This sheet pan cranberry balsamic chicken and green beans is the perfect holiday meal for two. Chicken halves marinated in a cranberry balsamic sauce and served with roasted green beans, fresh cranberries, and goat cheese.
It’s been awfully boozy and sweet around here so I decided to bring a little savory to the party. If you’re sitting there and thinking to yourself “ugh, I don’t want to make a ham or turkey for Christmas” I got you covered! This delicious dish is the perfect holiday alternative and it’s a great meal for two. It’s got that one sheet pan amazingness and it’s PACKED full of flavor.
Plus, the color is just amazing. Nothing screams the holiday season quite like little cranberries.
I think my favorite thing about the holidays is all the delicious food you get to devour. I LOVE the fact that you can eat cookies for breakfast and no one really cares because it’s the holidays.
I mean, at least in my house it was like that. It was the one time of the year my parents got really cool about a lot of things they would normally not be cool about. I’m guessing it had something to do with the fact that they were drinking boozy eggnog at 8 am.
Since you can’t just eat sweets for Christmas I decided to come up with this simple sheet pan cranberry balsamic chicken and green beans dish. Sometimes you just want something that tastes like the holidays without all the work of a real deal holiday meal. I mean, my dad always made a prime rib 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 awesome with chicken thighs, Cornish hens or even a roaster chicken. I just found it really hard to pass up a good deal on chicken so I went with the halves.
Oh, and it’s easy cleanup because it’s all on one sheet pan. YES!
The marinade is just balsamic vinegar, cranberries, rosemary, and garlic. So simple and yet so PACKED full of flavor. It’s the perfect balance of winter flavors and totally customizable to any vegetable you love.
Looking for even more sheet pan meals? Try my Sheet Pan French Dressing Chicken Thigh Dinner, Sheet Pan Spatchcocked Cornish Hens with Summer Vegetables, Sheet Pan Garlic Lemon Chicken and Mushrooms, Sheet Pan Moroccan Chicken and Potatoes, Sheet Pan Chicken and Potato Dinner or my Chorizo Sheet Pan Stuffing
Sheet Pan Cranberry Balsamic Chicken and Green Beans
This sheet pan cranberry balsamic chicken and green beans is the perfect holiday meal for two. Chicken halves marinated in a cranberry balsamic sauce and served with roasted green beans, fresh cranberries, and goat cheese.
Yield: 2-4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1-1/2 cup fresh whole cranberries, divided
- 1/4 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
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
Directions:
In a food processor add 1/2 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. Add your marinaded chicken to the sheet pan and bake for about 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 remaining tablespoon of olive oil and season with kosher salt and pepper and toss to combine.
Add back to the oven and cook for another 15 minutes. The chicken should register at least 165 degrees.
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 cooking time.