Sheet Pan Za'atar Chicken Thighs and Veggies
Sheet pan dinners – so easy and fabulous for a quick and easy, delicious and nutritious dinner! This recipe features a spice mix that originates from the Middle East - Za’atar. It is available in many grocery stores and is so easy to make yourself with just a few ingredients including sumac powder – again, available in many grocery or bulk food stores. Za’atar adds a wonderful hearty, earthy flavour to anything you add it to!
The recipes and photos show cauliflower and cabbage slices. Feel free to use what ever veggies you have in your fridge – broccoli, beans, carrots, sweet potatoes – making sure they are cut into bite-sized pieces so they all finish cooking at the same time. A simple salad or a side of rice, quinoa or pasta round out this amazing meal!
So many good, wholesome, nutritious ingredients in this recipe!
As always, when you make this recipe, I would love to see your creation so please post a photo of your Sheet Pan Za'atar Chicken Thighs and Veggies goodness and tag my IG account #RenataCollective or leave a comment with your thoughts!
Prep Time: 10 minutes / Cook Time: 30 minutes / Serves: 2-3 - this recipe doubles easily
Ingredients
1 Large Lemon – zested and juiced
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil – plus extra for drizzling
2 Tablespoons Za’atar Spice Mix – and a bit for seasoning the veggies
5-6 Large Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
4 Garlic Cloves - sliced
½ Head Cauliflower – cut into bite-sized pieces
3 Slices Purple Cabbage
1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley
Generous Pinch of Herbed Seasoned Sea Salt or Plain Sea Salt
Generous Grinds of Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Tahini – optional but delicious, for serving
How It’s Made
Preheat your oven to 425℉.
Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with foil. (I like to brush a small amount of olive oil on the pan and sprinkle with garlic powder – this adds additional flavour and helps to keep the food from sticking.)
If you don’t already have fresh lemon juice and zest in your fridge as per my food prep tip, wash and dry the lemon and then grate the zest into a small bowl. Next, juice the zested lemon – you should have between 3-4 tablespoons. Add half the juice to the to the zest.
Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 1½ tablespoons of the za'atar, the dried parsley, a generous pinch of salt and generous grinds of fresh black pepper to the zest and juice. Stir to mix this marinade together. Trim the chicken thighs of easy to cut away fat and add all the chicken in a medium bowl. Pour the marinade over the chicken and with a spatula or your hand, mix the chicken with the marinade enduring it is nicely covered. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix the garlic slices and the cauliflower pieces and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Toss to coat and place them to one side on the baking sheet in a single layer.
Take the slices of cabbage and place them on the other side of the baking sheet. Drizzle these with a bit of olive oil.
Drizzle the remaining lemon juice over the veggies, followed by a pinch of the salt, a few grinds of pepper and a pinch of za’atar.
Place the chicken on the baking sheet in a single layer.
Put the pan on the middle rack of the oven and cook for 30 minutes until a sharp knife pokes easily into the veggies and a meat thermometer inserted into the largest chicken thigh reads 165°F. Remove from the oven.
Serve the chicken with the veggies and drizzle tahini. So good!
Enjoy!
