Healthy Kung Pao Chicken & Cauliflower Sheet Pan Meal
This Healthy Kung Pao Chicken & Cauliflower Sheet Pan Meal is an easy yet satisfying 30 minute meal inspired by a Chinese takeout favorite! Oven baked chicken thighs, cauliflower and red bell pepper get tossed in a simple, sticky and sweet sauce that will win over even the veggie haters. It's made gluten free, refined sugar free and a bit healthier with some simple ingredient swaps.
Equipment
- garlic/ginger grater
- extra large baking sheet or 2 normal sized baking sheets
- small pot
- whisk
Ingredients
For the Sheet Pan:
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into strips
- 2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot starch
- 1 medium head of cauliflower cut into small florets (1lb, measured after cutting into florets)
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 1.5" chunks
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil divided
- salt + pepper
For the Sauce:
- ⅓ cup coconut aminos
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tbsp fresh minced ginger
- 2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot starch*
- red pepper flakes to taste
- salt to taste
For Serving:
- cooked white rice
- chopped green onion
- chopped peanuts or cashews
- sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl, add chicken strips, ½ tbsp of olive oil, cornstarch and salt and pepper. Toss until the chicken is coated - SEE NOTE**
- Add chicken to one side of the baking sheet. Then, add cauliflower florets and bell pepper to the other side of the baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the veggies and season with salt and pepper. Toss until coated. Then, spread out and make sure nothing is overlapping - SEE NOTE***
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the veggies are fork tender and the chicken reaches an internal temp of at least 165F.
- In the last 5 minutes of the sheet pan cooking time, add all sauce ingredients except for the cornstarch to a small pot. Whisk. Bring to medium heat. In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and a bit of water to make a slurry. Then, once the sauce mixture is hot and beginning to bubble, slowly pour in the cornstarch slurry while whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer until the sauce has thickened.
- Once the chicken and veggies are done baking, push them together on the baking sheet and pour the sauce all over. Toss to coat everything in the sauce.
- If desired, serve over a bed of cooked white rice and top with some chopped green onion, chopped nuts and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
*NOTE: If you prefer an even thicker and stickier sauce, you can increase this to 1 tbsp of cornstarch or arrowroot starch. However, I would start with 2tsp and you can always add more! Sometimes if there's too much, it just feels kinda goopy and gross. **NOTE: If you'd rather not dirty another dish, you can always do this directly on the baking sheet. I just find it easier to get the chicken coated when it's in a bowl...but up to you! ***NOTE: I used an extra large baking sheet (15x21") but if you don't have one that large, I highly recommend splitting this into two baking sheets (chicken on one and veggies on the other) so that nothing is overlapping. If it overlaps, the food steams and gets a lot more mushy!