Sheet Pan Dinner: Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Recipe

rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom

Get ready to love this sheet pan dinner recipe for Rosemary Balsamic Chicken. I think I might be obsessed with these one sheet recipes. I know they still require a small amount of chopping and prep and attention, but there’s something about dealing with one baking sheet that makes these meals seem so simple and doable.

Rosemary Balsamic Chicken is just a really reliable, delicious, workhorse of a meal. If you make a big batch, the leftovers will last several days for take-to-work (or work-at-home) lunch salads and sandwiches. It works as a “fancy meal” that you can make for guests, or to take to a friend who had a new baby.

Let’s get cooking.

Sheet Pan Dinner: Rosemary Balsamic Chicken with Potatoes and Asparagus | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom
Easy Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner with Potatoes and Asparagus | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom
Flavorful Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner with Potatoes and Asparagus | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom
Simple Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner with Potatoes and Asparagus | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom
Ingredients for Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner with Potatoes and Asparagus | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom

Some notes before we jump to the recipe:
It’s really simple to whisk up the balsamic marinade, but if you’re short on time, or just want a shortcut, a store-bought balsamic vinaigrette is a great substitution here.

 | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom
Rosemary Balsamic Marinade for Chicken | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom

The vinegar helps tenderize the chicken as it marinates. The honey and vinegar combo also work as a sort of brine to keep the chicken extra juicy. (You can read about brining here.)

And if you reserve the marinade, you can turn it into a delicious, warm sauce to serve over the chicken and potatoes. It is perfection. Think of all of these flavors as a sticky bbq sauce of sorts, only without the tomato sauce base.

 | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom
Rosemary Balsamic Marinade | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom

When making sheet pans dinners, it’s all about the timing. Sometimes you need to cook the meat longer than the veggies, so you roast that first, then add everything else later. It may not be as simple as putting everything into the oven at once, but it really does make a difference.

In this balsamic chicken recipe, the chicken thighs go in first for a few minutes, then the potatoes are added, and last the asparagus. Do not overcook the asparagus. The quick 10 minutes is perfect to tender-crisp asparagus to accompany the soft, butter potatoes and tender chicken.

 | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom

One more thing: This rosemary balsamic chicken recipe really benefits from the use of parchment or foil to line the baking sheet. It makes clean-up a snap, as it always does, but especially with this particular marinade where it will burn onto the baking sheet.

 | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom

The potatoes get an extra hit of rosemary and garlic. Is there anything better than herby roasted potatoes?! No, there isn’t. They do soak up the marinade a little, too, and develop a sort of glaze.

 | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom

See that dark, caramelized glaze down there on the chicken and potatoes? So good. The chicken is so tender — especially if you use skin-on, bone-in thighs. Way more flavor and they tolerate a longer cooking time without becoming dry. But if you prefer chicken breasts, there are some tips in the notes below the recipe. (You just have the tweak the timing a bit.)

 | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom

Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Recipe

Ingredients
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional, but recommended)
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely minced, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced, divided
1 pound baby golden or red potatoes, halved
1 pound asparagus
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 8 small cubes

 | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom

Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Recipe Instructions

1. Place chicken thighs in a shallow dish or resealable gallon size plastic bag.
2. In a glass measuring cup, combine balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, honey, Dijon mustard, half of the rosemary and minced garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Pour the balsamic marinade into the dish or bag. Cover dish or seal bag. Place in fridge and allow to marinate at least 30 minutes, preferably a few hours, or even overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. If using foil, lightly oil to prevent sticking.
4. Remove the chicken from the marinade allowing any excess to drip back into the bag or dish. Reserve marinade. Place chicken thighs on prepared baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil plus the remaining minced rosemary and garlic. Season well with salt and pepper. After the first 15 minutes of roasting, remove pan from oven and arrange the potatoes around the chicken. Place back in oven and roast for 20 minutes.
6. While chicken and potatoes are roasting, prepare the sauce and asparagus.
7. Place the reserved marinade into a saucepan or skillet. Bring to a simmer. Add the chicken broth and bring back to a simmer. Continue simmering until the liquid is reduced by about half. Keep warm until ready to serve.
8. To prepare asparagus, snap off the tough ends and cut the spears into 2-inch pieces. Season well with salt and pepper.
9. After the first 20 minutes of roasting time are up, scoot the potatoes over to the side and place the asparagus on the baking sheet. Gently toss a bit to coat the asparagus with the oil on the baking sheet. Place back in oven and roast for about 10 minutes longer, or until the asparagus are just tender-crisp.
10. Just before serving, bring the balsamic sauce back to a simmer. Whisk in the small butter cubes, one at a a time, whisking well after each addition. Remove from heat and keep warm.
11. Serve chicken with potatoes and asparagus on the side and a good drizzle of the balsamic sauce.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Notes
– Chicken breasts can be substituted for the chicken thighs, but will cook more quickly especially if they are boneless and skinless, as will boneless, skinless thighs. The marinade will help to keep them juicy, but be careful not to overcook of they run the risk of becoming dry. Roast the boneless, skinless chicken at the same time as the potatoes. A whole, cut-up chicken can also be used; use the same directions for the bone-in, skin-on thighs in the original recipe.
– To make this recipe even easier and quicker, store-bought balsamic vinaigrette can be used in place of the vinegar, oil, honey, and mustard.
– Green beans or broccoli florets can be substituted for the asparagus.

 | rosemary balsamic chicken recipe featured by popular lifestyle blogger, Gabrielle of Design Mom

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P.S. — More easy one-sheet dinners here.


Credits: Recipes and photos by Lindsey Rose Johnson for Design Mom.

16 thoughts on “Sheet Pan Dinner: Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Recipe”

  1. First, this sounds amazing and I’m so excited for another recipe I can use for my multiple-food-allergy family! THANK YOU!

    Second, I’m wondering how to increase the quantity. Maybe bc of the dietary limitations, my family of 6 eats a LOT of meat and veggies. I think the sheet pan meal would feed me and my husband…and I’d need at least 1 more pan for the 4 kids. Do you think I could roast the chicken, for instance, in a big Dutch oven or casserole dish, and put one sheet pan of potatoes and one of asparagus underneath in the oven? Or is that going to mess things up?

    1. Hi Sarah! That won’t mess things up at all. You can totally do that. Your cooking time may differ a little bit with more in the oven at the same time, but it wouldn’t be too different – maybe 10-15 minutes longer is all.

    2. I’m making this for the second time tonight! I used boneless skinless breasts, cooked in the Dutch oven, and two sheet pans of potatoes (about 5 lbs) with the asparagus added later. It worked great, and I found the existing marinade amounts sufficient for the increased quantity of meat. I didn’t have any trouble with the sauce cooking down, either. There was plenty of time while the rest of the meal cooked. Thanks so much for this–it’s totally a keeper at our house!

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  3. Made this tonight. It was terrific and will be added to our rotation. Next time I won’t use the two cups of chicken broth: it took a long time to boil down and was watery. I think the leftover marinade could have been enough to drizzle over the chicken. Keep the recipes coming!

  4. Angela Ashurst-McGee

    Made this tonight and was loved by all. (me and the food ;) ) I doubled for our bigger group, so put extra potatoes and asparagus on a second sheet. I love the idea of one-pan dinners though, so I’m going to investigate buying a huge sheet pan. Also, I’m dreaming of a version involving roasted eggplant and mushrooms. Doesn’t that sound like it could be delish?

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  7. How long exactly did you think it would take to reduce the sauce with 2 cups chicken stock? I had to resort to corn starch to thicken it up enough to serve. Overall not that great not enough salt and pepper overall flavor was lacking.

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