My teen’s latest dinner bowl obsession, and my favorite easy weeknight dinner! Use your sheet pans to make Mexican Street Corn Chicken dinner bowls!
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Have I got the dinner bowl for your starving teens!
I’ve always been super straight forward about how normal of a house we have around here. Lately, I’ve been heavily relying on some of my favorite sheet pan dinners and dinner bowl concepts. Spring is just a crazy time of the year, and with starving teens that run distance team mileage every week, these dinner bowls are the kind of fuel that actually helps them recover. I figured if my typical, everyday teens are obsessed with a certain meal that is loaded with whole food ingredients, I better share it!
Mexican Street Corn…but loaded with real food ingredients and all the macros!
I think just about any kid could get excited about Mexican Street Corn! Seasoned corn, creamy dreamy sauce…what’s not to love?! I’ve taken those flavors and amped up the macros to make sure your growing kids and teens have a meal that is substantial enough for even the biggest growth spurt!
But make it…easy!
Did I mention spring is crazy?! Sheet pan dinners are my go-to during busy scheduled weeks, as well as the summer when I’d rather be outdoors than in the kitchen. So we are going to sheet pan this entire dinner, and you will just love this easy prep!
Let’s get started by getting the chicken in the marinade!
The marinade ingredients get whisked up in a dish and the chicken will get super tender and flavorful while it marinates. You can marinate the chicken for 15 minutes while you prep the veggies, or, you can get it into the marinade in the morning before you leave for the day so that it is ready to go when you get home.
Let’s make the 5 minute Mexican Crema!
Because truly…I think this is the part that seals the deal on flavor and obsession for my teenagers! In fact, I typically double this because they want it all ALL the things from salads and sandwiches to dinner bowls. Simply stir the Mexican Crema ingredients together in a bowl and store in the fridge up to 2 weeks. I like to use this squeeze bottle for storage, and so that the girls can drizzle their bowls easily. This step can be done days in advance or on a prep day too!
Tell me about that squeeze bottle though!
This squeeze bottle is the perfect storage solution for sauces and dressings at home. The top of the bottle snips easily so you can drizzle the amount you want. I have a bottle for thicker sauces like this, and also one that is not snipped for thin sauces.
Sheet Pan Number 1 – The Sweet Potatos
The sweet potatoes get their own sheet pan because it is the base of these dinner bowls! You could do rice in addition if you would like, but the sweet potatoes are SO good with this meal! Just cube your sweet potatoes up and toss them with salt, pepper, cinnamon, and olive oil.
Sheet Pan Number 2 – The Veggies
The sky is the limit here, but we do love the red onion and zucchini with the corn. Shredded cabbage is my usual go-to for this sheet pan, but zucchini happened to be on sale, and is my favorite in the summer months! Just toss the veggies on the second sheet tray with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Roast the veggies
Once you prep both veggie sheet trays, roast or air fry them for about 20 minutes. You can spend this time making the Mexican crema if you haven’t already!
Sheet Pan Number 3 – The Chicken
The final 15-20 minutes of roasting or air frying will be the part where we add the sheet tray of chicken. Just pull it out of the marinade with some tongs and set them on the sheet pan. Once the veggies roast for 20 minutes, give them a stir, and return the veggies to the oven along with the chicken for about 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Assembling the Mexican Street Corn Chicken Dinner Bowls
Pile those roasted, crispy sweet potatoes high in your dinner bowl and then top with the roasted veggies and chopped or shredded chicken. Drizzle the Mexican Crema, and garnish with your choice of fresh cilantro, lime, cotija cheese, and avocado slices.
What do I do if my kids don’t like their food “touching”
So just let them pull each component from the sheet pan separately to eat! BUT! Don’t shy away from making up a dinner bowl for your kids to try. One of my kids that typically prefers her food “separate” and NOT touching, absolutely is obsessed with this dinner bowl all combined with the Mexican Crema sauce! You just never know! I had her take a bite of my bowl before she made up her plate and she loved it.
Don’t forget the lunchbox leftovers!
This is a huge game changer for your kids that have sports after school. Especially for your middle and high school kids, if they are traveling for games, or have long practices after school, a substantial lunch at school with every macro will fill them up hours before they play with fuel that will make a difference in their performance. Here are some tips on how to pack thermos lunches for kids, as well as thermos recs for big kids! My kids also don’t mind a cold rice bowl, so don’t underestimate what your kids might enjoy!
