Skillet Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

Made with juicy chicken thighs, tender sweet potatoes, and a honey-butter-chipotle pan sauce, this skillet chicken and sweet potatoes recipe browns is ready in just about 30-minutes. A sweet-savory-spicy one-pan weeknight dinner that comes together with simple pantry ingredients!

My Favorite Weeknight Chicken and Sweet Potato Recipe

This skillet chicken and sweet potatoes is one of those recipes I keep on the regular weeknight rotation because it lands somewhere between simple-pantry-dinner and special-enough-for-company without me changing anything! The true hero is the honey-butter-chipotle pan sauce, a 5-minute mix of pantry staples that turns chicken thighs and sweet potatoes into something absolutely craveable.

Canned chipotle in adobo is the secret ingredient that makes this recipe (and worth a quick trip to the salsa aisle if you do not have it already). Just one teaspoon of the minced peppers adds smoky complexity that lifts the sauce out of basic-honey-butter territory and into something that will make you want to lick your plate clean. The remaining peppers freeze beautifully for months in a small container, too, which means one $2 can fuels a dozen future weeknight dinners! Or, skip the chipotle entirely if you are heat-sensitive (one of my readers, Julie, used smoked paprika instead and reported it worked beautifully), but the modest amount as written works for most palates.

Serve this skillet over warm cilantro lime rice, quinoa, or orzo to soak up every drop of the pan sauce! And check out the comments, as some of my readers have stretched the leftovers into impressively creative directions: Amy turned them into taco filling with rice and avocado, and Linda used leftover baked sweet potatoes and chicken to make it. And for more in the same weeknight-skillet category, my Italian chicken zucchini skillet hit similar fast-and-flavorful notes with a different flavor profile but still plenty of weeknight ease.

Testing Tips for Sweet Potatoes and Chicken Skillet

• Chicken breasts work in place of thighs as long as you cut them into large 2-inch pieces before browning; smaller pieces overcook and dry out during the oven finish. Thighs are still my preference for the juiciest result, but breasts produce a slightly leaner version of the same dish without changing the cook time.
• To bulk the recipe up with extra vegetables, do what a couple of my readers, Jamie and Lauren, suggested and stir in a few large handfuls of baby spinach or chopped kale when the chicken goes back into the pan before the oven step. The greens wilt down into the sauce in the last 10 minutes of cooking and add color and texture without changing the prep time.
• Use a 12-inch cast iron or oven-safe stainless skillet for this recipe; as the cast iron browns the chicken thighs more deeply than non-stick and transitions seamlessly from stovetop to oven.
• To make this recipe dairy free, swap in plant-based butter or ghee for the regular butter; both melt into the honey and chipotle the same way and produce an equally silky sauce. Maple syrup also works in place of honey if that is what you have on hand, though it does add a subtle maple flavor to the final sauce.

4.93 stars (14 ratings)

Skillet Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

Developed and tested by Robyn Conley Downs

Servings: 4

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Total: 30 minutes mins

Skillet chicken and sweet potatoes made with juicy chicken thighs and a honey, butter, and chipotle pan sauce. An easy 30-minute one-pan dinner!

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Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 4)
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes, cut into ½ inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or other neutral flavored oi), divided
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon chipotle (from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo), minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced or finely grated

Equipment

• Skillet

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with ½ teaspoon salt.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of avocado oil in a large, 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add the chicken and allow it to brown 3-4 minutes one one side. Flip and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until browned. Remove to a plate and set aside.
• Turn the heat down to medium, add the remaining 1 tablespoon avocado oil along with the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter, honey, chipotle, and garlic together, either in the microwave or on the stovetop.
• When the potatoes are slightly browned, add back the chicken along with any accumulated juices. Pour over the honey and butter mixture, stirring to combine.
• Place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle.

Notes

• While the chipotle adds a nice little kick to this recipe, if you don’t have it, don’t want to use it, or are sensitive to heat, feel free to omit it.
• Alternatively, if you like things spicy, double the chipotle.
• This recipe serves 4 people with ¼ pounds of chicken per person. If you prefer more meat per serving, double the recipe or double the amount of chicken.

Course: dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1 (of 4), Calories: 544kcal, Carbohydrates: 44g, Protein: 21g, Fat: 32g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 14g, Cholesterol: 126mg, Sodium: 765mg, Potassium: 816mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 16g, Vitamin A: 24395IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 64mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition disclaimer

Did you make this recipe?If you do, be sure to share it on Instagram and tag me at @realfoodwholelife so I can see!

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