Sheet Pan Balsamic Chicken with Cranberry and Green Beans
Dec 15, 2017, Updated Dec 13, 2024
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This sheet pan balsamic chicken with cranberry and green beans is the perfect small family holiday meal. Chicken halves are marinated in cranberry balsamic sauce and served with roasted green beans, fresh cranberries, and goat cheese.
This delicious dish is the perfect holiday alternative and a small family meal. It’s fantastic in one sheet pan and packed full of flavor.
Plus, the color is just gorgeous! Nothing screams the holiday season quite like little cranberries.
Now, sometimes, you want something that tastes like the holidays without all the work of a real-deal holiday meal. My dad always made beef tenderloin, and my mom always made turkey and ham.
Who has the fridge space for all that meat?!
I found these chicken halves at my grocery store for super cheap, but this dish would also work excellent with chicken thighs, Cornish hens, or even a roaster chicken. I found it hard to pass up a good deal on chicken, so I went with the halves.
It’s easy to clean up because it’s all on one sheet pan.
The marinade consists of balsamic vinegar, cranberries, rosemary, and garlic. It is so simple yet so PACKED full of flavor.
It’s the perfect balance of winter flavors and is customizable to any vegetable you love.
Ingredients needed
- whole fresh cranberries
- balsamic vinegar
- olive oil
- fresh rosemary
- kosher salt
- garlic
- half chicken
- green beans
- black pepper
- goat cheese
How to make balsamic chicken
The great thing about a dish like this is that it’s the perfect holiday meal. At Christmastime, it’s usually just my husband and I, and this dish appears almost annually. Easy clean-up and packed with flavor!
- Combine cranberries, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, rosemary, kosher salt, and garlic in a food processor.
- Save some of the marinade (we’ll use this for basting later in roasting) and use the rest to marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours but up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, add the chicken to a parchment-lined sheet pan and roast for 45 minutes.
- Add the beans and remaining cranberries to the sheet pan and toss the remaining olive oil and black pepper.
- Roast for 15 minutes, then sprinkle the whole dish with goat cheese.
My Pro Tips
Sheet Pan Chicken Recipe Tips
- Cook your chicken until it registers 165 degrees F, and check where the thigh and leg connect. This will ensure the chicken is fully cooked in all areas.
- Please don’t skip the marinating stage; it brings big-time flavor to your chicken!
- Substitute green beans with broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, or snow peas.
- I’m using rosemary in this recipe, but oregano or thyme would also work great.
FAQ’s
What to serve alongside
I’m happy to eat meat and veggies, but I have a few tasty carb options if you’re looking for a delicious side.
Some of the easiest options to serve with this sheet-pan meal are my Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, Instant Pot Mashed Butternut Squash, or this delicious Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes. I love how easy it is to make mashed dishes in the IP because it cooks up all in one pot, and the cleanup involves putting the pot in the dishwasher.
Other great options are Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes, The Best Baked Sweet Potatoes, Roasted White Sweet Potatoes with Honey Cinnamon Glaze, or my Spinach Parmesan Baked Mashed Potatoes.
More sheet pan meals
Sheet Pan Balsamic Chicken
Ingredients
- 1-½ cup fresh whole cranberries, divided
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 half chickens
- 1 pound green beans, trimmed
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup crumbled goat cheese
Instructions
- In a food processor add ½ cup cranberries, balsamic vinegar, 3 tablespoons olive oil, rosemary, kosher salt, and garlic. Blend until smooth and reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade.
- Add chicken halves to a large gallon ziptop bag and pour the rest of the marinade into the bag and squish around the bag to cover all the chicken in the marinade. Place the chicken in the refrigerator and let marinate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- When you're ready to cook the chicken preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Add the marinated chicken to the sheet pan and bake for 45 minutes. Halfway through, baste your chicken with the reserved marinade.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and add the green beans and remaining cranberries around the chicken.
- Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, season with black pepper, and toss to combine.
- Add back to the oven and cook for another 15 minutes. The chicken should register at least 165 degrees F.
- Once fully cooked remove from the oven and sprinkle the beans with goat cheese, serve hot.
- Note: If your chicken halves are smaller cut down your cooking time. If the chicken is larger simple increase your chicken cooking time.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe is perfect for my 2 disabled veterans (son & daughter) who have to carefully watch there food intake. Although, they miss having more carbohydrates they are learning love recipes of yours & a few others.
Thank You for being a BIG HELP.
I just love cranberries! This recipe is a winner!
I’m in love with the flavors here!!!! Can’t wait to try it.
This looks incredible! Such wonderful flavors and super easy to make!
I love chicken! Yours looks so inviting!
Yum! This looks so good! I wish this was what I had for dinner tonight! Going to have to soon!
This is like thanksgiving on a plate!
Sounds like a great recipe I’m going to make it for two friends of ours who had surgery all they have to do is heat it and eat it is heat ????and eat it!