This 6 ingredient sheet pan dinner is your next weeknight rockstar: slightly spicy, slightly sweet Korean inspired chicken with creamy crispy roast potatoes
Sweet and Spicy Gochujang Honey Roast Chicken and Potatoes
Woah! It’s basically Thanksgiving. How did that happen?! We are still in the thick of our renovations but luckily we are heading over to our friend’s place for a little Friendsgiving tomorrow. There will be turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing and all the good stuff. Our friend Bruce is going to be making the turkey and I’m going to make some stuffing and mashed potatoes. Mike’s going to do some sort of noodle-y dish and our other friend is making cheesy bread. It’s going to be a blast :)
But, if we weren’t doing Friendsgiving and it was just our lil family of two, I’d probably be making something simple like this sweet and spicy gochujang honey roast chicken and potatoes. I love it because it’s one pan and essentially a set it and forget it kind of meal. If you’re feeling particularly healthy, you could do a side salad too, but sometimes all I want are roast chicken and potatoes. Super homey, super comforting, and super easy.
Cooking Notes
Roast chicken is probably one of the easiest and hardest things to cook. It’s so iconic that everyone has their idea of the ideal roast chicken. This one is a spicy, sweet, juicy roast bird with soft skin that pairs perfectly with the crispy creamy potatoes that are cooked in the same dish. Cooking the potatoes in the same dish means that all of the delicious chicken fat and juice cook right into the potatoes.
When you’re cooking roast chicken, I’d say the most important thing is not overcooking or undercooking. To ensure that you have an evenly cooked bird, temper your chicken (that is, take it out of the fridge and let it hang out in a cool spot on your kitchen counter for at least an hour). Tempering your chicken ensures that you’ll get an even cook because it’ll take less time for the heat to penetrate the inside of the bird. Tempering also helps the chicken cook faster because the oven temperature isn’t wasting any time getting it up to room temp.
For perfectly cooked chicken, always check with a
meat thermometer. It takes the guessing out of cooking.
Oh, one more note, for this chicken in particular, you’ll want a little piece of foil to cover while you’re doing the initial cooking – the marinade has sugar in it, which will become quite dark, as you can see from the photos – learn from my mistakes and cover your chicken!
Ingredient NotesGochujang is one of those ingredients that you’ve probably been seeing around on menus and in recipes lately. It’s a Korean condiment/cooking paste that is used in a ton of Korean dishes. It’s a savory, sweet, spicy fermemted paste made from chili powder and sticky rice. It’s sold in little (and giant) rectangular tubs and comes in varying spice levels. It adds sweet and heat and a ton of flavor to your favorite Korean dishes like bibimbap, army stew, and so many others. The awesome thing about it is that its flavor goes well with just about anything: protein, vegetables, and carbs. You can find it at any Korean supermarket (and at most general Asian ones) and it’s also sold online.
On it’s own, it’s pretty strong, so it’s usually it’s cut with oil or other ingredients like soy sauce. Keep it in the fridge and stir a bit into anything you want to add a bit of sweet-n-spicy umami to. It’s a definite flavor booster.
What do you need?
A roasting pan – we love our Staub but anything that can go into the oven will do. Plus foil and a meat thermometer if you have one.
What to serve it with?
Just eat it on it’s own, with green beans, or do a simple salad with this addictive dressing. Or, if you’re going all out Asian style, serve it with some fluffy white rice!
Sweet and Spicy Gochujang Honey Roast Chicken and Potatoes
This 6 ingredient sheet pan dinner is your next weeknight rockstar: slightly spicy, slightly sweet Korean inspired chicken with creamy crispy roast potatoes
Serves 4
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 1 hr
Total Time 1 hr 10 mins
- small chicken about 2.5 lbs
- 3-4 Yukon gold potatoes quartered
- 1/4 cup gochujang
- 4 tbsp neutral oil divided
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1-2 tbsp honey
Take the chicken out of the fridge and temper at room temp for 30 to 1 hour. Heat the oven to 400°F.
Make a marinade by mixing together the gochujang, 2 tablespoons oil, and soy sauce.
3. Rub or brush the marinade all over the chicken – you will have some left over. Place the chicken in a roasting dish.
4. Add the last 2 tablespoons of oil to the marinade. Toss the potatoes in the marinade, then arrange in a single layer around the chicken in the roasting dish. Cut out a tiny piece of foil (large enough just to cover the chicken breast) and place it on top – this will prevent it from browning too much.
5. Roast the chicken on the lowest rack for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the thickest part of the chicken thigh reads 155ºF/160ºF (the chicken will cook another 10 degrees while resting, use the higher temperature if you don’t want to see any pink in the chicken) and the potatoes are fork tender. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes of cooking and give the potatoes a toss.
6. When the chicken is done, baste with the honey and rest the chicken for 5-10 minutes before digging in. Finish with green onions and cilantro, if desired.
