Easy Sheet-Pan Dinners to the Rescue!
In the next couple of busy holiday months, while adjusting to less amounts of daylight, we can feel exhausted and pretty uninspired in the evening to put together dinner for ourselves and our family. But especially during this time, we need to be well nourished and hydrated so that we have energy and feel good for all of the activities ahead, and that means eating plenty of vegetables, a good amount of protein and keeping our sugar and sodium intake down. The easiest way to achieve that is by cooking up a meal at home with large doses of love. But how can we balance the need to keep dinner healthy, comforting and satisfying and at the same time so simple we’re not tempted to order takeout every night? I am pleased to introduce: The Easy Sheet-Pan Dinner!
I love a sheet-pan dinner for its comforting and delicious roasty-ness, simple prep and cleanup, and allowing the oven to do all the work. Preheat your oven, chop up your favorite veggies and protein, spice it up to everyone’s taste, plop it all on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (or aluminum foil if you’re using the broiler), give the heat about 20 minutes to work its magic and voila! And if you’d like to add a base for that sheet-pan goodness, keep that really simple too by picking up some pre-prepped bases, like microwavable frozen brown rice or cauliflower rice packages, or frozen veggie spirals, or shredded cabbage.
Below are some more of my favorite sheet-pan recipes (and there are so many more where this came from on the interwebs):
This cheesy zucchini and sausage sheet pan dinner from Kalyn’s Kitchen is fantastic by itself, but you could also serve it hot out of the oven over a bed of raw spinach with a squeeze of lemon juice. The heat from the dish wilts down the spinach so no need to saute.
This Sheet-Pan Shrimp Fajitas recipe is in regular rotation in my house. Defrost a bag of frozen shrimp in a colander under running cold water in the sink for several minutes, dry your shrimpies really well and you’re ready to assemble. It’s so fast and delicious. Serve fajita-style in some warmed-up corn tortillas, or over some regular rice or cauliflower rice jazzed up with salsa (preferably a variety without added sugar) or a simple red cabbage slaw. This also can be easily transformed into a chicken dish by using sliced boneless skinless chicken thighs instead (just make sure you give it enough time—use an instant read thermometer to make sure your chicken is at 165 degrees).
Another brilliant sheet pan recipe comes from one of my favorites, NomNom Paleo, the Indian-inspired Sheet Pan Tandoori Chicken. Though the recipe calls for cauliflower, you can sub in any cruciferous veggie you like.
Be creative! If you like these ideas above, use them as templates for creating your own favorite concoctions: mix it up with different veggies, proteins and spices. Maybe you already do!
I would love to hear your own favorite sheet-pan dinner recipes—please share in the comments below!
Keep dinner super simple this month while also making sure it’s giving your body the best (and yummiest) fuel to get through this busy season. (And don’t forget to drink plenty of water, get lots of rest, set smart boundaries and speak really kindly to yourself.) You’ve got this!
xoxo Julie