Got the Weeknight Blues? This Easy Chicken Thigh Sheet Pan Recipe Is Here to Spice Things Up!
A sweetly spicy honey-kissed sheet pan chicken thigh recipe, comin’ in hot! Chicken thighs, sweet potatoes and a few carefully chosen spices team up to bring a little life into your weeknight routine—because who said easy has to be boring? Grab some boneless, skinless chicken thighs (from the grocery store, or your freezer if you’re prepared like that!) and a sweet potato or two, and put that spice rack to work. Cayenne—just a touch—ginger, chili powder and some honey come together to really make this chicken-and-potatoes dinner sing.
Everything You Need to Make Our Sweetly Spicy Sheet Pan Chicken With Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes keep for ages and chicken thighs freeze beautifully, so it’s pretty darn easy to have the makings of this sheet pan dinner recipe on-hand year round. It’s not exactly a pantry recipe, but it is one that you can easily stock the ingredients for and be able to make on the fly. In other words, it’s one of the best back-pocket, weeknight-lifesaver recipes, ever. You’ve got salt, pepper and olive oil—we know you do!—so, other than those super-staples, here’s all you’ll need to make our sweet-and-spicy chicken thigh sheet pan:
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Sweet potatoes
Honey
Spices: cayenne pepper, chili powder, ground ginger, garlic powder.
Make It Restaurant-Worthy: Drizzle With Yogurt-Cilantro Sauce
Sure, you could just eat the chicken and sweet potatoes on their own, maybe with a green salad on the side. But this simple yogurt sauce takes this sheet pan chicken from a pretty-good dinner to absolutely fantastic. You could serve this as the main event of your next dinner party and not a single person would complain. It’s that good. The sauce cools and compliments the smoky spices that adorn the chicken and potatoes and, thanks to the cilantro, it adds a welcome bright burst of freshness to the mix, too. To make it, simply blend:
Greek yogurt
Fresh cilantro
Fresh lime juice
Garlic powder
A seeded jalapeño
Chili powder
How To Make This Simple Chili-Honey Chicken Thigh Dinner
What did we do before sheet pan dinners? Did we even make dinner? Who can remember. All we know is that they’re here now and thank goodness for that. Chicken thighs, sweet potatoes and sheet pans are a powerful triumvirate—healthy, filling, easy-to-love, and fast enough for a busy night. Add some punchy spices and you’ve got yourself a dinner to be proud of! Here’s how truly easy it is to make:
Whip up a spicy honey sauce: combine honey, olive oil, cayenne, chili powder, salt, pepper, ginger and garlic powder.
Toss the chicken thighs and sweet potatoes with the honey-chili sauce on a baking sheet.
Bake! Then broil! Bake for 15 minutes, then broil for about five more to get a nice caramelization situation going on both the chicken and the potatoes.
Whiz together that yogurt-cilantro sauce while the chicken broils.
And that’s it! Dinner’s done!
Tools You’ll Need:
More Chicken Thigh Recipes to Try
Thigh Love You
Did that work? We’re not sure. But what we’re trying to say is chicken thighs, we love you. You’re cheap. You’re delicious. You freeze well. You’re healthy—just about as healthy as chicken breast and a whole lot tastier. We hope this easy chicken thigh recipe hits the spot for you like it did for us. When you make it, we want to hear about it! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
