Sheet Pan Cooking, Tips for Use Recipe
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Ingredients: |
Ingredients: Intro to Sheet Pan Cooking
A sheet pan takes the concept of a one-pot meal and flips it onto a pan. It saves time, makes clean-up easier, and doesn’t require expensive equipment or fancy ingredients. Just start with your protein of choice, then add vegetables, fat and flavorings, and roast at high heat until everything is golden brown. Here’s how.
Buying a Sheet Pan
A sheet pan is a wide, shallow baking pan made from aluminum or stainless steel whose low sides encourage airflow and browning. A kitchen workhorse, it’s the go-to pan for roasting vegetables, meats and often entire meals. If you don’t already have one (or several) in your cupboard, here are some considerations before you buy.
Most sheet pans are 18-by-13 inches with a 1-inch rim. Sometimes called half-sheet pans, they are half the size of those found in commercial kitchens, which are too big for most home ovens. In this guide, we’ll use the 18-by-13-inch pan as our standard, though the quarter sheet pan, measuring about 9-by-13 inches, is terrific for smaller ovens or kitchens as well as for cooking several ingredients in the oven at once without letting the flavors bleed into one another.
You can choose a pan that’s either aluminum or stainless steel, but whatever you choose look for a pan with a heavy-duty gauge — this refers to the thickness of the metal used. The higher the gauge, the thinner the pan: Anything from 13 to 18 gauges will work well.
Choosing a Protein
Every satisfying sheet-pan meal, like the most well-rounded dinners, is built around a protein. Whether you decide on poultry, beef, pork, fish or tofu, you’ll want to start with ¼ to ¾ pound per serving, to be supplemented with vegetables.
POULTRY
When cooking poultry, bear in mind that dark meat takes longer to cook than white meat, and bone-in chicken longer than boneless. Timing can vary, from 5 minutes for chicken or turkey breast tenders run under the broiler, to 1½ hours for bone-in turkey legs.
FISH
As a general rule, fish filets will cook in 5 to 15 minutes on a sheet pan, depending on oven temperature, while whole fish can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes.
Shrimp will be done in as little 2 minutes under the broiler, or up to 15, if you’re going low and slow and have a lot of them on the same pan. In a 400-degree oven, peeled shrimp will take 5 to 8 minutes.
PORK
When cooking pork, bear in mind that whole chunks of meat work best when set on oven-safe wire racks fitted into the sheet pan, so they don’t stick or get soggy on the bottom during their relatively long cook time.
Smaller pieces (steaks, chops, filets, kebabs) can go straight on the pan. Run a sheet pan full of meat under the broiler when you want the char of the grill without going outside.
Sausages are excellent cooked on sheet pans rather than being pan-fried, and many of them can fit on one pan. Arrange them 1-inch apart, drizzle with oil and broil.
Here are some suggested cooking times.
BEEF
Few sheet-pan suppers use beef, because cuts are best suited to either searing on the grill or under a broiler (steaks and chops), or in the moist environment of the braising pot.
One exception is ground beef. Simply spread seasoned ground meat out on an oiled sheet pan, drizzle with more oil, and run it under the broiler. Think of it as a deconstructed meatball with more surface area to crisp.
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Directions: |
Directions:Adding Vegetables
Protein in hand, it’s time to pick the vegetables that’ll round out your meal. How many, and how much, are up to you. But remember that vegetables cook down significantly under high temperatures, so always err on the side of more.
When working with vegetables, make sure they’re cut consistently. Just as you did with your protein, you’ll want to give them a light coat of oil or fat and any herbs or spices of your choosing, giving them plenty of space on the pan to encourage browning.
Dense vegetables — potatoes, radishes, winter squashes — take the longest to cook, 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on oven temperature and chunk size.
Vegetables with a higher moisture content can take less time, 10 to 30 minutes.
If you’re looking to caramelize vegetables with a very high moisture content — zucchini and tomatoes in particular — it can take longer because the moisture needs to evaporate before browning can occur. Roasting at a high temperature, 425 to 450 degrees, can speed things up.
Leafy vegetables — kale, broccoli rabe, bok choy, chard — will cook fastest, 3 to 10 minutes. If the leaves are thoroughly dry, they will turn crisp and brown. Kale and chard can turn to brittle and chip like if you use enough oil.
Building Flavor
Once you’ve chosen your main ingredients, you could, of course, leave well enough alone, but you can also get creative with the seasonings. Fat, herbs, spices and garnishes all add to the character of the finished dish.
FAT
Fat encourages browning and helps evenly cook the ingredients on your sheet pan. Olive oil is the classic choice, but other oils and fats, like coconut oil, peanut oil, duck fat and leftover bacon grease, all add distinct flavors. For something more neutral, look to sunflower, grapeseed and canola. Simply toss ingredients with enough fat so they are lightly coated.
HERBS AND SPICES
Sprigs of sturdy, branchy fresh herbs can stand up to lengthy cooking without burning. Thyme, lemon thyme, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, bay leaves, tarragon and sage are all good choices; just throw them on the pan with the other ingredients. Dried herbs and herb mixes like Herbs de Provence are excellent added to a marinade, paste or rub.
Avoid soft herbs like basil, chives, parsley, cilantro and mint, which can turn brown at high heat. They’re better as garnishes.
Whole spices can also be tossed directly onto the pan with the other ingredients, adding fragrance and depth. Some favorites include chile flakes, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds and cinnamon sticks. Use ground spices and spice blends in marinades, pastes and rubs.
BOLD ADDITIONS…
Whole smashed garlic cloves (peeled or unpeeled); slivered, blanched lemons; and whole or sliced fresh chiles can be added with the other ingredients, and will turn wonderfully brown while roasting. Make sure they are well coated with oil or fat to encourage caramelization. Note that peeled garlic will add a more intense flavor than unpeeled.
… AND BRIGHT FINISHES
Consider fresh soft herbs, squeezes of citrus or drizzles of vinegar, yogurt, vinaigrettes, grated or crumbled cheeses, salsas, sauces, chutneys, relishes, quick-pickled onions or shallots, chile pastes and hot sauces. All add vibrancy to a finished dish. |
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