Dark meat chicken, potatoes, asparagus, and red bell peppers are coated in cajun spices, roasted, and served with sautéed Swiss chard over cheesy grits.
This simple, colorful, hearty meal packs a deliciously powerful punch of flavor and nutrition, and the most tender chicken you've ever tasted.
This Sheet Pan Recipe is a Delicious Way to Meal Prep
This is the kind of meal that I like to make on a Sunday afternoon when I can shut myself in the kitchen for a couple of hours and enjoy the process of making really good food that will, at least partially, sustain us for the rest of the week.
The recipe is not complicated, but it does requires a fair amount of time in the kitchen (about 90 minutes). I feel it's time well spent, because this tender, flavorful sheet pan chicken can make the rest of the week's meals a breeze.
10 Delicious Reasons to Deliberately Make Leftover Cajun Chicken:
Making a small pan of cajun chicken and veggies is basically the same amount of work as making a large pan. And there's so many delicious ways to use the leftovers.
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps. If you have cooked chicken, you’re halfway to eating a plate full of the most deliciously addicting chicken lettuce wraps.
- Creamy Chicken and Rice. This comforting recipe can be whatever you want it to be and is a delicious way to use up all sorts of meats and veggies hanging out in your refrigerator - like leftover cajun chicken and veggies.
- Chicken Salad Nicoise or Chicken Chopped Salad. Making a big, hearty dinner-size salad is also a delicious way to use leftover red peppers, potatoes, and asparagus.
- Chicken Tortilla Soup. This Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of those fast cooking, super satisfying recipes that has a guaranteed spot on permanent meal time rotation at our house.
- Chicken Chimichurri Nachos. Swap out the chili marinate chicken for leftover Cajun Chicken and you'll be eating a delicious plate of nachos for dinner in less than 15 minutes.
- Creamy Chicken Chili. Skip the whole "cooking the chicken" step and just mix your leftover Cajun Chicken into the tomatillo sauce and get on with things.
- 20-Minute Garlic Chipotle Pasta. This dish makes a regular appearance at our house with or without the chicken. But, it's pretty much a guarantee if we have some leftover Cajun Chicken in the fridge.
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole. The most delicious cheese enchilada casserole requires just three ingredients: corn tortillas, lots (and lots!) of cheese, and a kick-ass red chili enchilada sauce. But, tossing in some leftover cajun chicken just might make it even better.
Buttermilk Marinated Chicken
When Samin Nosrat published her amazing book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, she included a recipe for Buttermilk Marinated Roast Chicken that schooled us all in the virtues of letting chicken soak in buttermilk for a loooooong time before cooking.
As a baker, I know that buttermilk is magical in cake and pancakes, because it adds flavor and tenderness.
But, before Samin's book, I'd never dared soak chicken in buttermilk for so long - like 24 hours, or more - or with so much salt.
When you get home from the market with your chicken, put it in a baking dish and cover it in salted buttermilk. In 12-24 hours, when you go to cook your chicken, you will have the MOST tender, juicy flavorful chicken you've ever tasted. That buttermilk marinade really does makes a huge much of a difference.
No buttermilk? No problem! Here are 7 ways to make a terrific substitute for buttermilk, all of which work perfectly well.
Cajun Spice Rub
If you'd prefer to use a good prepared cajun spice rub from your local market or spice shop, go right ahead. But, mixing up your own requires only a handful of spices and allows you greater control of how spicy and salty it is.
If you follow suit, be sure to take a little taste of the cajun spice rub before massaging it into the chicken and vegetables, adjusting the amount of cayenne or any of the other spices at will.
Cajun Roasted Vegetables
For this recipe, you'll roast the chicken and potatoes together and the red peppers and asparagus separately.
You'll use the same pan, roasting the chicken and potatoes first and following with the asparagus and red peppers. Why can't you just roast everything on the same pan all at once? Two reasons...
- The Chicken and Potatoes will take about 45 minutes to roast. The peppers and asparagus will only take about 10 minutes.
- The delicious liquid that will collect in the bottom of the pan while the chicken and potatoes cook will be use to cook the Swiss chard - something you can do while the peppers and asparagus are in the oven.
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #alittleandalot on Instagram.
