This sheet pan chicken and broccoli bowls recipe is the very definition of a clean-out-your-freezer meal: This recipe cam together after a deep freezer clean-out. Can be customized to use up what you have on hand.

This recipe is barely a recipe. For me, it was more of a product of a much-needed freezer clean out that resulted in something totally nourishing and surprisingly delicious.

That’s why I love a good sheet pan meal, like these sheet pan chicken and broccoli bowls.

Simple and resourceful. You don’t have to overthink it!

The Beauty Of Sheet Pan Meals

A sheet pan meal is a type of meal preparation where all the ingredients are cooked together on a single sheet pan in the oven. It typically involves arranging a variety of proteins, vegetables, and seasonings on the sheet pan and roasting them simultaneously, allowing the flavors to meld together while simplifying the cooking process.

Sheet pan meals are known for their convenience, minimal cleanup, and the ability to easily customize the ingredients and flavors based on personal preferences.

More Examples Of Sheet Pan Meals

In this case, the sheet pan meal combined frozen broccoli + frozen chicken thighs + some simple seasonings. Here are a few other simple sheet pan meal ideas:

• Sheet pan orange chicken + veggies
• Sheet pan chicken or beef fajitas + fajita vegetables
• BBQ chicken drumsticks + corn on the cob
• Maple-glazed pork chops + Brussels sprouts
• Teriyaki beef + stir fry veggies
• Maple-roasted ring bologna + Brussels sprouts

Recipe tip: Choose vegetables and meats that are roughly the same size & density to ensure equal cooking time. 

Saving Money Through Fridge And Freezer Clean-Outs

If you’re like me, you probably have a lot of forgotten food items in your fridge, freezer, and pantry. 

In the case of this recipe, I dug deep into my freezer and found two half bags of frozen broccoli and some chopped frozen chicken thighs. I also had a half bag of brown jasmine rice in my cupboard.

Making meals using only what you have on hand is great for 2 particular reasons:

• You get to clean out your fridge, freezer and pantry
• You save money by using what you already have & avoiding a potentially costly trip to the grocery store

So let this inspire you: Get creative in the kitchen! Inventory what you have on hand and think of a dish that combines those ingredients. 

Struggling to come up with a meal idea? Use a tool like SuperCook which allows you to enter in the ingredients you have and generates recipes based on those ingredients.

Continue to Content

Sheet Pan Chicken And Broccoli Bowls

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

This recipe is made with cubed chicken - not whole thighs, legs or breasts. Therefore, the cooking time for the broccoli and the chicken are the same. If you are using whole bone-in chicken thighs, for example, you'll need to adjust the cooking time to allow more time to cook the chicken.

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 lemon, squeezed
• 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (gf)
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 12-ounce bag frozen broccoli florets, thawed
• 1 lb. boneless chicken breast or thighs, cubed
• Cooked rice, for serving
• Sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions

1. Whisk olive oil, garlic powder, brown sugar, teriyaki sauce, and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade. Allow chicken to marinate for 30 minutes or more.
2. Preheat oven to 400F. Place marinated chicken on a greased sheet pan with some of the marinade spooned over the chicken. Place broccoli on the opposite side of the pan. Pour the reserved 2 tablespoons of marinade on top of the broccoli.
3. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until chicken is baked to an internal temperature of 165 and the broccoli is roasted. Serve over rice garnished with sesame seeds.

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