Sheet tray meals involve roasting a protein, a carb, and lots of veggies on ONE baking sheet with oil and seasonings. It’s an easy way to make a healthy, balanced and satisfying meal. This one “pot” meal requires minimal preparation, is quick to cook and is a cinch to clean up!

1) Pick your Protein:

Choose a lean protein like skinless chicken breast or thighs, turkey breast, lean steak, boneless pork loin, chicken/turkey sausages, fish filets, shrimp, or scallops, etc. Cooking time will vary, for example, seafood cooks faster than chicken/beef/pork. If combining seafood with a starchy vegetable that takes longer to cook like potatoes, cook the potatoes for about 10-15 minutes first, then add the seafood to the pan to cook and finish together.

2) Pick Your Carbs:

Choose potatoes, sweet potatoes or winter squashes like butternut, acorn, spaghetti or delicata. These starchy veggies take longer to cook than non-starchy vegetables, so cut them into smaller, bite-sized pieces so they can be fully cooked in about 30-45 minutes.

3) Pick Your Veggies:

Choose non-starchy veggies like Bell peppers, green beans, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, mushrooms, onions, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, carrots, beets, turnips etc. Vegetables like zucchini, peppers, onions, tomatoes, summer squash and mushrooms cook very quickly so consider adding them to the sheet tray for the last ~ 15 minutes of cooking to avoid over doneness.

4) Pick Your Dried Seasonings:

It can be a simple seasoning of just salt & ground black pepper or to spice it up more for Mediterranean or Italian flavors add dried oregano, basil, rosemary or thyme. For Latin or Mexican-inspired meals add chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes for some heat. For any Indian-inspired meals, season with curry, coriander, cardamom, cumin or turmeric.

5) Pick Your Oil:

Olive oil adds rich flavor to sheet tray meals. Avocado oil is a good choice if you are looking for a lighter tasting oil for Mexican-inspired dishes. Both are considered heart/brain healthy oils that are low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fats. A few tablespoons of oil is plenty for all of the vegetables and starchy vegetables..

The following recipe is one of my favorite sheet tray meals to make during the fall. It’s not only delicious, but easily makes for a nutritious, balanced meal for the whole family to enjoy.

Roasted Maple Dijon Pork Tenderloin with Apples, Sweet Potato, and Brussel Sprouts

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2-2.5 lb. pork tenderloin

1 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 Honeycrisp apple, diced

1 small white onion, diced

12 oz of fresh Brussels sprouts, cut in half

1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

1 Tbsp. dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix together maple syrup with dijon mustard. Pour over tenderloin covering all sides. Then sprinkle pork with the poultry seasoning. Chop up the peeled sweet potato, dice the Honeycrisp apple and white onion, and cut in half the Brussel sprouts. Place everything on the sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Drizzle all vegetables with the olive oil and season all vegetables and pork with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until pork is cooked through and veggies and apples are fork tender.

Gwen Johnson, RD, LDN is a Registered Dietitian and Owner of Sage Nutrition Solutions, a nutrition counseling practice located in Pepperell, MA that serves clients in North Middlesex County in Massachusetts and Hillsborough County in Southern New Hampshire. For more information visit her website at https://www.sagenutritionsolutions.com/