Sheet Pan Chicken with Butternut Squash and Kale
This one pan chicken dinner is the perfect no-fuss, healthy meal. Crispy, juicy chicken thighs are roasted with sweet butternut squash, scallions & kale.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: Paleo, Gluten-Free, Whole30
Ingredients
- 6 scallions, cut into 2” pieces
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Celtic sea salt and black pepper
- 4 cups butternut squash sliced 1/2-inch-thick, from the bulb end if possible*
- 4 bone-in, skin-on, humanely raised chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)**
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage or rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 5 ounces baby kale coarsely chopped or 6 cups curly kale (see note below)**
- 2 tablespoons oil cured black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
- Lemon wedges for serving
Instructions
- Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet, with parchment for easy cleanup. Place scallions on one side of a the sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil, season with salt and pepper and toss.
- In a medium bowl, season butternut squash with salt, pepper, half the thyme and sage and toss with 1 tablespoon oil.
- Spread the squash in a single layer on the other side of the pan.
- Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and the rest of the thyme and sage and place on top of the scallions. Drizzle the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Place into the oven on the top shelf.
- Roast 15 minutes, then turn the squash so it browns evenly. If any scallions are browning tuck them under the chicken so they don’t burn.
- Roast another 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and squash is tender and lightly brown.
- Remove sheet pan from the oven and put chicken onto a plate.
- Add kale to the baking sheet and mix with the scallions and butternut squash to evenly coat with the pan juices.
- Place chicken back onto the pan arranging it around the kale. Put back into the oven and roast 3-5 minutes until kale is wilted and tender.
- Remove from the oven, top with olives and serve with lemon wedges. I serve this dish right out of the pan.
Notes
If using curly kale:
If you like a lot of vegetables use 2-5 ounce containers of baby kale.
If using curly kale remove stems and chop into bite size pieces, measure 6 cups. Follow the recipe, cook for 5-8 minutes.
If 4 chicken thighs weigh more than 1 1/2 pounds or if 1 1/2 pounds is only 3 thighs, they will need to cook longer than 35 minutes. Start by seasoning the chicken, put it onto the parchment line roasting pan alone. Roast 10-15 minutes alone to give it extra time. Then remove chicken from the pan, add scallions put chicken on top and proceed with the recipe.
Nutrition information is for 4 servings. We usually eat all the vegetables and save 2 chicken thighs for lunch the next day.