The trusty sheet pan is one of the work horses of our kitchen. Once reserved for cookies, chicken nuggets, and roasting vegetables, they’ve finally stepped into the limelight. No longer just for workaday tasks, the sheet pan is embracing its full potential as the place to cook your entire dinner. And cleanup? It’s a breeze. So turn on your oven and get ready to roast, because we’ve rounded up our best ever sheet pan recipes to spice up your weeknight meals.
Before You Dive Into These Five Star Sheet Pan Dinners
Sometimes you need a little more than what’s on one baking sheet pan. The point of easy sheet pan dinners is that they’re…easy. If you’re so inclined, we have a few more easy side dishes you could make to serve with these easy healthy sheet pan dinners. You could make a big Caesar Salad or Simple Italian Salad, a pot of White Rice or Brown Rice, or serve some simple veggies (like Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, or Green Beans) on the side to round things out if needed. And since the oven is already on, why not bake up a tray of Classic Fudgy Brownies?
Tools You’ll Need
Before you start cooking, we should mention that it’s important to have a dependable baking sheet. And while the best sheet pan for sheet pan dinners might be the one that’s had a few trips around the sun, we especially love a good rimmed sheet pan. Beyond that, most of these recipes require straightforward kitchen tools like a good kitchen knife, measuring cups and spoons, and mixing bowls. Alright, let’s get cooking!
Our Best Easy Sheet Pan Recipes
It’s true, most sheet pan dinners fall into the “easy” category, with just a little prep before they go into the oven and few dishes to wash after everyone has eaten. But the following recipes are for when you want dinner to magically appear with very little effort. These recipes basically cook themselves, deliver tons of flavor, and are great healthy sheet pan dinners.
The Best Chicken Sheet Pan Dinners
We almost always have chicken, either in the freezer (just in case) or in the fridge (we’ve got a plan). With a well-stocked spice rack, it’s easy to turn the blank canvas of chicken into a very delicious meal. Here’s some of our best sheet pan chicken dinners.
To Eat With Your Hands
If it’s between two slices of bread, it counts as a sandwich, and that means you won’t be washing silverware! These recipes are especially great to pull out when you’re entertaining a crowd (especially when there’s cheese involved). Sheet pan dinner clean up just got easier with this roundup of sheet pan sandwich recipes.
When I Seafood, I Eat It (Salmon Sheet Pan Dinners + One Shrimp Sheet Pan Dinner)
Seafood might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of easy sheet pan dinners. We’re here to change your mind! Baked shrimp and salmon are some of the best fish sheet pan dinners we’ve made, and here’s a few for you to try. Don’t hesitate to cook a pot of Sushi Rice or Cilantro-Lime Rice to serve on the side!
Pop Of Flavor
When you think you’ve exhausted the what can you cook on a sheet pan portion of your cooking skills, we offer a recipe for sheet pan dinner sausage, one with our favorite subject (meatballs), and one of our best pork sheet pan dinners. These recipes bring together some of our favorite herbs and spices onto a single sheet pan.
Kid Friendly Sheet Pan Dinners
We get it, making a meal that everyone loves can be challenging. For those kiddos who don’t love when their food touches, or when there’s just too many flavors on one plate, here’s a few of our classic kid-approved one sheet pan dinners.
Do You Love Quick Sheet Pan Dinners?
We want to see you make the best one sheet pan dinners. Snap a photo of your one pan wonders and maybe even a video of the beautiful people around your table. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!