Sheet Pan Chicken Breasts and Brussels Sprouts is gluten free low carb chicken recipe perfect for the Fall. Chicken breasts are marinated in the most delicious balsamic sauce that is infused with flavors from thyme, lemon, garlic and paprika!
Sheet Pan Chicken Breasts with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon are cooked for 30 minutes in the oven with all the ingredients being tossed onto one baking sheet. Once this amazing dish goes into the oven – it fills your kitchen with the most incredible Fall aromas!
Perfect sheet pan chicken dinner for busy weeknights and busy weekends too. This fall recipe is gluten free and low carb.
Chicken Brussels Sprouts Ingredients
- You will need 1.5 pound of chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs.
- 1 pound of Brussels sprouts, halved.
- 1 apple. I used Granny Smith apples and sliced them very THICK.
- 5 Bacon strips, sliced into smaller pieces.
Equipment
You will need a relatively large baking sheet, such as this one with rolled edges and stainless steel oven safe cooling rack. Although it’s large, but at the same time it’s not too heavy. The rack that it comes with is really useful – you can use it to roast a whole chicken or duck too!
What kind of chicken works best
Thick chicken breasts. Make sure you get thick chicken breasts. This is VERY IMPORTANT. If you use thin chicken breasts, it WILL turn out too dry – in that case reduce cooking time.
If your chicken breasts are thin, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND to not cut it in quarters it at all – cook thin chicken breasts whole to avoid over-drying.
Use chicken with no added liquids. Nowadays we have so much choice in everything and chicken is no exception. Chicken with no added liquids work best – some chickens out there are sold infused with the chicken broth – all that liquid will get released onto the pan when cooking and we don’t want that to happen.
Use chicken with no injected liquids
Air chilled chicken is the best choice here. That’s the kind I used in this recipe. The reason for using air-chilled chicken breasts is to avoid liquids that come with conventional chicken breasts that are always water chilled.
Air chilled chickens are not processed through water chilling and will have no added liquids. I switched to air chilled chickens a couple of years ago and notice their availability more and more in the supermarkets.
Until the switch, I didn’t realize that here in America, U.S. poultry industry uses antimicrobial baths that can include chlorine to keep salmonella and other bacteria in check. In Europe, chlorine treatment was banned in the 1990s out of fear that it could cause cancer. Air-chilling chickens has been in use in Europe for decades and we are seeing this trend emerging here too.
How to prepare chicken breasts
Quarter your THICK chicken breasts by cutting each breast into 4 pieces and place the pieces them into a bowl or container with marinade. Marinate for 10-15 minutes while cutting up the veggies.
How to make balsamic marinade
You will need a medium bowl or container to prepare the balsamic sauce. Blend ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon of sea salt, 1 teaspoon paprika, 2 large cloves of garlic, crushed, 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, stripped from the stem and juice of ½ fresh lemon.
Blend with a whisk until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
How long to marinate balsamic chicken
I marinated the chicken breasts only for 5-10 minutes while cutting up Brussels sprouts and apples. You can marinate longer and even prepare them ahead of time by marinating the chicken breasts overnight.
What herbs to use
I used fresh thyme here, which needs to be stripped from the stem before mixing it with chicken or veggies. You can also place whole thyme sprigs on sheet pan chicken breasts to give it a bit of thyme flavor.
What kind of apples work best
- Make sure to use the right kind of apples here – those that hold their shape very well when cooking. Look through the comments and you will see that some readers had disappointing results when using wrong kinds of apples.
- I recommend the following apple choices: Gala, Granny Smith, Michigan Russet, Golden Delicious, Baldwin, Cortland, and Idareds.
- Do not use Red Delicious or Fuji – baking these will result into a mushy, overly-sweet mess.
- Another important thing to remember is that apple needs to be cut up in thick slices. Apple slices will cook much faster than other elements of sheet pan chicken breasts and you want them to be sizable to get a good texture and not fall apart in the oven.
How to prepare veggies
It’s time to preheat oven at 375 F and start veggie prep.
Cut up 1 pound of Brussels sprouts (I quartered bigger ones and halved smaller ones). Peel and core an apple and cut it up in thick slices.
Place Brussels Sprouts and apple slices in a large bowl, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, stripped from the stem and mix everything well – you want the veggies to be covered in olive oil.
Place “olive oily” Brussels sprouts and apples on the baking sheet. Add marinated chicken and chopped bacon in between the veggies.
Brush any remaining marinade over sheet pan chicken breasts, sprouts, apples and bacon. It will look like A LOT of stuff on the sheet pan, but I promise it will all shrink (especially the apples), while baking.
Bake Sheet Pan Chicken Breasts with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon for 25-30 minutes at 375 F (depending on thickness of chicken), or until chicken is cooked through.
Wait, one more thing. Broil the sheet pan chicken breasts at the end of baking time to get a few caramelized edges and brown up the exterior of the chicken. This can add flavor, but is not necessary!
