Possibly the Easiest Sheet Pan Chicken Thigh Recipe on Earth
Most sheet pan chicken recipes are easy—that’s kind of the whole idea, right? But this olive bar chicken is exceptionally quick and easy to make because it requires so little prep and the result is a whole meal unto itself. A single-pan meal that takes about five minutes to prep? Yeah, it’s that good. We’ve talked about our love for the olive bar at the grocery store before, but this chicken thigh recipe really puts that little treasure trove to work. True, it’s not the absolute most cost-effective place to shop, but it’s a tiny splurge (as splurges go) to buy a whole pound of goodies from the olive bar, and boy is there an ROI in terms of time-saving.
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How to Maximize the Goodness That Is the Olive Bar
The hardest part of putting this simple sheet pan chicken dinner together is deciding which olive bar offerings to select, but the good news is that they’re all delicious. You can’t go wrong, and you can try a new combo each time if you’d like to mix things up week-to-week. One of our favorite combinations is kalamata, roasted garlic, marinated tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and peppadew peppers. This meal is always a hit with house guests, dinner guests, and of course for our own families. While olives are a no-brainer, don’t skip out on the other good stuff in the olive bar! There are a few lesser-known nibbles in there that are worth grabbing if you see them. We especially love:
Peppadew peppers. Peppadews are the bright, cherry-red, bulbous peppers that you often see in the mix. They’re not really spicy—they’re more pickle-y and they’re loaded with fresh, sweet pepper flavor. They add a nice pop of color to this sheet pan chicken.
Roasted garlic pieces. Another must! Sweet roasted garlic is often available at the olive bar, and when we see it, we load up. It’s bursting with earthy sweetness and such a time-saver.
Grilled artichokes. Marinated in herbs and vinaigrette, and then grilled, these little bites pack a major punch. They’re too good to skip!
And as for olives? Castelvetranos (pitted is best for a recipe like this) and oil-cured are our favorite, but they’re all good.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make This Sheet Pan Chicken
Salt, pepper and a little garlic powder are all you’ll add to season these chicken thighs, because the olive bar offerings will each add so much powerful, savoriness to the mix. Many are marinated in vinaigrette, too, so you’ll have a little tanginess along with all that salty goodness. In other words, even though the ingredient list is short, all of these ingredients are mighty!
Fingerling potatoes
Olive oil
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Lemon
Red onion
Everything you love most from the olive bar
Garlic powder
How to Make Sheet Pan Olive Bar Chicken
Did we mention that the prep here is super minimal? And with potatoes, chicken thighs and even a few vegetable-ish things—onions totally count!—this can stand alone as dinner, though we usually add a basic green salad and / or some good bread. Here’s how to make this easy chicken thigh recipe:
Chop up the onion, lemon and potatoes (no, you don’t need to peel them).
Pop the potatoes into the oven (dressed with a little oil, salt & pepper) to get a jump on roasting, since they take a little longer than everything else.
15 minutes later, add the chicken, olive bar ingredients, lemon, onion and a little more salt, pepper, garlic powder and oil to the pan, and let it all continue cooking.
35 minutes later, dinner is done!
Tools You’ll Need
More Sheet Pan Chicken Recipes to Try:
Put That Olive Bar to Work!
While this is a fabulous recipe for any day of the week, you can really put the olive bar to work if you make this for company. You could grab cornichons and kalamata olives to put out as appetizers with drinks, and save the rest of your olive bar findings for making this chicken! Your grocery store run will be so quick and so one-stop—basically you’ll find 80% of what you need at that little olive bar. Whoever you make this for, we’d love to hear about how you liked it! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
