Hello and welcome to Sunday Supper on Djalali Cooks! Today’s Sunday Supper is an easy, sheet pan dinner that is so simple, yet so flavorful. Aside from the pre-made packages of Indian food from Trader Joe’s, (which are super-good, by the way), I haven’t really had much Indian food since we left California. Well, that had to change, so I am starting with one of Alex’s favorite Indian dishes; today we are making Sheet Pan Tandoori Chicken.
I came across this recipe for Tandoori Chicken via Feasting at Home, a wonderful resource for veggie-focused recipes. It’s one of those customizable, clean-out-the-veggie-drawer recipes that is always going to be a winner. Our protein is boneless, skinless chicken thighs. For veggies, I went with cauliflower and green beans. The texture differences of the cauliflower and the green beans was *chef’s kiss* perfect. And the chicken thighs were so juicy and tender. It all starts with the marinade, so let’s get to it.
The Marinade
The marinade comes together in the blender, so there isn’t a lot of prep other than measuring out the spices, slicing the fresh ginger, juicing a lime and smashing the large garlic cloves. In the spice bowl, I have Garam Masala, Cumin, Smoked Paprika, Kosher Salt, Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Turmeric, and Ground Coriander. We have 6 large garlic cloves, about 1/2-inch chunk of fresh ginger, lime juice, olive oil and plain whole milk yogurt. Before we get the marinade blended, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Blend the marinade ingredients to a smooth consistency. Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade in a small bowl and set it aside, we will use it to baste the chicken and veggies midway through the cooking.
Since this is a quick marinade, I just placed the chicken thighs (I have 6 smallish thighs) in a pie plate and poured the marinade over the thighs. Turn them a few times to ensure an even coating of the marinade and set the pie plate aside while we prep the cauliflower.
Veggie Prep
You can use your favorite veggies, or whatever you have in the fridge that needs using. I really love the flavor of cauliflower with Indian spices, so I went with that. The green beans are there for color, texture difference and to add a little bit of sweetness.
Get all the veggies on a sheet pan and drizzle them with olive oil. Give them a nice sprinkling of Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Now we’re ready for the chicken!
Sheet Pan Tandoori Chicken
Place the chicken thighs on top of the veggies. If any of the chicken pieces lose a bit of the marinade on the way from the pie plate to the sheet pan, spoon a little bit of the marinade from the pie plate on to the chicken to ensure an even coating of marinade.
Place the sheet pan in the oven, on the center rack and bake for 25 minutes. At the 25 minute mark, remove the pan from the oven and use a brush to baste the chicken and some of the veggies with the reserved 1/4 cup of the marinade.
Pop the sheet pan back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes or until the internal temperature of the thighs reads 165 on an instant read thermometer. Once it’s out of the oven, let the tray sit for about 5 minutes, the chicken will continue to cook, its temperature will run up to 170 degrees.
How to Serve Sheet Pan Tandoori Chicken
Use a large sturdy spatula to scoop veggies along with a chicken thigh, transfer to a plate.
I like chopped cilantro, fresh tomato slices, some mango chutney and warm naan bread to go along with my Tandoori Chicken. You can serve this with steamed Jasmine rice, if you like.
The cauliflower is perfectly tender; same with the green beans, which retained a nice bit of crunch. The chicken is tender, juicy and so well flavored. The yogurt marinade sticks to the chicken to create a wonderfully spiced coating, infusing every bite with delicious Indian flavors and spice.
I promise if you bring this Sheet Pan Tandoori Chicken to serve it right from the pan at the table with a basket of warm naan, everyone will be fighting to sop up the veggie and chicken juices straight from the pan! This dish was like the sheet pan dinner that kept on giving! So good!
Thanks everyone for joining me today for this super simple, super delicious sheet pan Sunday Supper. For another great sheet pan dinner, try Lemon Pepper Sheet Pan Chicken, or Sheet Pan Sausage and Peppers. Take care and be well, enjoy this holiday weekend, and I will see you tomorrow with a recipe just perfect for Labor Day. xo Kelly
Sheet Pan Tandoori Chicken
(15 votes, average: 3.20 out of 5)
Loading...Beautifully spiced yogurt marinade flavors this Sheet Pan Tandoori Chicken; Toss in your favorite veggies for an easy, quick Sunday Supper.
Ingredients
- Marinade
- 1/2 cup Plain Whole Milk Yogurt
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil, plus more for the veggies
- 2 tbsps. Lime Juice
- 6 Large Garlic Cloves, smashed
- 1/2-inch piece of Fresh Ginger, sliced
- 1 tbsp. Ground Coriander
- 1 tbsp. Ground Cumin
- 2 tsp. Garam Masala
- 2 tsp. Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 tsp. Turmeric Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
- 2 tsp. Kosher Salt, plus more for the veggies
- 1 tsp. Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, plus more for the veggies
- Sheet Pan Tandoori Chicken
- 1-1.5 lbs. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs (about 6 six thighs)
- Veggies of Your Choice - such as cauliflower, green beans, sliced white or yellow onion, bell peppers, squash...
