Sheet Pan Curry Chicken and Carrots with Basmati Rice (Biryani)
This curry chicken with carrots and basmati rice is made all on one sheet pan! It is so flavorful it will blow your mind. It's a perfect weeknight dinner for busy school days!
1/4cupcilantrofresh, chopped, plus more to garnish
1/2cupcashewschopped, to garnish
plain Greek yogurtto garnish
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Move the rack to the upper 1/3 of the oven (I just put it one notch higher than the middle where it normally sits.)
Roughly chop the carrots (see photo) and add them to a large bowl.
Slice the shallots and add them to the bowl. Make them roughly the same size as the carrots
Drizzle the carrots and shallots with olive oil, then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper to taste.
Prepare a sturdy sheet pan with nonstick spray. Dump the mixture onto the pan and spread it out into a single layer. Save the bowl!
Roast at 425 for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, use the same bowl from before to melt 6 tablespoons butter.
Add the ginger, minced garlic, curry powder, and garam masala to the butter and stir together.
In another medium bowl, add the chicken tenderloins. Make sure they are thaw. Add about 2 tablespoons of the butter mixture to the chicken. (The rest goes on the rice) I started to measure it out, but then realized I don't need that kind of negativity in my life. Just pour a little on to coat, it doesn't matter too much.
Add 3/4 teaspoon paprika and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the chicken. Stir it together and set aside.
Add the cooked rice to the bowl with the butter mixture. (If you bought pre-cooked rice, just open the package and dump it in.)
Smash 2-3 cloves of garlic and add to the bowl. (This is to add flavor, but you could also eat it. We always do! You can also leave this out and it will be fine.)
Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup cilantro to the bowl of rice and stir it all together. Set aside.
When the carrots have roasted 20 minutes, remove from the oven but don't turn it off. Toss the carrots on the pan.
Arrange the seasoned chicken in between the carrots and shallots, making sure it's sitting on the pan and not on top of veggies. Scrape all the seasoning from the bowl and make sure it gets on the pan.
Dump the rice on top of the chicken and veggies, and spread to the edges of the pan.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over the rice.
Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake on the same rack at 425 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the carrots are tender.
Remove the foil and sprinkle with chopped cashews and more fresh cilantro.
Serve with plain yogurt on the table. This would go great with a nice big green salad!
Notes
*Of course you can cook your own rice. You need 4 cups cooked rice, so that's 2 cups uncooked. Brown Basmati rice takes about an hour to cook. Here's a recipe, double it. You can use any kind of rice. (White rice will be faster, but less healthy. Why can't we just have it all?? :)