Our kitchen here is Portugal is tiny. There is one under-counter cabinet that we use for dish storage and three drawers that we use for utensils and some food storage. There is approximately 10 square feet of counter space to do prep work and dish washing. We have pulled a desk out of one bedroom to serve as a pantry.
Our tiny refrigerator holds our day to day fresh foods and the freezer has enough room for three ice cube trays. (If ice cube trays are new to you look it up in the dictionary – haha, never mind.)
There are worn out pans, one mixing bowl and two casserole dishes. The small appliances consist of a toaster, microwave, a coffee pod thing a stick blender and the obligatory European tea kettle. We have purchased a mortar and pestle, which I use instead of a food processor, two non-stick sauté pans, and a set of measuring cups. The cups were surprisingly hard to find here.
I tell you all of this not to complain, but because I’ve had to adapt my cooking style to my new situation. I have discovered and fallen in love with what is called a “Sheet Pan” dinner. We eat them several times a week because you just need a sheet pan and an oven. We have both!
I went from this in Indiana… 
…to this in Porto.
As part of our digital subscription to the New York Times, we have access to the Cooking section, which is full of interesting recipes. As of this week there are over over 640 different recipes that load if you search for “Sheet-Pan”! That’s enough to last us for almost two years. So far, I have saved and made ten of them.
Today I am going to share with you three recipes that can be thrown together and put in the oven in less than 30 minutes. All of them can be riffed on and all of them are delicious. And clean-up is a breeze.
Rules for Sheet Pan cooking.
There are no rules.
You can add and subtract ingredients to include what you like and omit what you don’t.
Adjust time and temperature in the oven as necessary.
Some of the instructions say that ingredients can be mixed directly on the sheet pan. I find mixing ingredients in a bowl and then putting it on the sheet pan is easier, but that’s just me.
Use a sheet of parchment paper on the pan if you want quick and easy cleanup, but be careful if you’re broiling. The paper will catch on fire. That’s probably more excitement than you want at dinner time!
My Three Favorite Sheet Pan Dinner Recipes
Sheet Pan Chicken With Zucchini and Basil
Source: Melissa Clark in New York Times Cooking
Servings: 4
Time: 40 minutes
Melissa’s comments
In this simple weeknight recipe, chicken thighs and drumsticks are seasoned with garlic, herbs and red-pepper flakes, and roasted alongside tender chunks of zucchini that caramelize in the oven’s heat. Torn basil leaves and a squeeze of lemon give the dish sharp and tangy notes just before serving, while the optional coriander seeds tossed into the pan lend depth.
This recipe comfortably serves two to three, but if you’re feeding more people, feel free to double the ingredients. Divide the ingredients between two sheet-pans, and bear in mind that you might need to add a few minutes to the cooking time. Add some crusty bread or rice to soak up the savory juices, and you’ve got a summery meal that’s fresh, full of flavor and an absolute snap to make.
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ¼ pounds zucchini, sliced into 1-inch chunks (about 5 cups)
- 2 fat garlic cloves, finely grated, passed through a press or minced
- 2 teaspoons dried mint or oregano
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, cracked with a mortar and pestle or the flat side of a chef’s knife (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- Lemon wedges, for serving
- ½ cup torn fresh basil leaves, for serving
Directions
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels, and season all over with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Place zucchini on a rimmed sheet pan, and season with a little more salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, combine garlic, mint or oregano, coriander (if using) and red-pepper flakes. Whisk in oil. Add chicken to the pan with the zucchini pieces and pour garlic mixture over all, tossing until well coated. Spread chicken and zucchini in a single layer, and roast until chicken is cooked through and zucchini is browned and caramelized, 30 to 40 minutes. You don’t need to turn anything.
Once the pan is out of the oven, squeeze a lemon wedge over everything. Garnish with basil and serve with more lemon wedges and red-pepper flakes on the side.
Mary’s Notes
I have added sliced potatoes or carrots to this dish. I have also substituted salmon fillets for the chicken, adding them to the pan when 11 minutes are left on the timer.
Sheet Pan Baked Feta With Broccolini, Tomatoes and Lemon
Source: Yasmin Fahr in New York Times Cooking
Servings: 4
Time: 25 minutes
Yasmin’s Comments
When baked, feta gains an almost creamy texture, similar to goat cheese but with feta’s characteristic tang. In this easy vegetarian sheet-pan dinner, broccolini (or broccoli), grape tomatoes and lemon slices roast alongside the feta until the broccolini crisp, the tomatoes burst and the lemon rinds soften. (Remember, broccolini has a tender, delicious stalk so only the bottom 1/2-inch needs to be trimmed.) Serve this dish over a pile of orzo for a complete meal. If you like, cut the broccolini, feta and lemon into bite-size pieces and toss with the orzo.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch broccolini, ends trimmed, thick stalks split lengthwise, or broccoli, stalks trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved (about 2 cups)
- 1 small red onion, peeled, quartered and cut into 2-inch wedges
- 1 lemon, 1/2 cut into thin rounds and the remaining 1/2 left intact, for serving
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 (6- to 8-ounce) blocks feta, cut into 1-inch slices
- Cooked orzo or farro, for serving
- ½ cup fresh basil or cilantro leaves and fine stems, roughly chopped (optional)
Directions
Heat the oven to 400 degrees with a rack set in the lower third. On a sheet pan, combine the broccolini, tomatoes, onion and lemon slices with the olive oil and toss. Add cumin and red-pepper flakes, season with salt and pepper, and toss again until evenly coated. Nestle the feta slices into the vegetables. (It’s OK if they break apart a little.)
