SheetPan Sweet & Spicy Chicken
This SheetPan Sweet & Spicy Chicken is amazing! A family favorite that I serve on the regular all year, but especially in the warmer months. Clean up is a breeze as it is baked on one sheetpan. Serve over my Simply Perfect Oven Rice, which you can bake at the same time you are cooking the chicken. Super easy!
The sweetness comes from a bit of pineapple, combined with a luscious sweet and spicy sauce that you add at the end of cooking. Now, I normally do not like pineapple in any savory dish AT ALL. I like it by itself or with other fruit or in a sweet dessert. But I would never eat it, say, on pizza, or with ham, etc. But it works in this recipe so well!
You probably have all the pantry ingredients on hand, including canned pineapple. I have made the dish with both fresh and canned pineapple, and I actually prefer the canned. The chicken is tender and slightly crispy since it is coated in cornstarch, seasoned with garlic salt and drizzled with olive oil before baking. You can control the spiciness by adding more or less red pepper flakes to the sauce.
SheetPan Sweet & Spicy Chicken is a delicious, colorful dish that you can easily whip up and serve to family or friends for dinner anytime. Enjoy!
SheetPan Sweet & Spicy Chicken
Ingredients
- 1-1½ pounds chicken tenders cut into bite sized pieces
- 3 red bell peppers cut into chunks
- 1/2 red onion cut into chunks
- 1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp corn starch divided
- 1 small can pineapple chunks drained; use as much of the can as you like. I use about 3/4 of the can.
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 6 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- chopped green onions and/or cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Line a large sheet pan with non stick foil or regular foil then parchment paper.
- Season chicken lightly with a bit of garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper. Place seasoned chicken in a ziploc bag with 1/3 cup or cornstarch and shake to coat all pieces well. Set aside.
- Arrange peppers and onions on sheet pan and then put chicken pieces evenly throughout the peppers and onions. Spray everything generously with olive oil spray.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until chicken is completely cooked through and veggies are tender. While they are cooking, make the sauce.
- For the sauce, in a medium saucepan combine 1 cup water with the brown sugar, red pepper flakes, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Whisk together 4 Tablespoons water with remaining 2 Tablespoons corn starch to make a slurry. Add this to the sauce and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and cover until ready to use.
- When the chicken and veggies are done, remove from oven. Add the pineapple pieces to the pan and pour the sauce over all. Toss well to coat with the sauce.
- Serve over rice and garnish with green onions and/or cilantro if desired. Enjoy!