This post may contain affiliate links. Full disclosure policy
Tender chicken thighs, oven-roasted veggies, and chickpeas in a fabulous smoky spiced tomato rub. Vegetarian and vegan option too! Either way, Mediterranean Sheet Pan dinner is a delicious, one-pan dinner solution!
Cookbook Inspiration for My Very Favorite Sheet Pan Dinner
Oh, how I love a sheet pan dinner! Why wouldn’t I?
If your life is busy – and whose isn’t – being able to make an entire meal on one sheet pan is kind of a dream come true. Every part of the meal comes out at the same time. And cooking every part of the meal on one pan makes cleanup a breeze.
I’ve made and shared a few recipes for sheet pan dinners over the years, including Sheet Pan Shrimp Street Tacos and Delicata Squash and Chicken Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner. Both are terrific, and I make them at home all the time.
However, this Mediterranean Sheet Pan Dinner is my very favorite, a meal I’ve made countless times for my family and our guests.
Though I’ve tweaked the recipe to make it a little healthier and use ingredients that are easier to find, my original inspiration came from a cookbook I absolutely love – The Mediterranean Dish by Suzy Karadsheh.
You know how you’ll spend money on a cookbook, then find you really only liked one or two of the recipes? Well, The Mediterranean Dish is the opposite of that. I have made so many of the recipes in the cookbook over the years, and loved nearly all of them.
However, as evidenced by the many stains on that particular page, the recipe for Sheet Pan Smoked Paprika Chicken with Chickpeas and Carrots is one I’ve gone back to again and again.
This Mediterranean Sheet Pan might seem a little more complicated than some of my other recipes, with a longer list of ingredients.
But trust me, it’s more than worth the effort!
A wider range of ingredients, especially a wonderful blend of spices, results in a dish that is complex, flavorful, and memorable.
And once you take a look at the process, you’ll realize that the preparation truly isn’t that complicated.
How to Make Mediterranean Sheet Pan Dinner
As I said above, don’t be intimidated by the list of ingredients. This recipe is actually really simple to make. In fact, it only takes four steps – prep, mix, rub, and bake.
Prep the Ingredients
Apart from the baking, prep is the step that will take the most time – which really won’t take more than ten to fifteen minutes.
First, you’ll rinse the chicken thighs, pat them dry with paper towels, and sprinkle with salt and pepper on all sides. Then set them aside while you prep the veggies.
Peel the carrots and cut them into pieces about two to three inches long. Then cut those pieces into sticks that are small but not too small. Halve the onion, then slice it into half-moon pieces about a quarter inch wide. Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces.
Mince the garlic, then drain and rinse the canned chickpeas.
Making the Rub
The wonderful tomato rub with smoked paprika, spices, and garlic is what makes this Mediterranean Sheet Pan dinner so special. It coats all the other ingredients with flavor and keeps the chicken tender and moist.
Making the rub is super simple.
Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, tomato paste, spices, and a whole lot of minced garlic together in a bowl. I know it seems like a lot of garlic, but trust me on this. You want all the garlic.
Then you’ll divide the rub, using part of it on the veggies and chickpeas and part on the chicken.
Baking the Sheet Pan Dinner
Next, you’ll spread out the prepared veggies and chickpeas on the sheet pan and place the chicken on top. That allows any juices from the chicken to drip onto the veggies, adding extra flavor.
Finally, you’ll bake everything in the preheated oven on the center rack, transferring the pan to the top rack for the final few minutes. Those last few minutes to broil will let it get a little charred on top, which will enhance the flavor even more.
And that’s all there is to it!
This Mediterranean Sheet Pan Dinner really is a meal in itself. So, there’s no need to make extra sides unless you want to.
However, that wonderful juicy rub is too good to waste. You might want to serve it with a slice of crusty bread to sop up any extra.
Vegetarian or Vegan Version of Mediterranean Sheet Pan Dinner
Something I quickly realized when making this dish is that I loved the chewy, creamy chickpeas just as much as the chicken.
Since I have a lot of vegetarian and vegan friends and family members, I came up with a variation for them too.
All you need to do is omit the chicken and triple the amount of chickpeas, using three cans. That makes 6 hearty and satisfying servings. If you’d like, you can add a few more veggies too, but that is optional.
With or without the meat, I hope you give this recipe a try soon. It really is our favorite sheet pan dinner. I bet it will be yours too!
Print
Mediterranean Sheet Pan Dinner
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 6 T olive oil, plus additional for
- baking sheet
- 6 T lemon juice
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 5 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1.5 tsp ground cumin
- 1.5 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 2-3 large carrots (about 12
- ounces), peeled, cut into 2-3 inch sticks (if making vegetarian/vegan version,
- consider adding a little more carrot)
- 2 cups cauliflower, cut into
- bite-sized pieces (if making vegetarian/vegan version, consider adding a little
- more cauliflower)
- 1 medium onion, peeled, halved,
- and cut into ½ inch slices
- 1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained
- (for vegetarian/vegan version, use 3 cans chickpeas and omit chicken)
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken
- thighs
- Kosher salt
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Place one rack in center of oven and another about 4-5 inches below broiler. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and lightly oil with a couple teaspoons of olive oil.
- Make the tomato rub by whisking oil, lemon juice, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes together in a medium-sized bowl.
- Place carrots, onion, cauliflower, and chickpeas on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle ½ tsp each of salt and pepper on veggies. Drizzle 3 to 4 tablespoons of the tomato rub over the veggies and stir with rubber spatula to coat veggies with tomato rub. (If making vegetarian/vegan version, you’ll use all the tomato rub. See post for notes.)
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels and lightly season with salt and pepper. Place into the bowl of remaining tomato rub and stir with spatula to coat chicken.
- Place chicken on top of the veggies. Place sheet pan on the center rack of the preheated oven and roast for 25 to 30 minutes. Move sheet pan to top rack and roast for another 3 to 5 minutes, so the chicken and veggies get a little bit of a char on top.
