Sheet Pan Peruvian Chicken and Sweet Potatoes
with cilantro sauce / cucumber spears
Smarts: The cilantro sauce works best as a topping, so drizzle it over everything right before serving. If you want a creamier sauce for dipping, try whisking in some mayonnaise, sour cream, or Greek yogurt.
Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes - 1 1/2 lbs, halved lengthwise and then sliced
- Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped
- Cumin, ground - 2 tsp
- Paprika - 2 tsp
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Oregano, dried - 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
- Oil, olive - 2 Tbsp
- Lemon juice - 1 Tbsp
- Chicken thighs, boneless and skinless - 1 1/2 lbs
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp
- Cilantro leaves - 1 cup
- Jalapenos (opt) - 1, chopped, seeds and pith removed if you'd like it to be less spicy
- Oil, olive - 3 Tbsp
- Lemon juice - 2 tsp
- Cucumbers - 12 oz, sliced into spears (preferably a seedless variety like English cucumbers)
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Sweet potatoes / Garlic - Prep as directed. Store separately. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make cilantro sauce - Combine cilantro leaves, jalapenos, olive oil (portion for sauce), and lemon juice (portion for sauce). Blend with an immersion blender. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make chicken seasoning - Combine garlic, cumin, paprika, salt, dried oregano, black pepper, olive oil (portion for chicken), and lemon juice (portion for chicken). This should form a thick paste. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Prepare chicken - (If prepping right before cooking, get oven heating while preparing chicken.) Tenderize chicken with a fork. Rub seasoning mixture on both sides of chicken thighs. Let marinate for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 day. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Cucumbers - Slice into spears.
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Make
- Heat oven to 400F / 204C.
- Toss sweet potatoes with first portion of cooking oil. Season with some salt and pepper.
- Spread sweet potatoes out on a sheet pan and roast for 15 minutes to get them started cooking.
- Next, heat a skillet with second portion of cooking oil over medium heat. Add chicken thighs and sear on both sides just until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
- Remove pan with sweet potatoes and flip them with a spatula. Add chicken thighs to sheet pan and return both to the oven.
- Continue roasting chicken and sweet potatoes together until chicken is cooked through and sweet potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes more. (Chicken is done when it reaches 165F / 74C.)
- Give cilantro sauce a stir. Season it with some salt.
- Sprinkle some salt over cucumber spears.
- Just before serving, drizzle cilantro sauce over chicken and sweet potatoes. Serve with cucumber spears for some fresh crunch. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
Most Helpful
Loved it! May use less oil in the marinade next time. Cilantro sauce was fantastic
1 Helpful77 reviews
These were very new flavours for me. Just loved every bit of it, and the cilantro sauce was a huge surprise! Yum to it all!
0 HelpfulI literally can't believe I cooked something this delicious. I was out of paprika so I used ancho chilli powder and turmeric in the place of the paprika. Amazing dish, going in my rotation.
0 HelpfulReally like the spice mix. Yummy! Used chicken drumsticks because that was what was in the freezer. Would use them again. Not convinced that the drizzle is necessary on the chicken as I really liked the flavor of the non-drizzle spots. Will try left-overs sans drizzle. A keeper!
0 HelpfulI didn't use any peppers in the Cilantro sauce since I hate overly spicy food. I put a small about of red pepper flakes and some sour cream in. I marinated the chicken for about an hour. It was delicious. The sweet potatoes browned up nicely in the oven and everything was ready at the same time.
0 HelpfulVery tasty - the whole family loved it. I used pickled mild jalapeños from a jar which kept the dish from being too spicy for the kids. It still had a bit of a kick and lots of great flavor. We have some in our family who do not care for sweet potatoes so I did some regular potatoes as well. Both were delicious, but the sweet potatoes were the best in my opinion! This will be a regular dish for us.
0 Helpful