📖 Recipe
Sheet Pan Cajun Chicken and Vegetables
Perfectly seasoned Cajun Chicken & potatoes with plenty of veggies and Cheesy Grits. The MOST tender and flavorful chicken and melt-in-your-mouth potatoes.
Ingredients
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 4 tablespoons + 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 12 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
- 3-4 lbs red potatoes, washed, unpeeled, and cut into quarters
- 1 recipe Cajun Chicken Spice Rub
- 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 4 large red bell peppers, seeds removed and cut into 1-inch wide slices
- 2 lbs asparagus: snap in half and discard bottom portion of the stalk
- 1 shallot, minced
- ½ jalapeño, minced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 to 6 cups swiss chard (or spinach or kale), leaves removed from the stalks
- 1 medium lemon, cut in half
FOR SERVING:
- 1 recipe Cheesy Grits
Instructions
- Stir 2 tablespoons of the salt into the buttermilk. Lay the chicken in a 9x13 rectangle baking dish. Pour the buttermilk over the chicken and turn the chicken to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 36. (At least 24 hours is best.)
- Prep your ingredients before you begin: wash and cut the potatoes into quarters, mix up the Cajun Chicken Spice Rub, wash and slice red bell peppers, break asparagus spears in half, mince shallot, jalapeño, and garlic, and tear the Swiss chard leaves from the stalks.
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees and line a large sheet pan with aluminum foil or parchment.
- Fill a large saucepan about ⅔ full of water. Add 2 tablespoons of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the quartered potatoes and boil for 5 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander in the sink, leaving them to cool a bit while you prep the chicken.
- Lay chicken thighs out on paper towels and blot the excess buttermilk (Don't try and get them dry. Just blot the excess.). Lay the chicken out on the sheet pan and sprinkle with a generous amount of Cajun Chicken Spice Rub rubbing the spices into the chicken. Flip the chicken pieces over and repeat on the other side so that they are completely covered in spices.
- Put the potatoes back into the pan you boiled them in and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 teaspoons Cajun Spice Rub. Toss to coat the potatoes in oil and seasoning. Spread the potatoes in a single layer on the sheet pan next to the chicken. Sprinkle with about ½ teaspoon more salt. (No need to wash out the pan yet - you can use it for asparagus and red peppers.)
- Place the pan inside the preheated oven and roast for 45 - 50 minutes. (To know if the chicken and potatoes are done, poke a fork into one of the potatoes to see if it's tender. Cut into one piece of chicken, close to the bone. If the juices run clear and the inside of the chicken isn't pink, the chicken is done.)
While the chicken and potatoes are cooking:
- Add the red bell pepper pieces and asparagus to the same bowl you used to season the potatoes and add 1 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon Cajun Seasoning, and 1 teaspoon salt. Toss the vegetables around inside the bowl to thoroughly coat with the oil and spices.
- Prepare cheesy grits.
When the chicken and potatoes are done cooking:
- Remove chicken and potatoes from the oven and turn the temperature up to 450 degrees. Put the pieces of chicken and potatoes on a serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Pour about 3 tablespoons of the liquid from the sheet pan into a large skillet or sauce pan. Discard any remaining liquid that's in the sheet pan. Discard the foil or parchment liner and re-line with a fresh sheet.
- Dump the red peppers and asparagus on the same sheet pan you cooked the chicken and potatoes on and spread the vegetables out into an single layer. Put the pan back in the oven and roast for about 10 minutes, just until the vegetables are crisp-tender.
- Place the pan with the chicken cooking liquid on a burner set to medium. Add the minced shallot, jalapeño, and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes.
- Add the Swiss chard and sauté, stirring often, until the greens are wilted, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the greens with some salt and the juice from one half of the fresh lemon. Toss to coat.
- When the peppers and asparagus are fork tender, but still crisp, remove them from the oven. Squeeze the juice from the other half of the fresh lemon juice over the cooked red peppers and asparagus and toss to coat.
TO SERVE: Spoon some Cheesy Grits on a plate. Top the grits with a spoonful of Swiss chard and a piece of chicken. Serve potatoes, asparagus, and red peppers alongside the chicken and grits.
Notes
No buttermilk? No problem. DIY Buttermilk: How to make your own
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
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