This sheet pan sweet and spicy chicken recipe is another quick dinner option cooking in under 30 minutes. It has a hint of sweet with a big kick of heat! The chicken and veggies soak up the sauce, making it a deliciously flavorful dinner.
Sheet Pan Sweet & Spicy Chicken Recipe
Another quick and easy dinner coming at you today with this sheet pan sweet and spicy chicken. Now, before we go any further, I want to emphasize SPICY because this recipe does pack some serious heat. I’ll include a few recommendations for lessening the heat, but if spicy is your thing then you will LOVE this recipe.
The best part of this recipe is it requires one pan, that’s it, a trusty sheet pan! You’ll cut up the chicken and vegetables, toss them with a few spices and the sweet and spicy sauce and it’s ready for the oven. You can have this dinner in the oven and onto your plate in less than 30 minutes flat. To speed this recipe up even further, you could cut up the chicken and vegetables the night before so that they’re ready to go straight into the pan and into the oven!
Ingredients needed:
Chicken and vegetables
- 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts ((or 6-7 chicken thighs))
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 2 red peppers
- 2 yellow peppers
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Sweet and spicy sauce
- 1/2 cup Frank’s hot sauce ((use sweet chili sauce for less heat))
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional – leave off for less heat)
How to make sheet pan sweet & spicy chicken
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small saucepan, combine the sweet and spicy sauce ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to thicken.
- Spray your sheet pan with coconut oil. Cut up chicken into small cubes and arrange on sheet pan. Cut any stalks off of the broccoli florets and add to the pan. Chop the red and yellow peppers, add to the sheet pan. Sprinkle with ginger, salt, and pepper. Using your hands, toss the chicken and vegetables to coat with the spices, then spread out evenly across the sheet pan.
- Pour one-half of the sweet and spicy sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Place sheet pan into the oven and cook for 20 minutes, tossing half-way through.
- While the chicken and vegetables are cooking, cook your rice according to package directions.
- When the chicken has finished cooking, remove the sheet pan from the oven. There may be a lot of extra juices on the sheet pan from the chicken and vegetables. You can drain some of this carefully off of the pan. After draining the excess juices, add the remaining sauce to the chicken and gently toss to coat. Serve with rice.
Recipe Tips and FAQs
How can I reduce the amount of heat?
There are a couple of options for reducing the heat. Instead of Frank’s hot sauce, you could use sweet chili sauce. I find that it has less heat than Frank’s. Another option is to leave out the red pepper flakes. They seemed to take the heat up a notch (or two!) I do have a sweet orange sauce recipe that you could try as an alternative as well.
Can I fix this ahead of time?
Yes, you could bake ahead of time and then reheat in the oven. If you do this, I would reserve some of the sauce to add to the dish after reheating.
Can I use frozen chicken?
I would suggest thawing the chicken prior or else you’ll have too much moisture in the pan.
What should I serve with sheet pan sweet & spicy chicken?
Serve over white rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, quinoa, or whatever you prefer.
Should I use chicken breasts or chicken thighs?
You can either use boneless skinless chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs. I recommend thighs because they have more fat to them and don’t dry out as easy as chicken breasts. One of my biggest complaints about sheet pan chicken dinners is the fact that the chicken gets too dried out. If you go with chicken breasts you might consider covering the sheet pan with a sheet of parchment paper to keep some of that juice inside the chicken.
Recommended Kitchen Tools for this Recipe
Wanderlust and Wellness
Enjoy these other 30-minute dinners!
- Air Fryer Gluten-Free Chicken Parmesan – an easy air fryer dinner with an oven-baked option included.
- Easy Zucchini Enchilada Skillet – one pot, under 30 minutes
- Tomato Basil Mozzarella Flatbread Pizza – pizza night at home in just a few minutes
Sheet Pan Sweet & Sour Chicken
Sheet Pan Sweet and Spicy Chicken
Another easy dinner in under 30 minutes with this sheet pan sweet & spicy chicken recipe.
Ingredients
- 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or 6-7 chicken thighs)
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 2 red peppers
- 2 yellow peppers
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt - divided
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup Frank's hot sauce (use sweet chili sauce for less heat)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional - leave off for less heat)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small saucepan, combine the sweet and spicy sauce ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to thicken.
- Spray your sheet pan with coconut oil. Cut up chicken into small cubes and arrange on the sheet pan. Cut any stalks off of the broccoli florets and add to the pan. Chop the red and yellow peppers, add to the sheet pan. Sprinkle with ginger, salt, and pepper. Using your hands, toss the chicken and vegetables to coat with the spices, then spread out evenly across the sheet pan.
- Pour one-half of the sweet and spicy sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Place sheet pan into the oven and cook for 20 minutes, tossing half-way through.
- While the chicken and vegetables are cooking, cook your rice according to package directions.
- When the chicken has finished cooking, remove the sheet pan from the oven. There may be a lot of extra juices on the sheet pan from the chicken and vegetables. You can drain some of this carefully off of the pan. After draining the excess juices, add the remaining sauce to the chicken and gently toss to coat. Serve with over rice or quinoa.
Notes
- Use chicken thighs for a more moist result.
- For less heat, use sweet chili sauce or my sweet orange sauce
- Cut the chicken and vegetables up the night before to cut down on prep time.
- If the sauce doesn't thicken, add 1 Tbsp. corn or arrowroot starch to help thicken
- Nutritional Disclaimer
Jennifer is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Wanderlust and Wellness since 2016. She creates easy, approachable gluten-free recipes for the everyday home cook; because cooking gluten-free doesn’t mean food has to be complicated or tasteless.
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