to check the chicken's internal temperature is the best way to ensure it's fully cooked without being dry.
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Easy Sheet Pan Chicken and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 boneless chicken breasts
- 3 lemons, 2 zested, 1 sliced
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsps olive oil
- 2 Tbsps Herbes de Provence
- 2 Tbsps dried Basil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 pound new potatoes
- 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
Instructions
- Preheat the Oven: Begin by setting your oven to 350°F (180°C). This ensures the oven is ready for your ingredients to cook evenly.
- Marinate the Chicken: In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, grated garlic, lemon zest, honey, Herbes de Provence, and dried basil. Coat the chicken breasts evenly with this marinade. Let them sit to absorb the flavors while you prepare the potatoes.
- Prepare the Potatoes: Cut the new potatoes in half lengthwise to make them thinner and ensure they cook quickly. Toss them with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a few thyme sprigs for added flavor.
- Bake the Potatoes: Place the seasoned potatoes on a sheet pan and roast in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
- Add Chicken to the Pan: After the potatoes have started to cook, add the marinated chicken breasts to the pan, arranging lemon slices on top of the chicken for extra flavor and moisture.
- Continue Roasting: Return the tray to the oven and roast for another 20 minutes, allowing the chicken to cook through and the potatoes to become tender.
- Add Asparagus: For the last 10 minutes of roasting, add the trimmed asparagus to the pan. Give them a light drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper before placing the tray back in the oven.
- Serve: Once everything is beautifully roasted, serve your meal directly from the pan for ease and convenience.
Notes
- Marinating Time: Allowing the chicken to marinate while you prepare the potatoes helps deepen the flavor. If you have time, marinating for longer (up to a few hours in the fridge) will enhance the taste even more.
- Potato Size: Slicing the potatoes lengthwise helps them cook faster and gives them a greater surface area for crisping up.
- Roasting Times: Depending on the size of your chicken breasts, you may need to adjust the cooking time. Use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C).
- Serving Suggestion: This dish is wonderfully self-contained but can be paired with a simple green salad or crusty bread if desired.
Nutrition
Meet the Chef!
Hi, I'm Debs. Cordon Bleu trained chef and recipe developer. I help you get incredible dinners on the table fast with fool-proof recipes and step-by-step instructions along with tips and tricks that I've learned over a 10-year career in professional kitchens.
Absolutely gorgeous recipe but do two chicken breasts really feed four? I’ve four adults in the family who wouldn’t be happy with half a chicken breast. I’ve made this recipe....with four chicken breasts and it’s a huge favourite here. Gorgeous flavours and this is a wonderful site with amazing recipes.
Delicious dinner! First time using Herbes de Provence and loved it. That might be my new favorite seasoning blend. Great flavor in everything and I will definitely be making this again.
Thank you soooo much Leslie!!! So glad you loved this recipe and that you've discovered a new herb! thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and a rating!
It sounds delicious!...what is the temp. for 180c?..thank you!
Hi Jonyne. You'll need to preheat your oven to 360ºF. Thanks so much!
What is the benefit of grated garlic compared to chopped? Not much of a cook but would love to try this dish. You also mentioned in a previous comment that you could use orange. Is this instead of the lemon?
Thanks.
Hi Laura! I personally like grated because it just means that the garlic is finer and you won't have any larger pieces of garlic. If you've got chopped that is absolutely fine too. The result of the dish will be the same. It's just personal preference. And yes. You can use orange juice in place of the lemon, just know that the dish will be sweeter. Absolutely delicious, but it won't have that zingy bite that you get from the lemon. Enjoy!
how do you get such roasted color on the chicken at 350 deg. in 20 Minutes?
You need to get chicken with the skin on and make sure that you drizzle the skin with the olive oil and honey mixture. The sugars in the honey are what help it color quickly. Sugars cook very fast. Put the chicken into a preheated oven in the upper half and roast for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your chicken breast and how long it will take to cook.
can i also use fresh basil and not dried?
hi debs! im not sure if my comment was posted so i'll be asking you again. Will the recipe taste different if i remove Herbes de Provence? I cant find this herb in our local groceries here in the Philippines. thank you!!
Hey Cha. You can absolutely skip the herbs de Provence. The recipe will be different, but what you can do is use any dried green herb you have on hand. Something like oregano or rosemary will work just fine. And yes, you can absolutely use fresh basil. If you're only using fresh herbs that will be fine too. If you mix it in with the lemon juice just like the herbs de Provence that will be perfect. Fresh herbs aren't as potent,flavor-wise as dried, so you may want to double the amount of herbs you use if you are going with fresh. But that will taste absolutely amazing! Enjoy!
Hi Debs,
Delicious recipe and wonderful photography as always. I've tried this recipe 3 to 4 times, and it came out delicious every time.
I recently featured your recipe 1st in my 30 Low-Calorie Recipes article. Herbexcel.com/low-calorie-dinner-recipes
Thanks and keep up the Great work
Isabel
Thanks so much Isabel! It's a great list of recipes. Thanks for including me!
Thanks for this! Such a great meal! I featured it on my latest meal plan, check it out: https://www.mictomacro.com/blog/2018/2/26/weekly-meal-plan-spring-stalks
I feel like the measurements on this are all out of whack, 4 tablespoons of dried herbs to 1/2 a squeezed lemon? That’s one hell of a dry rub.
Are they meant to be teaspoon quantities?
Also, lemon size varies drastically! I’d suggest using a measurement that isn’t so subjective. I zested two lemons and that was a hell of a lot!
Hey Joseph. Thanks for the comment. I think you missed the second line of the instructions that say to add the herbs, lemon juice and honey together WITH the olive oil and mix. If you missed the oil out, then yep, that would be dry. As for the zest of 2 lemons being too much for you, that is subjective. Most of my readers like their food with a lot of attitude and have a pretty heavy hand when it comes to the lemon and garlic. But recipes really are a great starting point for you to put your own spin on a dish. Not a fan of all that lemon? Try using orange zest, or a mix of lemon and lime. Anyway, hope you give this dish another chance and add the oil to the herbs. It will get you the result that you're after.
Made this last night and it was a big hit with the family. Since I didn't know what to do with the juice of 1/2 the lemon, I added it to the marinade and it was great.
Ah Erin that's awesome! This is one of my favourite recipes of all time. So happy that your family loved it too!
Absolutely loved this recipe! It's going to be a new family favourite for sure. Have already made it twice this week. So simple and delicious. Thank you!
Hello! The ingredients list mentions the juice of 1/2 a lemon, and sliced lemon, but I'm not sure where/when to use them? They are not mentioned in the instructions. Thank you!
You can add them before they go in to the oven so that the lemon slices roast with the chicken.
That's just what I was wondering too! Thank you!
my family is not big on asparagus, is it possible to sub green beans and/or carrots? would I cook them the same way?
You can totally use green beans or carrots. If you want to use carrots then put them in the same as the asparagus. If you want to use green beans, then add them in the last 10 minutes of cooking time so that they don't get overdone. 🙂
If we wer to use carrots you suggested we should put them in the "same as the asparagus" so in the last 10 mins of cooking as per the recipe instructions???
Hey Serina. If the carrots are thin carrots like the skinny ones with the tops still on then, yes, they should only take about 10 -12 minutes to cook. If they are thicker carrots then they'll take longer. Probably about 20 minutes. If you're in a rush then you could cut larger carrots into smaller batons to roast more quickly.
This looks amazing Debs - loving the feel of the new website too! This is all fantastic.