More delicious chicken breast recipes:
- Low Sodium Asian Style Lettuce Chicken Wraps
- Easy Chicken Stir Fry
- Chicken and Quinoa Skillet with Garlic and Mushrooms
More delicious Brussels sprouts recipes:
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Butternut Squash
Warm Quinoa and Brussels sprouts Salad in Honey Mustard
Zesty Brussels sprout Coleslaw with Horseradish
Brussels sprouts and Bacon Gratin
Sheet Pan Chicken with Brussels Sprouts, Apples and Bacon
Ingredients
Balsamic Marinade:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 large cloves garlic, (crushed)
- ½ lemon, (squeezed)
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, (stripped from the stem)
For the pan:
- 1.5 lb thick chicken breasts, (boneless and skinless)
- 1 lb brussels sprouts, (halved and quartered)
- 1 Granny Smith apple, (peeled, cored and THICKLY sliced)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil for the veggies
- two sprigs of fresh thyme, (stripped from the stem)
- 5 bacon strips, (cooked and chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375 F.
- BALSAMIC MARINADE: You will need a medium bowl or container to prepare the balsamic sauce. Blend balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sea salt, paprika, garlic, crushed, 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, stripped from the stem and juice of ½ fresh lemon. Blend with a whisk until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Place into a bowl or container.
- CHICKEN: Quarter your THICK chicken breasts by cutting each breast into 4 pieces and place them into a bowl or container with marinade. Set aside and marinade for at least 5 minutes.
- Halve or quarter Brussels sprouts (I quartered bigger ones and halved smaller ones). Peel and core an apple and cut it up THICKLY. Apple slices will cook much faster than other elements of this dish and you want them to be sizable to get a good texture.
- Add Brussels Sprouts and apples to the 11×17 baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with thyme.
- Add chicken in between the veggies. Brush any remaining marinade over sprouts and apples.
- Add chopped bacon to the baking sheet.
- Bake everything for 25-40 minutes (depending on thickness of chicken), or until chicken is cooked through. Start checking at 25 minutes please.
- Optional: Broil on high for 2 to 5 extra minutes to get everything extra crispy.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Notes
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Tori says
So good! My chicken did have water in it so I just drained the pan part of the way through cooking and it turned out great! I also just put the uncooked bacon on top of everything and it was perfect. We do perfer bacon to be a bit chewy at our house though. Thanks for this recipe! I will definitely make it again
Olya at Whatsinthepan says
I’m so glad it turned out well for you! Thank you for letting me know.
Hugh says
I made this today and added about two tablespoons of honey to the mixture whilst it was cooking as the marinade seemed a little acidic. I did not have any red pepper flakes so chopped up a red pepper and added it to the mix. Served it with mashed potato, next time I may serve it with rice. Many thanks.
Olya at Whatsinthepan says
Adding honey is a great suggestion! Thank you!
Citytaste says
It looks great 🙂
Jackie says
Hi Olya
I guess the chicken marinate longer than 15 minutes, because of the lemon juice in the marinade.
Olya at Whatsinthepan says
And you can refrigerate them too marinating ahead of time. I marinated it while preparing all the other ingredients.
Kathy says
I love Brussels sprouts and apples, so I must try this. It looks and sounds wonderful But, I’m wondering how to tell if the chicken has water in it? I’ve never noticed that on the packaging. What should I look for?
Olya at Whatsinthepan says
Most mass chicken producers use the water-chilling method for cooling chickens which will introduce not only water into the chicken (which is something to be aware of while cooking), but also chlorine and antibacterial agents (that’s what they use in the water to chill the chicken). I always use chicken that is air chilled – air chilling eliminates the need for water, chlorine and other questionable substances. The brand they sell where I live is Bell & Evans. I only switched to it about two years ago and the difference in cooking and taste is significant.
Julianna says
My husband loved it! Making again tomorrow with some extra chicken thighs we’re having tonight. Thank you for sharing your recipe! Blessings!
i_heart_cake says
This recipe turned out disgusting. The apples were mushy and I may as well have boiled the sprouts, as much liquid as was in the pan. Everything was mushy, and the flavors of Granny Smith apples and Brussels sprouts did not go well together. Def will not make again. Yuck.
Olya at Whatsinthepan says
Oh my goodness, that does sound terrible! Maybe the chicken was injected with liquid and that’s what made it so watery? I always use chicken with no liquid in it because if it does have liquid – it always messes up with my cooking. I’m truly sorry it didn’t turn out well.
Vicky says
Tried this tonight. It was so good I just had to share with my friends and family. I already want more. Thank you for sharing with us?
Olya says
Very happy to hear this Vicky and thanks for sharing with family and friends!
AnnMarie says
I have tons of chicken recipes but one more certainly can’t hurt, lol. And, i’m always looking for a way to make sprouts more palatable 🙂
Olya says
Can’t go wrong with lots of chicken recipes!
Paula says
I tried this recipe last night & it was very good- the apples sweetness played off the Brussels sprouts bitterness very nicely. It smelled wonderful cooking, too!
Olya says
So glad you liked it Paula! I enjoyed the apples in it as well.