- 1/4 cup Chopped Cilantro, for garnish
- Indian Chutney, optional
- Tomato slices, optional
- Naan Bread, optional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Marinade
Combine all the marinade ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade in a separate bowl for basting midway through cooking.
In a shallow dish, or pie plate place the chicken thighs and pour the marinade over the chicken, turn the chicken pieces a few times to evenly coat the thighs. Set aside.
Sheet Pan Tandoori Chicken
Prepare the layer of vegetables on a large sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the veggies with a pinch of Kosher salt and black pepper.
Transfer chicken thighs to sheet pan, directly on top of veggies. Use the marinade remaining in the shallow dish to redistribute any marinade that may have rubbed off the chicken thighs during the transfer to the sheet pan.
Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven. Use a brush to baste the reserved marinade on the chicken pieces and some of the veggies.
Bake for another 10 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into a thick part of a thigh registers 165 degrees.
Remove sheet pan from oven and let sit for 5 minutes, as the chicken rests the temperature will carry over and rise to 170 degrees.
Use a large spatula to scoop a serving of veggies and chicken, transfer to a plate and garnish with chopped cilantro.
Serve with tomato slices, naan bread and chutney.
Calling All Cooks!
I’d love to feature some of your takes on Djalali Cooks recipes, so for the month of September, if you make any Djalali Cooks recipes, take a picture and send me an email with the picture of the dish you made.
Be sure to include any comments you have about the recipe and the process and your first name. If you’d like me to mention your town, please include that information too! Send images to kelly@djalalicooks.com.
At the beginning of October, I will compile your images and feature your dish as part of a reader favorites round-up on the blog!
Mari
September 5, 2021 at 11:11 amEveryone in my family likes Indian food, so this recipe will be popular. I own almost all of Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbooks, and luckily we have always lived near Indian grocery stores. There is nothing quite like that pungent spicy aroma when you walk through the door. It’s almost like walking around in the most delicious smelling cloud. I don’t make brief visits either. I like to poke around and see what’s new, and there almost always is something new. In St Louis, I would pick up spices and the helpful staff would race over to take the packet away and give me another one that was fresher! At the time they didn’t get many westerners, so they found it fascinating that I did appreciate and cook their food. In suburban Minneapolis, the very large store was presided over by Mister Khan. The shoppers were diverse. There were Muslims, Hindus. Pakistanis, Indians, Hispanics, Africans, African Americans, and two intrepid ordinary Americans, of which one, was me. It was a lovely store, and Mister Khan presided over it with a scowl as if war was about to break out in vegetables or frozen food at any moment. He was really very sweet and helpful, but his professional persona was grim and wary. I bought my idli steamer there, but sadly it was lost in moving. I had my grocery friends and we always talked to each other there, about everything. It was like being part of a vibrant, wonderful family. They were all s helpful and kind. One of them recommended a very spicy snack mix. I bought my husband a pound of it every week. He loved it. We had an Indian restaurant two blocks from our house, which had a daily buffet for ten dollars. I always got mango lassis and whatever looked good. Sometimes they had idlis and I was happy just to dip those in chutney. Otherwise I had tandoori chicken or butter chicken. My children wouldn’t eat Indian food when they were small, but when they got older they loved it. They all buy naan weekly and gulab jamun every other week because the grands love them. I suspect the gulab jamun is more often eaten by the parents. As my youngest son is fond of saying, “Look what you started!”
Kelly Djalali
September 5, 2021 at 12:35 pmWhat a wonderful story, Mari. I do miss going out for Indian Food, I haven’t really explored Athens well enough yet to know if there is a good Indian food place here. Where did you live in St. Louis? I lived there for about 4 years, in a variety of places, but the longest was in South City. That’s so great that your grandkids are adventurous eaters! Do let me know if you make this recipe and how your family likes it! Have a beautiful long weekend! xo Kelly
Mari
September 5, 2021 at 1:13 pmWe lived in Collinsville, Illinois, which was a small suburb. We were only there a little over a year but we went into St. Louis quite frequently, twice for baseball games. We were Cubs fans and one of the games was Cardinals versus Cubs. My husband always told me not to say anything against the Cardinals, because the fans could be ornery. The kids and I liked the Cardinals as much as the Cubs and as we cheered for both teams, the Cardinal fans were very forgiving. There are tons of Indian restaurants in the Baltimore area. We are spoiled for choice. Enjoy your weekend too!
Susan
September 26, 2021 at 9:34 amHi Kelly..I really want to try this, but what veggies would work in place of the cauliflower? I know you said any, but having trouble visualizing what else would be a good replacement..thanks
Kelly Djalali
September 26, 2021 at 9:48 amHi Susan, I think carrots would be great. Also, sweet potatoes; or squash like butternut, delicata or acorn would work well too. You could try kale too. I hope that gives you some good ideas… thanks so much for stopping by today, xo Kelly