This Spicy Honey Chicken situation starts as a true sheet pan dinner — chicken, sweet potatoes, broccoli, one oven — and then opens the door to a bowl-style meal if you need it to stretch. The flavors are bold but balanced: sweet honey, a little heat from spicy barbecue seasoning, acidity from lime, and a cooling yogurt-based sauce that pulls everything together.
What makes this recipe great
I leave this labeled as a sheet pan dinner intentionally. That’s the foundation. But in practice, I often serve it bowl-style — especially if I’m feeding more than three or four people or want leftovers. And here is where this recipe becomes becomes extra-efficient instead of fussy.
- One marinade for everything: We make one marinade and use part of it (with extra spice) to marinate the chicken, and to season the sweet potatoes. The rest of the marinade flavors our dipping sauce. This makes it a very quick-to-prep dinner.
- Streamlined prep if you want to turn it into a bowl: Most bowl recipes are intense to prep. That’s fine on a weekend. On a weeknight, it’s a lot. This version simplifies things by a) using the efficiency of the sheet pan dinner, and b) dressing a quick slaw with the dipping sauce you already made anyway. Any other toppings are low prep – cilantro, avocado, lime wedges. Rice or another cooked grain rounds things out if you need a heartier meal, but it’s optional. The sweet potatoes alone can carry this dinner just fine.
- Roast in stages: Sheet pan dinners can be hit or miss, with some components overcooked while others still need time. Here, we make sure to dice the sweet potatoes into 1-inch cubes, so they need about the same time as the chicken. The broccoli goes in later so it ends up perfectly tender and charred, but not mushy.
Ingredients we’re going to use
The base is a simple honey-lime oil mixture seasoned with your favorite BBQ spice blend (or Taco seasoning, Cajun seasoning…). Part of it becomes the marinade for the chicken. The rest turns into a dipping sauce once yogurt (or sour cream) and Dijon are added. Same flavor profile, different roles — and no wasted effort.
Chicken thighs are ideal here. They stay juicy at high heat and forgive a little crowding on the pan. Sweet potatoes roast alongside them, soaking up the seasoned oil, while broccoli gets added partway through so it stays crisp-tender rather than overdone.
If you want more heat, it’s easy to adjust: a pinch of cayenne, chili powder, or a spoonful of sriracha in the oil mixture does the job without changing the structure of the recipe.
Let’s see how we make this:
Step 1
Make the marinade.
Whisk together the marinade in a measuring jug – we’ll use part of this to marinate the chicken, and the rest to flavor the dipping sauce.
Step 2
Marinate the chicken.
Add ½ cup of the marinade to a bowl, with extra seasoning and the chicken. You can let this sit for 20 minutes, or refrigerate for up to a day.
Step 3
Make the dipping sauce.
Just add yogurt or sour cream and Dijon to the rest of the marinade and keep in the fridge!
Step 4
Roast chicken and potatoes.
The chicken thighs and potatoes get a head start in the oven – add the chicken, toss the potatoes in the remaining marinade in the bowl and roast away!
Step 5
Let the broccoli join.
After 15 minutes, make some space and add the broccoli to your sheet pan. Toss it in the pan juices a little, and baste the chicken. Finish roasting, and dinner is done!
Time to serve!
I usually serve this on a bed of rice, with a side of coleslaw with black beans added (just use some of that dipping sauce as your dressing, along with a little extra vinegar and olive oil!). We also like some avocado with it, and lime juice/cilantro if there’s time and ambition enough.
This is one of those meals that adapts to the evening you’re having. Keep it simple and eat straight from the pan, or stretch it into bowls without doubling your workload. Either way, the balance holds: sweet, spicy, tangy, creamy — and enough food to actually satisfy.
Tl; dr: All the important stuff a glance
- Quick recipe rundown: Make the marinade. Toss ½ cup of it with chicken thighs, combine the rest to make the dipping sauce. Roast the chicken and sweet potatoes for 15 minutes, then add the broccoli and finish roasting. Serve as-is, or bowl-style with slaw, rice and avocado (plus dipping sauce!)
