Roasted Chicken & Veggies Dinner

Sheet pan dinners are a staple of weeknight cooking. This particular meal uses the sheet pan concept and adds in an element of pasta to act as the vessel to enjoy this meal. Roasted Chicken & Veggies Dinner is a fantastic autumn weeknight meal to use those root veggies, squash, and mushrooms.

When it comes to making sheet pan dinners, the main concern is cook time. You want everything on the sheet pan to be ready at the same time. But they do not all cook at the same rate. Obviously, the bone-in chicken thighs need more time than a bite-sized piece of zucchini. So you want to make sure that you are cutting things up in size according to the cook time. You also want to make sure you are using parchment paper on your baking sheet – this makes clean up a breeze!

Not all sheet pan cooks have a stove top element. And if you are trying to cut carbs, the orzo aspect can be skipped. For me and my family, we need the extra filler – with 4 teenagers and a blue collar hubby, they need to fill their bellies. The orzo, butter, garlic, and parsley are actually not they much on the calorie counter.

This is a pretty complete meal. But I did make some Homemade Tzatziki Sauce to go with it and I warmed up some pita bread to make the whole meal experience complete. You could do some French bread or crescent rolls instead of pita. Since this recipe has quite a bit of veg already in it, a salad might not be the best side dish, but – again – if you are trying to eliminate the carbs, a garden salad might be a better option.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Roasted Chicken & Veggies Dinner

Roasted chicken with zucchini, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes served over garlic butter orzo.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Chicken, chicken thighs, garlic butter orzo, orzo, red onion, roasted chicken, roasted tomatoes, roasted veggies, zucchini

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 8 Chicken Thighs bone-in, skin on
• 2 cups Zucchini 1 inch cubes
• 2 Medium Red Onion 1 inch cubes
• 8 oz Cherry Tomatoes
• 8 oz Baby Bella Mushrooms quartered
• ¼ cup Butter
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1½ lb Orzo
• 2 tsp Paprika
• 2 tsp Thyme
• 3 tsp Garlic Powder divided
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Parsley

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400degF.
• In a small dish, combine paprika, thyme, salt, pepper and two teaspoons of garlic powder. Divide in half.
• In a mixing bowl, add mushrooms, zucchini, red onions, and tomatoes. Add oil and half of seasoning mixture. Toss to coat.
• Sprinkle the remaining seasoning mixture over chicken (all sides).
• Spread veggie mix in a single layer on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Make eight holes evenly spaced on the baking sheets and add chicken thighs to each hole. Bake in oven for 40 minutes (check chicken with meat thermometer to make sure chicken has reached 165degF before taking out).
• Start water boiling water for the pasta. Once at a rolling boil, add orzo. Cook as directed on the package. Drain in colander and return to pot (away from heat).
• Melt butter and stir in remaining garlic powder and parsley. Pour over cooked orzo and stir to coat.
• Serve a portion of orzo with vegetables and chicken.