Sheet Pan Mexican Street Corn Chicken Dinner Bowls
Ingredients
For the Chicken & the Marinade:
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp taco seasoning
- 5 medium chicken breasts filet each breast into 2 pieces
For the Mexican Crema:
- 3/4 cup full fat yogurt, Greek yogurt, or coconut yogurt for dairy free option
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
- 1/2 tsp taco seasoning
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
For the Dinner Bowl Veggies:
- 3 tbsp olive oil divided
- 2 tsp sea salt divided
- 1 tsp pepper divided
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 lbs sweet potatoes 1 inch cube. I don't peel mine but you can
- 1 medium red onion halved and sliced into strips
- 2 medium zucchini halved lengthwise, and cut on a bias with 1/2 inch to 1 inch thickness
- 2 cups frozen corn or drained canned corn
Garnishes:
- Freshly chopped cliantro, sliced avocado, lime wedges, and crumbled cotija cheese for garnish to taste
Instructions
Prepare the Chicken & Marinade:
- Whisk the marinade ingredients in a large container with a lid. Alternatively, you can put the marinade ingredients into a large freezer zip top bag for marinating the chicken.
- Add the fileted chicken to the marinade and close the lid. Marinate at least 15 minutes. I like to get the chicken in the marinade before we leave for the day in the morning, so that the chicken is ready to go when I get home!
Make the Mexican Crema:
- Stir the Mexican Crema ingredients together in a small dish, and set aside in the refrigerator. I like to add splashes of water to thin the sauce out a little and make it stretch.
Make the Sheet Pan Mexican Street Corn Chicken Dinner:
- You will need 3 sheet trays. No need to grease them. I don't use parchment paper because I like everything to get crispy, but if you want less clean-up, you could use it. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. You can use the air fry or convection setting on your oven, or just regular baking, which will take slightly longer.
- Toss the sweet potatoes onto one sheet pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sea salt and pepper to your taste, and the cinnamon.
- Toss the onion, zucchini, and corn with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and salt and pepper to your taste on a second sheet tray.
- Air fry or roast the sweet potato and veggie sheet trays at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. If you are roasting you may want to go an extra 5 minutes. The goal is to get the veggies soft and starting to crisp. They will finish cooking with the rest of the dinner next.
- While the sweet potatoes and veggies are roasting, prepare the third sheet tray by putting the marinated chicken onto the sheet tray.
- When the sweet potatoes and veggies are done air frying or roasting for 20 minutes, take the sheet tray out, give the sweet potatoes and veggies a stir, and return them to the oven along with the sheet pan of chicken for another 15-20 minutes (if you are roasting you may need to cook an extra 5 minutes. The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees) If you want some color on the corn/veggies, you can set them under the broiler for a few minutes.
- Serve your dinner bowls with a generous serving of sweet potatoes at the bottom of the bowl, and then pile the veggies, and sliced or shredded chicken on the sweet potatoes. Drizzle the Mexican Crema and top with fresh chopped cilantro, sliced avocados, and, if you tolerate it, crumbled cotija cheese.
Notes
- You can drizzle the Mexican crema from the bowl, or add it to a squeeze bottle like this to make a drizzle. A plastic baggie with a snipped corn works to squeeze a drizzle too!
- This Mexican crema can be made days in advance, and stores in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- I love to add a little heat to my Mexican Crema. If you have kids that don’t do heat, just make the crema as is, and separate half of it and mix with red pepper flakes to your heat prefrence.
- Change up the veggies to what is in season, or what you have in the veggie bin that week on sale! This dinner bowl is amazing with shredded roasted cabbage too – one of my favorites. Zucchini just happened to be at a great price at Aldi the week I made this, and it is a great way to make an easy sheet pan dinner in the summer with summer veg.
- Don’t shy away from making up a dinner bowl for your kids to try. One of my kids that typically prefers her food “separate” and NOT touching, absolutely is obsessed with this dinner bowl all combined with the Mexican Crema sauce! You just never know! I had her take a bite of my bowl before she made up her plate and she loved it.
More real food Sheet Pan Dinners you might like ::
- Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken Dinner
- Sheet Pan Pesto Gnocchi & Chicken Dinner
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Sheet Pan Tostadas
- Sheet Pan Teriyaki Meatball Dinner Bowls
- Sheet Pan Ranch Chicken Dinner
- Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Chicken Dinner
- Sheet Pan Honey Garlic Chicken Rice Bowls
- Sheet Pan Thai Peanut Chicken Dinner
