Easy Spring Sheet Pan Chicken with Asparagus and Peas
You’re going to love this Easy Spring Sheet Pan Chicken with Asparagus and Peas – it features all of the flavors of Spring and all of the ease of a sheet pan dinner. Crispy skinned chicken thighs with sweet pearl onions, baby potatoes, the season’s first asparagus and peas all wrapped in a fresh lemon-herb butter – it doesn’t get better than this!
Looking for more sheet pan recipes? Look no further than this Sheet Pan Salmon with Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta or this Sheet Pan Salad with Chicken, Pears and Squash.
After a long winter, it’s always so exciting to turn our attention to the new vegetables coming into season each Spring. First up: new potatoes, asparagus and peas!
Unlike other sheet pan dinners where we’re looking to caramelize everything, the technique in this recipe allows for us to caramelize the chicken, but more gently cook the new Spring vegetables providing the best flavors and textures.
What you’ll love about this recipe
Recipe ingredients
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this Roasted Chicken with Asparagus and Peas:
Ingredient Notes
Chicken thighs – be sure to use bone-in, skin-on in this recipe if you can. It makes for the juiciest, tastiest chicken. Even if you choose not to eat the skin, the skin creates the juiciest chicken during cooking.
Pearl onions – this might be the best news – you can use FROZEN pearl onions straight from the freezer. Alternatively, you can use fresh pearl onions, but you must peel them, which can be tedious on a weeknight when you’re in a hurry.
Fresh herbs – In this recipe, I used mint, chives and tarragon in the herb butter. You can use fewer herbs or other herbs if you prefer, but definitely use mint – it’s a huge part of the Spring flavor in this dish. And make sure they’re fresh – dried spices do not work in this recipe.
How to make Easy Spring Sheet Pan Chicken with Asparagus and Peas: STEP BY STEP
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below in the recipe card
Steps 1 & 2:
Cut the baby potatoes in half and add them to a sheet pan with the pearl onions. Toss them with olive oil and season them generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Steps 3 & 4:
To the potatoes and pearl onions, add the chicken thighs and brush them with olive oil and season both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, remove the woody bottoms of the asparagus and then cut the remaining stalks into 2 inch segments.
Steps 5 & 6:
Toss the asparagus segments with olive oil and salt and pepper and set aside.
Make the herb butter by combining room temperature butter with lemon zest, garlic, and chopped fresh mint, chives, and tarragon and season well with salt and pepper.
Steps 7 & 8:
After 20 minutes of roasting, remove the sheet pan from the oven and add the asparagus and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Then remove the sheet pan and add the peas and return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
Remove sheet pan from the oven and add dollops of the herb butter onto everything, allowing it to melt. Then, once the butter has had a chance to melt a bit, toss the vegetables to ensure that everything has been well coated.
Recipe tips
- Make the flavored butter ahead of time: You can very easily make this butter ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator (or freezer) until you need it. Just be sure to store it in an airtight container. This is one less thing to do on the night of cooking AND you can use it on so many other dishes. Flavored butters are an easy way to add a quick ‘sauce’ to almost anything!
- Use frozen pearl onions: Using frozen pearl onions will cut your prep time dramatically, which is key in weeknight cooking. The texture and flavor are soft and sweet, which is perfect in this dish.
- Use fresh herbs: Dried herbs and spices just aren’t going to cut it here. Fresh is best in this recipe. You can vary the number of fresh herbs you use and the combination that you use, but no matter what, always include the fresh mint – it is a large part of what ties everything together!
Storage & Reheating
Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Freezing: You can freeze this for up to 3 months, but please note that the vegetables will not be the same vibrant green – as you reheat them, them will tend toward over-cooked. If you do choose to freeze, then thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat.
Reheating: To reheat, you can add the chicken with a splash of water into an oven-proof dish, covered with aluminum foil. Place in 375 degree oven or toaster oven for about 10 minutes. Then, remove the foil and add the rest of the vegetables for another 10 minutes or until everything is warmed through. Alternatively, you can reheat in a microwave in 30 second intervals until heated through.
Additions & Substitutions
ADDITIONS:
- Lemon zest: You could add an additional pop of lemon zest on to the finished dish.
- Ramps: You could add the white parts of ramps to the potatoes and pearl onions, and add the green parts when you add the asparagus.
- Fiddlehead ferns: You could add these to the potatoes and pearl onions.
- Morel mushrooms: You could add these to the potatoes and pearl onions to add an earthy element .
SUBSTITUTIONS:
- Swap the protein: You could swap salmon for the chicken, but you would have to adjust the cooking time down, as the salmon would only take about 8-10 minutes to cook. Start by roasting the potatoes and onions for 20 minutes, then add the salmon and asparagus and proceed as normal from there.
- Peas: You can use fresh peas or frozen peas. If you use fresh peas, you will need to toss them in a little olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.
- Fresh herbs: You can use as many or as few herbs as you like really, but do not substitute the mint. The mint is what gives this dish so much of its Spring flavor profile.
- Pearl onions: Cipollini onions would be great, but you would likely half to cut them in half to ensure they cook through. You could also use large onions, but would need to thinly slice them. Another option would be spring onions cut into 1-inch segments – where you would add the white segments with the potatoes and the green segments with the asparagus.
I hope you love this Easy Spring Sheet Pan Chicken with Asparagus and Peas! If you make it, be sure to leave a rating so I know how you liked it!
Sheet Pan Chicken with Asparagus and Herb Butter
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on)
- 1 lb baby potatoes
- 8 oz pearl onions (frozen or fresh)
- 10 oz peas (frozen)
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 4 tbsp olive oil
Herb Butter
- 4 oz butter (unsalted, room temperature)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 lemon (zest)
- 2 tbsp mint (chopped)
- 1 tbsp chives (chopped)
- 1 tbsp tarragon (chopped)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
- Cut the potatoes in half and place them on a sheet pan, along with the pearl onions. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and toss potatoes and onions until well coated, and then season with salt and pepper. Spread out over 2/3 of the sheet pan.
- On the remaining 1/3 of the sheet pan, add the chicken thighs. Brush them with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season them on both sides with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, prep the asparagus by cutting off the woody ends and then cutting the spears into 2 inch segments. Toss them with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, season them with salt and pepper, and then set them aside.
- Make the herb butter by combining all of the ingredients and mixing really well, and then set aside.
- After 20 minutes, remove the sheet pan from the oven and add the asparagus, tossing it around with the potatoes and onions. Return to the oven for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes are up, remove the sheet pan again, and add the peas, tossing them around with the rest of the vegetables. Return to the oven for a final 5 minutes.
- When those 5 minutes are up, remove the sheet pan and add dollops of the herb butter all over – on top of the chicken thighs and on all of the vegetables (you may use all of the herb butter or reserve some for future use by storing it in the refrigerator). As the butter melts, stir the vegetables, making sure everything is well coated. Bring the sheet pan to the table and ENJOY!
Nutrition
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