Roast 15 to 20 minutes, stirring halfway through but leaving the feta in place, until the broccolini is charred at the tips, the stems are easily pierced with a fork and the tomato skins start to blister and break down.
Serve over orzo or farro. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with the remaining lemon half for squeezing. Top with fresh herbs, if using.
Crispy Sheet Pan Noodles With Glazed Tofu
Servings: 4
Time: 35 minutes
Source: Hetty McKinnon in New York Times Cooking
Hetty’s Comments
Contrasting textures are a signature characteristic of Cantonese chow mein, in which crispy fried strands tangle with tender noodles. Here, that is achieved with the help of a sheet pan and an intensely hot oven. To ensure optimal crunch, start with the pan on the bottom rack to crisp the underside of the noodles, then move it up to the highest to encourage crackly noodles on top, too. Instant ramen noodles are the perfect choice for this recipe because they crisp up flawlessly; just soak them in boiling hot water to loosen them up before sliding them into the oven. The hoisin-marinated tofu is subtly sweet and carries a lot of the flavor in this noodle dish. Quick cooking baby bok choy adds freshness, but you could also use leftover vegetables or seasonal produce.
Ingredients
For the Noodles:
- 3 blocks instant ramen noodles (about 9 ounces), flavor packets discarded
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon neutral oil, such as grapeseed or vegetable
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- Kosher salt
- 1 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu, patted dry and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
- 3 baby bok choy, trimmed and sliced vertically into 4 pieces
- Handful of cilantro leaves
For the Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons hoisin
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Directions
Heat the oven to 450 degrees and place one rack on the top and one on the bottom. Fill a kettle or medium pot with water (about 8 cups) and bring to a boil. Place the noodles in a heat-proof bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain. Set aside the bowl to use with the bok choy.
Make the marinade: In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the hoisin sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, garlic and sesame seeds.
Place the noodles on a sheet pan. Add the sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of neutral oil, soy sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. Toss to combine, then spread the noodles out evenly.
Dip each tofu slice into the marinade, coating both sides, then add them to the sheet pan, pushing the noodles aside so that the tofu touches the pan and doesn’t just sit on top of the noodles. Place on the bottom rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reserve excess marinade.
Place the baby bok choy into the reserved bowl, then add the remaining 1 tablespoon of neutral oil and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, and toss to coat.
Remove the sheet pan from the oven (the noodles should be crisp on the bottom and around the edges) and add the bok choy to the pan. Return the sheet pan to the top rack of the oven and bake for 4 to 7 minutes until the greens are vibrant with crispy edges, and the top of the noodles are crispy. Drizzle with the remaining marinade, top with cilantro leaves and serve.
Mary’s Notes
This is my favorite of all the sheet pan recipes.
I doubled the marinade ingredients. We like more sauce.
Wrapping Up
I hope you’ll try one or more of these recipes and will let me know what you think. How did you modify it? Leave a comment below or send one in via the Contact Form.
The next tiny kitchen challenge I’m going to solve is how to cook Thanksgiving dinner on a single sheet pan! Stay tuned.
Enjoy your dinner / Aproveite seu jantar
Mary
The Cook
So I made the tofu/Raman sheet pan. I made a couple of changes: the Mallowman isn’t crazy about bokchoy so I used baby spinach instead. I also added some lime juice to the marinade to brighten up the left over marinade I sprinkled on the spinach. Finally, I cut the oil in half which made the Raman stick a bit but not too bad. I loved it! And when the Mallowman saw the sheet pan, he busted out laughing and fixed him a chicken salad samich instead. The miracle is 33 years of marriage??❤️
Hahaha Rosa. He didn’t even give it a bite? I guess after 33 years you will just have to de3al with him! From the notes on the NYT’s site a lot of people substituted spinach for Bok Choy. The addition of lime juice is a great idea. Mary
These recipes look and sound absolutely delicious. What blows me away are camparison photos between your current kitchen and the one you had in The States. I am a minimalist but since the pandemic, I have been doing all my grocery shopping at once to last for an entire month…guess it will be time to start thinking day to day so I can actually store things once I get to Portugal.
