A Guide to Creating Sheet Pan Dinners

Sheet pan dinners are one of my favorite ways to get a healthy, balanced meal on the table without spending a lot of time in the kitchen. The key is knowing what ingredients to pair together for a balanced meal.

Step 1: Pick your protein and veggies

The first and most important step is pairing a protein with vegetables. Be sure to choose ingredients that will cook in about the same amount of time. Larger cuts of meat and bone-in cuts take longer to cook, while thins cuts of meat and fish take less time. Pair larger cuts of meat with heartier vegetables, like sweet potatoes, cabbage, and potatoes, and combine thinner cuts of meat with more tender veggies, like leafy greens, asparagus, or green beans. It’s always important to aim to cut vegetables into pieces that are about the same size so that they cook evenly. If you want to pair a quicker-cooking veggie, like onion wedges, with longer-cooking veggies, like sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts, cut the onion wedges into larger pieces than the potatoes and sprouts so that they don’t burn before the heartier veggies are done.

Step 2: Add oil and seasonings

Once you select the protein and veggies you’ll be using, add a drizzle of olive oil. Oil helps with browning and crisping the veggies, and dried herbs, spices, salt, and pepper add flavor. You can use pantry staples, like Italian seasoning, chili powder, cumin, rosemary, thyme, or garlic that you probably already have on hand.

Step 3: Bake

Now you’re ready to put the pan in the oven, sit back, relax, and wait for dinner to be ready to serve.

Note: To make clean-up easier, line the pan with aluminum foil before baking.

Check out two of my favorite sheet pan dinners, Sheet Pan Honey-Balsamic Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts and Crispy Parmesan Chicken and Asparagus Sheet Pan Dinner.

Let me know what combinations you come up with! I’d love to try your creation.