By Published Sept. 6, 2023.
This is Technique #56 from our 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.
Each technique is broken into three sections: why it works, key steps, and recipes that use it. Learn these recipe building blocks and you'll be set up for a lifetime of cooking success.
Sheet pans, or rimmed baking sheets, are quiet heroes of the kitchen. We turn to them for everything from roasting vegetables to baking cookies. But their broad, flat surface is also the perfect blank canvas for rendering an entire meal in a few bold brushstrokes.
Filling a sheet pan with all the ingredients of your choice and having that pan emerge from the oven a little while later as a great dinner is undeniably appealing. Paramount is how you arrange your chosen ingredients.
Because the oven’s steady, dry heat makes the baking sheet’s perimeter hotter than the middle, sturdier ingredients like potatoes should be arranged either around the edges of the pan or as a bed for more tender vegetables. More delicate ingredients that are at higher risk of overcooking should be placed on top of or nestled into other ingredients or go in the middle.
Sometimes a protein (like a steak or chop) goes directly onto a preheated baking sheet, which helps it develop a good crust. In other instances, as with breaded cutlets or skin-on poultry, it’s better to elevate them with a wire rack to keep the exterior from turning soggy. As a bonus, the released juices and fat from the meat will moisten and flavor the ingredients on the sheet pan underneath.
Another smart strategy is to coordinate when ingredients are added to the sheet pan. By arranging longer-cooking ingredients first, then adding quicker-cooking items later, each component gets its due time in the oven for an ideal outcome. This ensures that everything hits the table perfectly cooked and hot, just as it should be.
Always use a heavyweight rimmed sheet pan for your sheet-pan suppers. Flimsy pans will warp in the extended high heat of the oven, leading to messy and potentially dangerous spillovers. For extremely delicate foods, like the eggs in our Huevos Rancheros, we even stack one rimmed sheet pan inside another for gentler cooking.
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When building anything, you need a good blueprint and the ability to see it through. The same applies to the best sheet-pan dinners. Knowing what you should be roasting ahead of time, how you should be layering the different elements of your meal, and when you should be adding each one is a skill, and one you can learn in our step-by-step guide, below.
Give sturdy vegetables, like sweet potatoes, a head start by roasting on their own until they begin to soften.
While vegetables cook, prepare remaining ingredients.
Arrange more delicate vegetables, such as scallions, on top of partially cooked sturdy vegetables.
Placing meat directly on hot sheet pan jump-starts browning. Continue roasting until meat is done and vegetables are fully tender, rotating sheet halfway through.
Transfer meat to cutting board to rest before slicing. Leave vegetables on baking sheet to keep warm until ready to serve.
Now that you’ve learned the perfect way to build a succulent sheet-pan dinner, you can apply this technique in recipes that use it. We’ve listed a few of our favorites below.
Ready to learn another technique? Choose from our list of 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.
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