Chicken and Vegetable Sheet Pan with Cilantro Cashew Pesto
Crispy chicken and caramelized vegetables roast on one sheet pan for minimal cleanup, finished with an herbaceous cilantro cashew pesto that balances the sweet potatoes.*Quick Note Before You Dive In: This recipe card covers the basics, but if you want to know which vegetables you can swap or how to adjust spice levels, scroll back up! Everything you need for foolproof results is in the post.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ to 3 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 4 cups or 720g)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1 bunch broccolini
Cilantro Cashew Pesto
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves and stems (about 2 cups loosely packed)
- ¼ cup unsalted cashews
- 2 serrano chiles seeded and roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Trim chicken of any excess skin.
- In a small bowl, combine 2 teaspoons kosher salt, the cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper, and set aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large 17-inch baking sheet. Add the sweet potatoes and chicken and toss to coat them in the oil. Sprinkle with the seasoning mixture.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast (with the chicken skin side up) for 10 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 425°F and add the broccolini and tomatoes, tucking them between the chicken and sweet potatoes. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt.
- While the chicken roasts, make the cilantro cashew pesto by combining the pesto ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and transfer to a measuring cup or other container with a pourable spout.
- Continue roasting for approximately 15 minutes, or until the chicken registers 165°F in the thickest part with an instant-read thermometer and the vegetables have softened and are slightly charred.
- Spoon or drizzle the cilantro cashew pesto over the chicken and vegetables and serve.
Notes:
The stems of broccolini are edible; simply trim the woody ends.
Despite the serrano chiles, the pesto is mild when you remove the seeds and membrane. For a spicier pesto, leave the seeds and membrane in one serrano chile and seed the remainder.
The sauce is so good that I make a double batch and put the rest over roasted potatoes or as a hamburger condiment.
A note on kosher salt: This recipe uses Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. If you’re using Morton's Kosher Salt or table salt, start with less and adjust to taste. Diamond Crystal kosher salt has larger, airier crystals that take up more space, so a teaspoon of kosher salt actually contains less salt by weight than other types of salt.
Nutrition
Serving: 360gCalories: 595kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 20gFat: 44gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 26gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 94mgSodium: 1000mgPotassium: 931mgFiber: 5gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 16819IUVitamin C: 34mgCalcium: 75mgIron: 3mg
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