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Why It Works
- Roasting olive oil–dressed chicken thighs and asparagus at high heat cooks them quickly and beautifully, while producing a delicious sheet-pan full of drippings that double as a sauce and vinaigrette.
- A second sauce of Greek yogurt and olives adds richness and takes just seconds to stir together.
I have been on a mission recently—well, more of a side-quest, if I’m being honest—to get more home cooks to prepare dishes with two sauces. It’s one of those things that sounds annoyingly cheffy, but if approached thoughtfully, can be easy. I’ve already published a smashed potato recipe as proof of concept, and I’m now adding one more to the list. It’s a double whammy of cooking efficiency, being both a simple two-sauce recipe and a simple sheet-pan dinner recipe. The description makes it sound like a lot of work, but I swear it’s not: roasted chicken thighs with a salad of roasted asparagus and scallions, fresh raw fennel, and a bright lemon vinaigrette; an olive-yogurt sauce; and a second sauce of chicken fat drippings. Woof, that’s a mouthful. And a delicious one, if I do say so myself.
The recipe works so efficiently in these ways:
- First, it takes advantage of a very hot (450°F) oven to deeply roast both chicken thighs (which get better and better with continued cooking) and tender spring asparagus in a relatively short amount of time. Just saying it out loud: I want very tender, very soft roasted asparagus here, I’m not looking for a bright green, crisp-tender result. Embrace the overcooked vegetable! (Because they’re delicious.)
- While that mostly hands-off roasting is happening, you can whip up a ridiculously simple olive-yogurt sauce by stirring an olive purée or tapenade into Greek yogurt. This is also a good time to thinly slice a bulb of raw fennel for the “salad” component.
- The chicken and asparagus are drizzled with olive oil before roasting, and as they do, a delicious second sauce forms on the sheet pan, a mixture of olive oil, rendered chicken fat, and juices from the chicken and vegetables. There is literally no extra work, and yet you get a second sauce that works as both the dressing for the fennel salad (with a bit of extra fresh olive oil and lemon juice added) and as a gilded, saucy touch on the finished plate.
- The salad is enhanced with fennel fronds, which are just trimmings from the bulb, plus some torn fresh mint leaves, which add a wonderful freshness with very little work.
Serious Eats/ Amanda Suarez
This is a perfect example of my idea of a “good” sheet-pan recipe. It takes advantage of roasting everything on a rimmed baking sheet for speed and ease, while maximizing the time (almost all prep happens while the chicken and asparagus are roasting) and making the most of every component, down to the juices on the baking sheet. The result is restaurant-worthy, but the work does not require a brigade of cooks and a backup crew of dishwashers. And the two sauces part? You can act like it’s a flex—it’ll be our little secret about how little you did to achieve it.
This One-Pan Chicken Dinner Is the Definition of a High-Reward Recipe
Cook Mode
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2 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (6 to 8 thighs; 1.15 kg)
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Kosher salt
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1 tablespoon (15 g) extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
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2 1/4 pounds asparagus (about 2 bunches), woody ends trimmed
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6 to 8 medium scallions (1 bunch), root and dark-green ends trimmed
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1/2 cup Greek yogurt (4 1/2 ounces; 128 g)
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3 tablespoons olive spread (2 1/4 ounces; 64 g), see notes
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1 medium bulb fennel (about 3/4 pound; 340 g), ends trimmed, fronds reserved, bulb very thinly sliced
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1 1/2 tablespoons (25 g) fresh lemon juice
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15 mint leaves, torn
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Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C) and set rack in middle position. On a rimmed half-sheet pan, season chicken thighs all over with salt and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Space thighs out, skin-side up, so that there is plenty of space between them and they are similarly distant from sheet pan’s edges. Roast until thighs are just cooked through and skin is beginning to turn golden and crispy, 15 to 20 minutes.
Serious Eats/ Amanda Suarez
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Push chicken to center of sheet pan and arrange asparagus and scallions all around. Drizzle asparagus and scallions all over with olive oil and season lightly with salt. Roast until asparagus is very tender and lightly browned in spots, 10 to 15 minutes.
Serious Eats/ Amanda Suarez
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Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together yogurt and olive spread, and season with salt to taste. When asparagus and chicken are done, use kitchen shears to snip asparagus and scallions into shorter lengths (or transfer to a work surface and cut into smaller pieces on the bias). Let cool slightly.
Serious Eats/ Amanda Suarez
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In a large mixing bowl, combine fennel with 3 tablespoons (45 g) accumulated roasting juices and fat from the sheet pan along with the 1 tablespoon olive oil and the lemon juice. Toss to coat and season to taste with salt. Add reserved fennel fronds, torn mint, asparagus, and scallions and toss gently to combine.
Serious Eats/ Amanda Suarez
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On serving plates or a serving platter, spread yogurt sauce in a generous even layer. Arrange roasted chicken thighs on top, and mound the salad alongside. Spoon additional sheet-pan juices all over and around. Serve.
Serious Eats/ Amanda Suarez
Notes
Many different olive spreads can work. A basic puréed olive mixture will be great, as will an olive tapenade. Feel free to use whatever is convenient and available to you.
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