The yummiest pesto makes this easy, sheet pan pesto chicken and gnocchi dinner a family weeknight favorite made in 30 minutes!
Signs of spring and summer
The MUD. Oh the mud season we have here in Michigan! Even my teenagers still love to play in it! Even though we are still occasionally in coats and hoodies, the signs of warmer weather are on their way, including seeing one of my girls’ FAVORITE warmer weather foods…
Basil! {More specifically…pesto!}
You guys. My kids would eat pesto every single day of the week if we could! I try to keep it planted during the warm months of the year, but in early spring we can get really great pots of basil at Trader Joe’s. I brought some home last week, and the kids were *so* excited for this first sign of warmer weather coming!
A little pesto pasta change up…
My second cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook, has my kids’ favorite pesto pasta recipe. These days, I double that recipe, lest there be fighting over who gets to take any leftovers to school in a thermos the next day! But there are some days that just call for something even faster to make. And, that is where the my good ‘ol sheet pans come in handy!
A sheet pan pesto chicken and gnocchi dinner made for spring!
Spring with kids in school can be intense. All the field trips! Various after school activities! And what seems like weekly concerts, programs, and plays! This sheet pan dinner is done in 30 minutes flat, and it is packed with big pesto flavor that the whole family will just love. It really is a “dump it all on the pan” kind of a meal, which works so well for busy seasons.
Are the veggies interchangeable?
Just like most sheet pan dinners, I absolutely encourage you to swap the veggies out for what is in season near you. Not only does this help you save money by buying produce at in season prices, but it changes up the nutrients too. Expose the kids to different veggies through sheet pan dinners – it really works!
A quick note about the radishes
I know radishes can get a bad rap, with kids specifically. The peppery bite of a raw radish can be intense for young palates that aren’t used to being adventurous. But when you roast or cook radishes, something magical happens! That peppery bite fades away, and you are left with an almost potato-like texture and a sweeter taste that takes on the flavor of however you season them! In this case, the pesto! So they will feel more like a pesto covered potato. This is a great way to introduce a new vegetable to the kids.
The Method :: Making the Pesto
This pesto. You guys, this pesto is in the top 5 favorite foods for each one of my kids. I actually asked them the other day just to test my theory, and I was spot on. I know it’s green, and doesn’t seem like kid food, but I’m telling you there is something magical about pesto. My kids love it mixed with pasta, but you can put pesto on just about anything and they will eat it! All you have to do is blend the basil with the rest of the dry ingredients, and then drizzle in the olive oil to make the saucy pesto. This delicious sauce is rich in healthy fats, perfect for growing kids and teens with ever-changing hormones!
The Method :: The Chicken
I promised you guys that this recipe was made for a busy spring school night, and I’m keeping that promise by keeping the prep for this sheet pan dinner super simple. Just cube up the chicken and it will be ready for the sheet pan. The pesto will flavor the chicken for you!
The Method :: Building the Sheet Pan Pesto Chicken and Gnocchi Dinner!
Toss the chopped veggies, chicken, and frozen gnocchi onto 2 sheet pans with the pesto to coat. Using 2 sheet pans will give you maximum caramelization and sweet, roast-y flavor. If you pile everything onto 1 sheet pan, it will steam more than roast and won’t be as flavorful. And again, we are shooting for an easy weeknight meal, so just the chop and toss is all you need to do. The pesto will flavor everything! You can even chop the veggies on a prep day or prep hour that you have on the weekend so that all you have to do is dump the prepped veggies on the the sheet pan when you’re ready to roast.
Serving the sheet pan pesto chicken and gnocchi dinner
We like to scoop this sheet pan dinner into shallow bowls. You could make more pesto to drizzle the top if you wish, or top the bowls with shaved parm and chopped fresh herbs. The recipe as written feeds my family of 5 (including teenagers), for 1 meal. If you have smaller children or a smaller family, you may have leftovers, and they warm up into a thermos for school or work so nicely!
Yummiest Pesto Chicken & Gnocchi Sheet Pan Dinner
Ingredients
For The Pesto:
For the Sheet Pan Dinner:
- 4 chicken breasts pat dry and 1-2 inch cube
- 1/2 large red onion halved and sliced into thin strips
- 1 bunch of asparagus woody ends discarded and sliced on the bias into 2 inch pieces
- 2 medium carrots peeled and cut on the bias into 1/2 inch coins
- 10 large radishes ends discarded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 medium yellow squash ends discarded, halved, and cut on the bias into 1/2 inch half moons
- 2 12-oz bags frozen gnocchi of choice I use the Trader Joe's GF Cauliflower Gnocchi
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. (See Notes below if you want to use the Air Fry setting on your oven!)
Make the pesto:
- Put the basil, cheese, garlic, nuts, sea salt, and pepper into a food processor and pulse to combine into small bits.
- Use the drip cup at the top of the food processor to drizzle the olive oil into the food processor while it is blending continuously. Alternatively, you can add drizzles of olive oil into a blender to combine the pesto if you do not have a food processor. Set the pesto aside.
Prepare the sheet pans & bake:
- Divide the cubed chicken, chopped veggies, and frozen gnocchi between the 2 sheet pans.
- Divide the pesto between the 2 sheet pans. Toss the everything to coat in the pesto
- Roast at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, rotating the sheet pans half way through. You can put the sheet pans under the broiler for about 5 minutes for a crispy, golden brown exterior if you wish as well!
Notes
- If you’re dairy free, you can swap the cheese in the pesto for a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast for cheesy flavor, or just leave it out. If you have access to a coconut oil based dairy free cheese like the Viola Life brand, that does work too.
- Swap the veggies for what is in season. As written, this recipe is very spring and summer produce focused, but broccoli, peppers, squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes, white potato, brussels sprouts, etc all work great too.ย
- Radishes do loose their peppery bite when roasted, FYI! They get soft and sweeten, and almost have the taste and texture of a white potato when roasted like this! So go ahead and try it with the kids! Smaller pieces will get softer and sweeter with roasting, so try keeping the pieces small to start.
- If you don’t have gnocchi on hand, or want to switch things up, change out the gnocchi for cubed potatoes, squash, or sweet potatoes. Or you can serve this dinner over cooked pasta or rice of choice to add needed carbohydrates.ย
- If you have an air fry setting on your oven, like I do, you can cook this in about 15-20 minutes and get that crispier, golden brown, caramelized outside. Use the 400-425 degree setting and watch for done-ness, as all air friers and air fry settings on ovens can run differently.ย ย
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