Bring on the heat for a top-notch sheet-pan chicken dinner

Sheet-pan dinner has become synonymous with easy: easy to make and easy to clean up. And while both of those things can be true, I think it misses the most important reason to pull out your sheet pan. It's also an extremely efficient vehicle for making a delicious meal.

The primary technique behind a sheet-pan dinner is roasting. Ingredients, typically a protein and some other element of the meal — vegetables, potatoes, etc. — are placed on the baking sheet together and roasted in a hot oven. The heat seals in the juices and makes things crispy, and cooking everything together allows all the flavors to mingle. Easy, right?

It is, but only if you understand the ingredients you're roasting, and the time it will take to cook each element so you can make any necessary adjustments. For instance, shrimp is a terrific candidate for a sheet-pan dinner, but it only takes a few minutes to cook. If you arrange them on a pan with chunks of potatoes and toss them into the oven, you'll either have tragically overcooked shrimp and lovely roasted potatoes, or perfectly cooked shrimp and raw, crunchy (and not in a good way) potatoes.

To avoid the problem, you'll need to either precook denser ingredients, such as potatoes, carrots or beets, before adding in anything that might cook more quickly, like shrimp, pieces of chicken, pork chops, etc. Precooking can happen on the sheet pan itself by simply staggering the cooking times, placing some ingredients in the oven before adding others, or cooking them a bit before they go into the oven, as we did in today's recipe for Sheet Pan Lemon Dijon Chicken Thighs with Smashed Potatoes.

Parboiled potatoes are smashed before roasting on the sheet pan at 450 degrees with Dijon mustard-coated chicken thighs, lemon halves and garlic cloves. The potatoes get a nice start at browning while the chicken is cooking. When the chicken is perfectly done, it's transferred to a serving platter to rest, and the potatoes go back into the oven to finish cooking.

A simple, surprisingly creamy sauce is made by whisking together the accumulated juices from the chicken, roasted garlic and roasted lemon, which has become mellow and slightly sweet in the roasting process.

In the end, one sheet pan produces crispy-skinned, juicy chicken thighs, crunchy-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside potatoes and a quick-and-easy sauce with a sophisticated flavor. Take your time and enjoy a leisurely meal, because the cleanup will be quick and easy.

Serves 4 to 6.

Note: Roasting the chicken at a high temperature with smashed potatoes gives you both juicy chicken and crispy potatoes. Lemon juice, sweet from roasting, is mixed with roasted garlic and drizzled over the chicken just before serving for a nice hit of brightness. From Meredith Deeds.

• 5 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

• 1 1/2 lb. mixed small Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed

• 1 1/4 tsp. salt, divided

• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, divided

• 6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

• 1 tsp. grated lemon zest

• 1 lemon, halved

• 8 cloves garlic, unpeeled

• 1 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and set rack in upper-middle position. Spray an 18- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Brush 1 tablespoon olive oil on the bottom of the baking sheet.

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a skewer, but not falling apart. Drain the potatoes and place on sheet pan. With the bottom of a glass or measuring cup, press the potatoes until they are each about 1/2 inch thick (they will break open). Drizzle the potatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Season both sides of the chicken with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Arrange the chicken around the edges of the baking pan, and then arrange the potatoes around the chicken. Add the lemon halves and garlic cloves to the baking sheet.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon olive oil with the mustard and lemon zest. Brush mixture on the top of the chicken.

Roast the chicken and potatoes for 25 to 30 minutes, turning just the potatoes after 15 minutes. When the chicken has become nicely browned and is cooked through, transfer the chicken, lemon halves and garlic to a serving plate.

While the chicken is resting, place the potatoes back in the oven and continue roasting for another 4 to 8 minutes, until brown and crispy.

Meanwhile, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their peels and into a small bowl and mash with a fork until smooth. Pour any accumulated juices from the plate with the chicken into the bowl and whisk, with 1 tablespoon roasted lemon juice, the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary.

Transfer the potatoes to the serving platter with the chicken. Serve with the lemon garlic sauce on the side.

Meredith Deeds is a cookbook author and food writer from Edina. Reach her at meredithdeeds@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram ­at @meredithdeeds.