9 Quick and Delicious Sheet-Pan Dinners
The mighty sheet pan could be the most versatile item in your kitchen. It's big enough to hold an entire meal, and its low, inch-high sides makes it perfect for roasting foods without steaming them.
By Lynn Andriani
No-Mess, No-Stress Fajitas
This recipe for crowd-pleasing chicken fajitas has a smart trick for streamlining the cooking process. While fajitas are typically prepared one at a time on a very hot grill or griddle in two stages (first meat, then veggies) with lots of smoke and sizzle, it turns out that you can also cook multiple fajitas at the same time on one pan in the oven. It's more convenient, less messy—and the results are excellent. Serve with tortillas, avocado and sour cream (margaritas optional).
Get the recipe: Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas
Steak and a Side in One Tidy Container
Dealing with ingredients that require two different cooking times? You can still put them in one pan—and this steak-and-vegetables recipe shows you how. Start by par-roasting asparagus, baby carrots and cherry tomatoes coated in olive oil, garlic and thyme for seven minutes. Then, add inch-thick sirloin steaks to the pan and broil both the vegetables and the meat for about four minutes, until the steak is browned and charred. No need for a serving platter; just bring the pan to the table (we especially love those well done crispy bits in the corners).
Get the recipe: Sheet-Pan Steak and Veggies
Quite Possibly the Quickest Casserole You'll Ever Make
We never realized how perfect the sheet pan is for making a veggie gratin. Since it's shallower than a traditional baking dish, the pan allows for every single morsel of broccoli to get an ample coating of crispy-cheesy-bread-crumby topping. Bonus: If you preheat the pan with the oven, it speeds up the entire process and will help you get dinner on the table in just 20 minutes.
Get the recipe: Blissed-Out Crispy Cheesy Broccoli Gratin
The Pork Supper You Just Might Make Every Single Week
There's no need to reserve pork tenderloin for dinner parties or holidays when it's such a breeze to make. Just remember to turn on the oven before you begin any of the prep, so by the time you're ready to slide the seasoned pork and a dozen or so whole cloves of peeled garlic into the oven, it's superhot. The metal pan will give the meat a golden and lightly crisped edge, and within about 20 minutes you'll have a tray full of juicy, tender pork and spreadable garlic that's perfect with the meat or on bread.
Get the recipe: Roasted Pork Tenderloin and Garlic
The Number One Reason to Keep a Bag of Peas in the Freezer
The low edge on a baking sheet isn't just terrific for meats; it also helps small vegetables, such as peas, blister and brown to the perfect state of doneness. On a pan along with links of Italian sausage (sweet or hot), potato wedges and sliced onions, they'll pick up deep flavor, and you'll be fighting for the ones that get wedged into the corner with the darkened, crisp onions.
Get the recipe: Sausage, Peas and Potatoes
Pizza You Won't Find at Your Local Slice Shop
We hear so much about pizza stones, but a baking sheet can also turn out crisp crust—the trick is to preheat the sheet in the oven, and then dust it with cornmeal before laying the dough on top, so the finished pie slides off easily. You can use homemade or store-bought pizza dough; they'll both taste outrageously good with this recipe from
Feast: Generous Vegetarian Meals for Any Eater and Every Appetite by Sarah Copeland. You top the pie with a few thin slices of creamy robiola cheese, shaved Brussels sprouts, salty ricotta salata, toasted walnuts and a drizzle of honey for a sweet and savory supper.
Get the recipe: Robiola, Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Walnut Pizza
The Fastest Roasted Chicken Ever, Period
When you're wondering what the quickest way to turn a package of chicken drumsticks and thighs into a moist and rich-tasting dinner is, reach for your trusty baking sheet. Laying the meat out in a single layer will help it roast in 40 minutes, or even less, and the pan's low sides will ensure the chicken browns nicely all over. Intersperse a handful of cherry or grape tomatoes onto the pan for the last few minutes of cooking, and you'll end up with a sweet, chunky sauce, too.
Get the recipe: Roasted Chicken (the Speedy Way)
The French Dinner with a Twist
Chef and
O food columnist Curtis Stone's brilliant reinvention of the quintessential French meal of quiche and a salad involves a pan instead of a pie dish. He makes mini tarts out of caramelized shallots—but instead of bothering with a crust and a pie pan, he places the little onions on a baking sheet, covers each with a round of store-bought dough and bakes them. When the pastry is puffed, he removes the pan from the oven, lifts each tart with a spatula and flips it onto a plate. Along with a salad, the tartlets make a fabulous dinner that's familiar but just a little unexpected too.
Get the recipe: Caramelized Shallot Tartes Tatin
A Warm and Satisfying Asian Dinner—That's Not a Noodle Soup
It can be tricky to make tofu that's flavorful
and lightly crisped—but a sheet pan gets the job done. In a hot oven, a tangy marinade of rice vinegar, minced fresh ginger, orange juice, soy sauce and sesame oil permeates the tofu completely, while the metal pan helps the protein brown. You can add asparagus spears, trimmed green beans or sliced carrots to the pan and toss them with the sauce (before roasting) to make this a truly one-dish meal.
Get the recipe: Double-Soy Ginger Tofu
Next: 5 ways to transform a rotisserie chicken
Published 01/08/2018
