When I posted the salmon with zucchini and chickpeas, almost every reply said some version of the same thing. More one pan dinners please!
So here is the next one, and honestly it might be the better recipe of the two. Bone-in chicken thighs and sweet potato cubes want the same oven temperature and nearly the same amount of time, which means you are not standing there staging things in and out. Everything goes on the pan, the beans join near the end, and you walk away.
Chipotles in adobo are also one of those cans people buy for a single recipe and then forget about in the back of the fridge. This uses two peppers, and there is a note at the end about saving the rest.
Why This Works
Chicken thighs give you dark meat that stays juicy through a long roast, which matters when the vegetables need close to 40 minutes. Skin on means the fat renders down into everything around it.
Black beans and sweet potato together mean the carbohydrate on this plate arrives with fiber attached instead of on its own, and that changes how your blood sugar responds to it. A lot of women have been told to avoid sweet potato entirely. What it really needs is protein and fiber alongside it, which is what this pan gives you.
One technique note, because it separates a good sheet pan from a soggy one. The chipotle paste goes on the chicken only. The vegetables get a dry spice blend. Wet paste on vegetables means steam instead of browning, and the sugar in adobo will scorch over a long roast. Keep the wet on the protein where the rendering fat protects it.
Sheet Pan Chipotle Chicken with Sweet Potato, Black Beans & Veggies
Serves 4
For the chicken and adobo paste
2 lb bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, about 6 thighs
2 chipotle peppers in adobo, minced, plus 1 tbsp of the sauce
1 tbsp avocado oil
2 tsp honey
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt
For the vegetables
1 large sweet potato, about 1.25 lb, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 poblano peppers, cut into 1 inch strips
1 large red onion, cut into thick wedges
1 can black beans, 15 oz, drained, rinsed, patted very dry
2 tbsp avocado oil
For the dry spice blend
1 tsp chipotle powder
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
To finish
Juice of 1 lime
Fresh cilantro
Cotija, or a creamy drizzle if you prefer
Instructions
Heat your oven to 425 and line a half sheet pan with parchment.
Stir together the minced chipotles, adobo sauce, avocado oil, honey, garlic, cumin, and salt.
Pat the chicken thighs completely dry, then rub the paste over all of them, working some underneath the skin. Let them sit while you get the vegetables ready.
Mix the dry spice blend in a small bowl and set aside about 2 teaspoons of it for the beans.
Toss the sweet potato, poblano, and red onion with 2 tbsp avocado oil and the rest of the dry blend.
Spread the vegetables across the pan in a single layer. Clear bare spots on the pan and set the thighs directly on the parchment, skin side up. Do not put chicken on top of the sweet potato, because anything sitting underneath a thigh will steam instead of brown.
Roast 25 minutes.
While that happens, toss your very dry black beans with a small drizzle of oil and the reserved 2 teaspoons of spice.
Pull the pan and scatter the beans into the gaps between the vegetables, keeping them away from the area right around the chicken. Return to the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the thighs read 175 and the sweet potato edges have browned.
Squeeze lime over the whole pan while it is hot. Add cilantro and cotija and bring the pan to the table.
Thrive Tip
The beans have to be dry going in. Drain them, rinse them, then leave them spread on a towel while everything else roasts. Damp beans release water onto a hot pan and turn soft and pasty instead of tightening up at the edges.
Do the same with the chicken before the paste goes on. Skin that still has moisture on it will steam under the paste rather than crisping, and no amount of oven time fixes it after the fact.
How to Serve It
Straight from the pan with a spoon of the drippings over the top
Over a bed of shredded cabbage so the warm drippings wilt it slightly
Rolled into warm tortillas with extra lime
Alongside a scoop of Greek yogurt thinned with lime juice for something cooling
Cold the next day, pulled off the bone and tossed with the roasted vegetables into a lunch bowl
Make It Your Own
No poblano? Three jalapeños with the seeds and ribs removed will work, though you lose some of the meaty pepper body poblano brings. Add a red bell pepper if you go that route.
For less heat, use one chipotle instead of two and skip the chipotle powder in the dry blend. The smoked paprika carries plenty of flavor on its own.
Boneless thighs work but the timing shifts. Give the sweet potato a 12 minute head start alone, then add the chicken for the remaining time.
Swap the black beans for pinto or white beans if that is what is in the pantry. Any of them crisp the same way as long as they are dry.
Cauliflower can stand in for part of the sweet potato if you want the carbohydrate lower. Cut it into large florets so it does not overcook.
Chipotle brands vary more than you would think, so taste your adobo sauce before you commit to two peppers. And do not throw out what is left in the can. Spread the rest on parchment, freeze it flat, then move it to a bag once it is solid and break off a piece whenever you want smoke and heat in something.
Lolita