Hey Michele,
Keep in mind that the kitchen we are currently in is a short-term Airbnb that we rented as a long-term. It just isn’t setup for long-term use. We are moving to Lisbon in January and from the looks of things we will have a much nicer kitchen. Once you get here you will start shopping like a European. There are grocery stores everywhere as well as tons of fruit and vegetable Mercados. It is fun and easy to shop everyday – how elese will you get fresh bread? Send us a note when you arrive. Mary-The Cook
Mary, I’ve made every recipe that you’ve sent and I can’t wait to try these! Thank you for sharing — all the way from Portugal!
On a different note, we’re in Naples right now and I’m remembering you and the girls here with me…a great memory for me. Miss you and Mike. ❤️
Oh Karen, I miss you and my other girl friends so much. This has been harder than I thought it would be. I remember our time in Naples. I want to thank you again for such a wonderful vacation. I really hope that you an Jeff will be able to visit us in Portugal. We will be moving to Lisbon in January 2022. We are also planning at least one trip back to the US next year.
Mary, the chicken recipe looks amazing and the feta one interesting too. We’re not tofu fans, but maybe could substitute. Thanks for the new recipes. Keep enjoying.
Hey Alice – Maybe you could substitute chicken thighs for the tofu. I would try cooking it at 425° so that the chicken doesn’t get over cooked. The thing that I really loved about this recipe was how the ramen noodles got crispy around the edges of the pan. You might have to remove the thighs before moving the pan to the top shelf to crisp the noodles. Let me know how it turns out. Mary
So Mary, did I miss what your workaround is right now for red pepper flakes? Are you substituting something else or going without?
A friend told me that they were hard to come by, so I brought a large container of them when I came from the US. Our friends Nancy and Denise purchased Peri Peri plants, at their local Mercado and planted them on their porch. They then dried the pods low and slow and crushed them – Red Pepper Flakes!
Mary –
I should clarify – it’s the NYT’s Cooking app that was $20 for one year. The NYT’s app is substantially more expensive.
Take good care. Cannot wait to try out your recipes!!
Hugs,
Nan
I will definitely be trying these…and substituting salmon for chicken as a “pescatarian”. Can’t wait. Anticipating possibly run away for/from thanksgiving this year; but will be looking forward to your thanksgiving adventure as well. Loving sharing you living the good life.
I hope you will like it. Zucchini has almost no flavor to me, but browning it makes it taste so much better. Thanksgiving may be lasagna. They have turkey here, but not the whole bird.
Love your Sheet Pan post and the recipes! I make sheet pan dinners a lot in the winter. Enjoy exploring new recipes! Love, Sue and Eddie
I would pay to see Eddie eat zucchini and bok choy. Hahaha Love to you both. Mary
Yes! Sheet pan cooking is the *best*! A couple of years ago, a friend offered us two and Sherod started to turn him down. You better believe I snatched them up and of course, now the Mallowman loves them too! I’m going to try the tofu one on Monday. Love you bunches and love your blogs…
The tofu one is my favorite. I just love how some of the noodles get really crunchy and some stay soft. I double the marinade and would triple it if it didn’t have so many calories :-).
oooh those look so good! We have been roasting vegetables on a pan for years and years but have not added in a protein onto the same sheet. Will definitely try these and we’ll probably do the salmon instead of chicken as well!
We also love roasted vegetables. The flavor is so much better than boiling or steaming. We love to rotate out the salmon for the chicken (although chicken thighs are dang good) in the zucchini recipe. Let me know if you try it. Mary
Mary!
Yes! The NYT sheet-pan meals are fantastic. In fact, the NYT app ($20 for one year!) has opened up a whole new world for me during the pandemic. We have had so many lovely meals, and I have fallen in love with cooking again. Two quick recommendations – a sheet-pan recipe called Vinegar Chicken with Crushed Olive Dressing and an amazing soup – Sam Sifton’s Speedy Fish Chowder. One other – Shrimp Scampi with Orzo – is extraordinary. Also, the Blackened Fish with Cheesy Grits – what fun you could have with the latter three given your access to fresh seafood!
Thank you so much for your recommendations! Bon appetit!
Nan
Nan,
Wow, the NYT app sounds like a good deal. You have given me so many nice sounding recommendations. Thank you. There are a few things I have not seen since moving to PT – one is grits. I miss them terribly especially with fish. Someone did a YouTube video on an American grocery store in Lisbon and they had Quaker grits. I got a little teary eyed. We are moving to Lisbon sometime in January of 2022 and grits will be on my grocery list.
Thanks again for the recipe suggestions. Mary
Thank you for two new vegetarian recipes. Btw we purchased 3 piri-piri plants from our local mer cada. Grew them in pots on the balcony. Dried them in the oven (low and slow) and ground them up. Portuguese red pepper flakes!
Nancy,
The Piri-piri plants sound like a great solution to no red pepper flakes. I think you talked about have a small yard if your dream house comes to fruition. I have been trying to think of a house warming gift. I’m thinking a tree – avocado, orange, lemon or lime? I’ll even come and plant it.