Basic Formula for a Sheet Pan Dinner

What’s a sheet pan meal? It’s a “one pot meal” style dinner baked on a cookie sheet pan!

In 7 simple steps you’ll have a delicious, easy to modify, easy to clean up meal. Tip: line your sheet pan with parchment paper to make clean up even easier!

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Step 2: Pick a protein!

This will dictate how long your meal will be in the oven, but remember that if you have other items that need 30 minutes and you only need to cook your protein for 15 minutes, you can just add it toward the end of the cook time!

Here are some basic cook times for various proteins, but always check the meats with a thermometer to make sure everything is fully cooked before you dig in.

• Chicken thighs/wings (45 minutes)

• Chicken strips/tenders (20 minutes)

• Frozen meatballs (30 minutes)

• Shrimp/Tilapia/Salmon (15 minutes)

• Chicken/turkey sausage (30 minutes)

• Pork chops/tenderloin (30 minutes—depending on the chop thickness)

• Kielbasa/polish sausage/bratwurst/chorizo (20 minutes)

• Bacon (20 minutes)

• Tofu (30 minutes)

Step 3: Pick one to two vegetables!

The basic rule of thumb is most veggies need a minimum of 30 minutes bake time at 400 degrees, but there are some* like kale and zucchini that will only need 10-15 mins.

Here’s a list of some classics:

• Garlic

• sweet peppers

• Onions

• Fennel

• Broccoli/Cauliflower

• Asparagus

• Bok choy

• Carrots

• Brussels sprouts

• Kale*

• Mushrooms

• Zucchini/Summer Squash*

• Winter squash (butternut, acorn, delicata, etc)

• Snow peas