Sheet pan dinners have a reputation for being boring (at least in my bubble). They work but are not the highlight. Not anymore!
These sweet potatoes turn smokey and carmelized when roasted with chipotle powder. Toss a couple of chicken breasts in to roast, then shred them. Toss them with sticky BBQ sauce until everything is coated in flavor. The broccoli also gets those delicious crispy edges (which you will inevitably sneak from someone else at the table). A fresh lime squeeze at the end ties everything together and cuts through the sugar.
Boom! That is it. Your dinner is ready.
Why We Roast in Stages
The reason for this is that sweet potatoes require more time. They require at least a 20-30 minute headstart. Had everything tossed in there at the same time, the potatoes would still be firm (hard), as the rest of the food would be thoroughly roasted.
Broccoli needs to roast only 15-20 minutes; same length as chicken.
Tips for Easy-Shred Chicken
- Shred the chicken while it is still hot, no more than 5 minutes after you take it from the oven. If it cools too much, the fibers will contract, making shredding difficult.
- Shred against the grain of the meat. Run your forks perpendicular to the visible muscle fibers. If you shred along the grain, your chicken will have a stringy texture that will become rubbery.
- Stand mixer is the alternative. Take your hot chunks of chicken, drop them in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a paddle attachment and process for 10-15 seconds on low speed. You will get pulled chicken almost instantly.
If you can follow these directions carefully, your shredded chicken is juicy enough that it will soak up most of the BBQ sauce without becoming dry.
Choosing the Best BBQ Sauce
Use a thick BBQ sauce; the thin stuff drips off the chicken, leaves it uncoated when shredded and is therefore USELESS!
Chipotle powder adds the smokiness, so a good smoke-flavor BBQ sauce such as KC style sauce works here.
KC style BBQ is sticky and smoky and sweet. Carolina vinegar BBQ runs way too thin and tangy.
Meal Prep & Storage Tips
- Store components separately. Toss everything together then refrigerate? No. NO. That makes soggy food.
- Refrigerate the food in airtight containers for up to four days.
- Reheating sweet potato in the oven or air fryer for about 5-7 minutes is far superior and it does not make them soggy mush like the microwave does.
- To reheat chicken, cover it up with a little splash of water. This keeps the chicken from drying out.
- Eat broccoli within 2 days maximum; after two days it goes sad and limp.
- When serving, add fresh lime juice to the food; never before storing.
Swaps for Your Bowl
- Add in a butternut or baby potatoes instead (either cut into same size 1-inch cubes); bake 5 minutes less for baby potato or bake 5 minutes more if using sweet potato.
- Use cauliflower florets instead of broccoli.
- Chipotle powder: add a tiny pinch of cayenne or replace with regular chili powder or use smoked paprika.
- Substitute boneless, skinless chicken thighs (this would just mean 5 more minutes than prescribed for chicken breasts).
- Replace BBQ sauce with a few shots of apple cider vinegar or hot sauce with a little bit of honey mixed with it.
- Substitute lime with lemon juice.
Other Recipes You’ll Love
- Sweet Potato Ground Beef Cottage Cheese Bowls
- Spicy Korean Chicken Bowls
- Best BBQ Chicken and Potatoes
- Hearty Chicken Taco Rice Bowls
- Best Protein Firecracker Ground Chicken Bowls
- Garlic Mediterranean Chicken Bowl
Roasted BBQ Chicken and Sweet Potato Bowls
Ingredients
For the sweet potato base
- 2 large sweet potatoes (diced into 1/2-inch cubes)
- 1 large onion (sliced into 1/2-inch thick wedges)
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp chipotle powder
For the broccoli
- 1 head of broccoli (cut into small 1-inch florets)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp lime juice (for finishing)
For the chicken
- 1 lb chicken breasts (left whole for shredding as per steps)
- 2/3 cup BBQ sauce
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F, dice sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes, slice onion into 1/2-inch thick wedges, chop broccoli into 1-inch florets and leave the chicken breasts whole.
- On a baking sheet tossed with 1.5 T olive oil, 1/2 t salt, 3/4 t garlic powder and 3/4 t chipotle powder, roast sweet potatoes and onion at 400°F for 20 minutes.
- Remove sheet pan from oven, give sweet potatoes a quick toss, push them to the side of the sheet pan, toss broccoli florets with 1 T olive oil and 1/2 t salt on the cleared side and set whole chicken breasts on top. Spoon 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce on the chicken breasts.
- Roast chicken and broccoli at 400°F for 15-20 more minutes, until chicken reaches 165°F internal temperature (at the thickest part when measured by a meat thermometer).
- Remove chicken from the sheet pan, transfer to a cutting board, shred using two forks and place into a bowl with the remaining 1/3 cup BBQ sauce and black pepper, mixing it all together.
- Serve by portioning sweet potatoes, onions and broccoli in each bowl, topped with shredded chicken mixed with BBQ sauce in Step 5, then finished off with fresh lime juice before eating everything while warm.
