Today’s recipe is for a big pan of chicken thighs topped with broccoli and cheddary breadcrumbs. It’s somewhere between healthy and indulgent and is just plain delicious. Even better than that, it’s super-easy to make because you just throw everything in the pan and bake it.
One-Pan Meals
This is seriously my favorite way to make dinner. The flavors mix together while everything gets browned and delicious and you get to relax and then eat. It’s such a great way of cooking dinner that two of the most popular recipes on my site are made this way:
Chicken with Tomatoes, Basil, and Chilies. I’m telling you, this one is so easy to make but it’s so delicious that I make it for company all the time. And, Chicken with Butternut Squash and Sage. The flavors are really unbelievable with so little work. Peeling and chopping the squash is the most time-consuming part.
Broccoli And Cheese = Great Combo
Today’s one-pan chicken dinner was a result of me experimenting to make a really quick Broccoli and Cheese Soup (this one). Let’s just say we had a lot of broccoli and cheddar in the house. We were all a bit tired of the soup though so I needed to make something else for dinner. I turned to my frequent “throw it all in a pan and cook it” method and this recipe was born.
You put skinless chicken thighs (bone-in or boneless) in a big pan. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and thyme. Arrange the broccoli florets around the chicken and then top the broccoli with an easy cheddar and breadcrumb mixture.
Bake. Wait. Eat. Mmmmmmm!
And now here’s my easy one-pan chicken and broccoli recipe:
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One-Pan Chicken and Broccoli with Cheese
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
This one-pan chicken recipe has ever-healthy broccoli topped with crunchy cheddar bread crumbs. You get to indulge and feel good about it at the same time!
Ingredients
- 8 skinless chicken thighs*
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- ½ tsp. dried thyme
- 1 and ½ pound head of broccoli
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Lightly oil a large skillet or rimmed baking dish. Arrange the chicken thighs in the skillet in a single layer.
- Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme.
- Break the florets off of the broccoli. If you’d like, peel and chop the stalks to include them also (learn how here). Arrange broccoli around chicken pieces.
- In a medium bowl toss together the bread crumbs, cheddar, olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon coarse pepper.
- Arrange bread crumb mixture over the broccoli in the pan. It’s ok if some gets on the chicken but concentrate on the broccoli.
- Bake until chicken is cooked through to 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, 40-50 minutes.
Notes
*You can use either boneless or bone-in chicken thighs with this. The recipe originally called for bone-in but I have since tested it with both and they both work.
This post originally appeared in January 2015. It was revised and republished in September 2018
JLD says
What would be the cook time for boneless chix thighs? Also do you think frozen broccoli would work? Thank you.
Christine Pittman says
I haven’t tried either for this recipe but… The chicken thighs will cook in about 25 minutes. The broccoli might be tender enough by then. You would need to check it. What I do think would possibly work is to do the boneless thighs with defrosted frozen broccoli for 25 minutes. The frozen broccoli is softer than fresh and so I think it will all be done at the same time. If you try it, please let me know how it goes. Good luck!
Jenny says
Boneless or bone-in cheicken thighs? Â
Christine Pittman says
Jenny, Either will work but I used bone-in and edited the recipe to say so. Thanks!
Gabriela says
Excellent recipe, broccoli is really delicious, I think they fit well with the chicken, I want to try
Sonali- The Foodie Physician says
This looks awesome and I love how easy it is!  Your Chicken with Tomatoes, Basil and Chilies is also calling my name- amazing!
The Food Hunter says
I’ll be trying this for dinner real soon
CherylS says
I made this last night for dinner! We all loved it, even the kids. Although I admit that they don’t mind broccoli anyhow. But still, a hit for us! Thanks!!
Christine Pittman says
Cheryl, I’m delighted that you all liked it. Thanks for letting me know!