Sheet-Pan Chicken With Zucchini and Basil Recipe (2024)

Instead of pouring the olive oil/seasoning mix over the chicken and zucchini on the sheet pan, why not just dump the chicken and zucchini in the bowl to toss. It's a lot easier and neater to toss in a bowl then turn out onto the sheet pan.

My wife won’t eat thighs, would bone-in breasts work as well if pulled out early and kept warm until the Zucchini gets caramelized?

Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature paper burns. :-) Thanks Ray Bradbury.

@Jim: Of course breast can substitute for thighs (though they're less forgiving than thighs because of their lower fat content. As you point out correctly, you have to pull them out earlier. Also, a trick that Jacques Pepin uses when roasting whole chicken is to sneak some butter under the breast skin: unless the skin is already quite fatty, butter might help here.

When the note calls to “toss” once on the sheet pan, I prefer to toss said ingredients in a bowl and then, spread out on the sheet.

Melissa lives in a small apartment, with a very cramped kitchen, in NYC. Those of us with room for those extra bowls should just consider ourselves lucky and cease all the negativity.

For chicken breasts (and for thighs), brine them: this keeps them moist and more forgiving regarding the cooking time. You can do a dry brine on the chicken with just salt, for 30 minutes, in the fridge; then proceed with the recipe. You can do any prep work during that time. You'll never go back to un-brined chicken.

Used boneless skinless thighs and cooked for 30 mins.

Chicken thighs exude a lot of water and fat. If you like your zucchini soggy and greasy, fine. I get better results by seasoning the chicken for an hour or so with an oil/spice/s8p rub - no garlic; then browning it in a cast-iron skillet; then roasting with a lot of whole garlic cloves for 15 -20 minutes. Remove chicken and garlic from pan, pour out most of the fat, fry zucchini until golden crisp. Return chicken to pan to warm, garnish with basil and lemon zest.

Am not sure where the reference to parchment paper came from as it is not mentioned in the recipe. Furthermore, why would you use parchment paper for a recipe like this? I agree with the idea of mixing the garlic, spice,oil, etc. mixture in a large bowl and tossing the chicken and zucchini before putting onto the baking sheet. I also lined the baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil to make clean-up a breeze. I also tossed in a couple Yukon gold potatoes cut up in 1 inch chunks to it.

I agree with others here, I've never understood "toss everything together on the sheet pan". If you toss everything in a separate bowl, you can actually cut down on the oil needed as well. Toss, toss, toss makes a little oil go a long way.

Did anyone like this recipe? Only critical comments as far as I can see. What did it taste like? Ms Clark’s recipes are always very tasty. We’ll be doing this one very soon!

This was fantastic. As other cooks mentioned, definitely toss the chicken and zucchini in a bowl before you put it on the pan. I also like to put my (empty) pan in the oven while it preheats. I did sprinkle a little baking soda on the skin while I prepped everything else and I do think it made them crispier than they otherwise would have been.

Many are complaining about soggy zucchini. Those comments are great, because that's why these cooking notes exist. Let's problem solve: One person mentioned that the instructions say to cut it in large pieces. Maybe larger than 1 inch would be even better. Another suggested salting to draw out water. Or maybe add the zucchini after 10 or 15 minutes, if you prefer it cooked less. Don't toss the recipe because it's not perfect!

Because that is one less bowl you have dirtied ....

Feel like an idiot! There is no way that zucchini needs to be cooked that long. Will try again and add zucchini halfway through.

I made this tonight - right out of the box it was delicious and impossible to mess up. When I make it again I’ll use less oil due to the fat content of skin-on thighs.

This was delicious and so easy. Didn’t have any fresh basil so I omitted it, followed the recipe otherwise, using 2 large bone-in thighs for the 2 of us, dried oregano and the coriander seeds cracked with my mortar & pestle. Per another reader’s suggestion I preheated the sheet pan and added a couple cut/up Yukon gold potatoes. And yes, I mixed it up in a large bowl then placed on the sheet pan. Ready in 35 minutes. Yum, will make again!

Mystified. Not only does chicken, even thighs, come out dry, it takes about 45 minutes, during which time the vegetables get overcooked. I find that sheet pan recipes work ok with shrimp or fish, but never had success with chicken. Any hints?

Delicious and easy as written! To coin Melissa's phrase, I did "veg it up" with 2 pounds of zucchini. I endorse the suggested crusty bread to sop up the delicious juices.

I would swap the minced garlic (which burned) for garlic powder next time, but otherwise a tasty dish. We used frozen broccoli and removed it shortly before the chicken was done.

My trick for recipes like this that saves time and dirty dishes is to spray the oil from a spray can onto the vegetables, etc that need coating. Distribute any other spices uniformly across the pan.

I subbed the coriander seeds with 1/8 tsp of cumin and it was so incredibly delicious!

The suggestion in the notes below to dry brine was a fantastic hint. Meat was juicy and the skin was extra crispy.

Add onion

I am truly surprised by all the critical reviews of this recipe! I have made it numerous times, almost exactly as written - other than I do toss it all in a bowl before laying it out on a foil lined (for easy clean up) sheet pan. I use only bone-in, skin on thighs, as they are delicious. The zucchini caramelizes, the chicken skin gets crispy, and I love the coriander flavor, plus the citrus and basil touch at the end. Really - perfect weeknight or any night, low-carb, flavor rich, meal!

I concur with comments re: zucchini. I added mine after 15 minutes and they were perfection! This was an easy and delicious dish.

Skinless, boneless thighs, 30 minutes. Added cauliflower to up the vegetable quotient. Delicious.

smells amazing, this is a recipe you can't go wrong with. I added a few shish*to peppers and grilled some lemon wedges alongside of the chicken. Its amazing. Bon appetit.

Amazing what flavor the garlic and red pepper flakes bring to the zucchini. This is now my go to recipe for cooking zucchini. Great the next day too.