Description
This delicious sheet pan recipe features juicy chicken thighs paired with crisp asparagus, infused with vibrant lemon and savory spices.
Ingredients
Scale
- 8 large bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Spike Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 pound asparagus spears
- 1 lemon, for zesting
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Trim the chicken thighs well, removing excess skin and the pockets of fat on the back side; optional to make small slits in the skin of the chicken.
- Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, Spike, Italian Herb Seasoning, Onion Powder, and Garlic Powder to make the marinade.
- Put trimmed chicken into a Ziploc bag and pour in about 2/3 of the marinade.
- Seal bag and let chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours (or longer).
- Preheat oven to 350F/176C (with the sheet pan placed inside) while you drain chicken in a colander until it’s well drained and comes to room temperature.
- Arrange chicken on hot sheet pan and bake for 25 minutes.
- While chicken cooks, break one piece of asparagus to see where the woody part starts and trim all asparagus to that size, then cut each piece of asparagus in half on the diagonal.
- Zest a lemon and then whisk one tablespoon of the zest into the reserved marinade.
- Remove the sheet pan from the oven and increase temperature to 450F/232C.
- Check to see if liquid has been released from the chicken and blot away excess liquid.
- Tuck asparagus pieces around the chicken in a single layer as much as possible and brush reserved marinade on the chicken and asparagus.
- Put the sheet pan back in the oven and bake for 4-6 minutes or slightly longer, depending on the thickness of the asparagus.
- Turn oven to broil and broil the chicken and asparagus for about 3 minutes, or until the top of the chicken is browned and asparagus is slightly charred.
- Season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper as desired and serve hot.
Notes
- We used extra-large chicken thighs. If you only find small thighs, the baking time will be a bit shorter.
- You can squeeze the lemon after zesting and freeze the juice, as well as freeze any extra lemon zest.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 thigh and 1/4 pound asparagus
- Calories: 450
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 700mg
- Fat: 30g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 20g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 7g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 35g
- Cholesterol: 120mg