- Line, or don’t line – Honestly, this recipe works best on an unlined sheet pan. However, it’s perfectly understandable to not want to scrub a sheet pan after a long day. The next best option is to line it with foil. You can also line it with baking parchment, just know that it prevents some of the roasting and collects more pan juices, so it will work out a little differently (it’s still very good though!)
- Chicken breast works – either use 3 thick/large chicken breasts so they can withstand the 25-30 minute in the oven without drying out, or cut 3 small chicken breasts into 6 cutlets and only add them with the broccoli.
- If your sheet pan seems crowded – depending on the size of your chicken and how generous you are with the vegetables, you may need to use a separate pan for the broccoli. Avoid crowding the pan, else everything will steam rather than roast.
Sheet pan dinners have been a favorite in my house for a long time, there are so many options! We especially love a greek chicken sheet pan dinner, sheet pan chicken fajitas, chicken and asparagus sheet pan dinner and yes – sheet pan nachos. That last one is such a fun one, and I’m not above serving it for dinner!
Spicy Honey Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner
Ingredients
Chicken and sauce
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 5 tablespoons mild honey
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 5 teaspoons spicy BBQ seasoning (divided)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (patted dry and lightly pounded (Note 1))
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (OR sour cream)
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (or more to taste)
Vegetables
- 1 pound sweet potatoes (diced into 1-inch pieces)
- 1 pound broccoli (cut into small florets)
Optional for serving
- coleslaw mix (with black beans and corn added if you like)
- cooked rice (or another grain)
- chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, lime wedges
Optional for extra heat
- chili powder, cayenne pepper, or sriracha (Note 2)
Instructions
- Prep :Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a sheet pan with foil or high-heat baking parchment, or leave it unlined if you don’t mind extra cleanup.
- Make the flavor base: In a measuring cup, whisk together the olive oil, honey, lime juice, 3 teaspoons of the BBQ seasoning, and salt/pepper until smooth.¼ cup olive oil, 5 tablespoons mild honey, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 3 teaspoons spicy BBQ seasoning, salt and pepper
- Season the chicken: Transfer ½ cup of the oil mixture to a large bowl. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons BBQ seasoning and the chicken thighs. Toss well and set aside for up to 20 minutes. (Note 3)2 teaspoons spicy BBQ seasoning, 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- Make the dipping sauce: To the remaining oil mixture in the measuring cup, whisk in the yogurt (or sour cream) and Dijon mustard. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.½ cup plain Greek yogurt, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- Arrange on the pan and roast:Place the chicken on one side of the prepared sheet pan, making sure each piece is well coated. Toss the sweet potatoes in the remaining seasoned oil from the bowl and arrange them on the other side. Roast at 425°F for 15 minutes.1 pound sweet potatoes
- Add the broccoli and finish roasting:Remove the pan from the oven. Add the broccoli, tossing it in the pan juices. Baste the chicken lightly as well. (Note 4)Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 10–15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, the sweet potatoes are tender, and the broccoli is nicely roasted. For extra color, broil briefly at the end if your pan and liner allow. (Note 5)1 pound broccoli
- Serve :Serve directly from the pan, drizzled with the dipping sauce, or build bowls with rice, slaw, and your favorite toppings.coleslaw mix, cooked rice, chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, lime wedges, chili powder, cayenne pepper, or sriracha
Notes
- Note 0: If you serve this bowl-style with a grain, salad and toppings it will serve closer to 6. If you serve it as-is, it serves closer to 4, depending on how hungry everyone is.
- Note 1: Lightly pounding = just tenderizing, not flattening much. This just helps to get the chicken into an even shape and helps it stay juicy.
- Note 2: Choose your own level of spiciness here. Because of spice-sensitive dinner companions, I choose to offer things like sriracha or chipotle at the table. You can absolutely add as much spice to your marinade as you like.
- Note 3: If you want or need to marinate the chicken longer than 20 minutes, cover and refrigerate for up to a day.
- Note 4: If your pan feels crowded due to the chicken size or being generous with the vegetables (happens to me all the time), it’s best to use a second pan for the broccoli so things can roast rather than steam.
- Note 5: I do not recommend broiling if you lined your pan with baking parchment.
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