Holiday Sheet Pan Chicken With Herb Demi Pan Sauce

We love a big holiday centerpiece roast. A standing rib roast on Christmas is magic. The reality is that most of December is filled with casual family dinners, visiting relatives, and “hey, everyone is coming over tonight” meals. Those nights still deserve food that feels special, without hours in the kitchen.

This sheet pan chicken is built for exactly that. It gives you crackly skin, caramelized winter vegetables, and a glossy herb demi pan sauce that tastes like a restaurant roast dinner, all on one pan.

What Makes This Sheet Pan Chicken Feel Like A Feast

At its core, this is a classic sheet pan dinner built on a few smart decisions.

• Bone in, skin on chicken pieces roast beautifully at high heat. The bones and skin protect the meat and create more flavorful drippings for the sauce.
• A bed of winter vegetables turns the pan into a full meal. Potatoes, carrots, onions, and Brussels sprouts all love time in a hot oven. The edges crisp, the centers turn soft and sweet.
• Herbs, garlic, and citrus keep everything in the holiday lane without being fussy. Think rosemary, thyme, and sage, plus a bit of lemon.
• Demi in the pan sauce is the trick that lifts the whole meal. Instead of trying to build flavor from a splash of stock, the sauce starts from a concentrated base. It tastes like a roast that has been tended for hours, while everyone actually sat and talked.

Why We Reach For Bone In, Skin On Chicken

There are a few reasons this style of chicken works so well:

• Dark meat is forgiving. It can handle a slightly longer roast without drying out.
• Skin renders and crisps, which gives you both texture and rich, savory fat for the vegetables.
• Bones contribute to flavor in the pan juices that later become the sauce.

If a mixed platter looks more appealing on the table, feel free to combine thighs and drumsticks. Just keep everything in a similar size range so it roasts evenly.

How Demi Glace Turns Pan Juices Into A Holiday Worthy Sauce

Demi is essentially stock that has already done the work. Reduced, thickened with natural gelatin, seasoned gently, and ready to slip into a pan.

In this recipe, demi works like a cheat code:

• The chicken and vegetables roast and leave behind a layer of browned bits and fat on the pan.
• Once they come off the pan, a splash of wine or stock loosens those browned bits.
• A spoon or two of demi goes in and melts into the liquid.
• A small knob of cold butter at the end makes everything glossy and silky.

The result is a sauce that tastes like it took all day, built in a few minutes, with one pan and one jar.

Ingredients

This is written for about 6 servings. Scale up as needed in the notes at the end.

For The Chicken And Vegetables

• 8 bone in, skin on chicken thighs, or a mix of thighs and drumsticks
• 1½ to 2 pounds small potatoes, halved if large
• 3 medium carrots, cut into chunky pieces
• 1 large yellow onion, cut into thick wedges
• 1 cup Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For The Herb Demi Pan Sauce

• Pan drippings from the sheet pan
• 1 to 2 tablespoons Offcuts Kitchen Pasture Raised Chicken Demi Glace
• ½ cup dry white wine or chicken stock
• 1 to 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• A squeeze of lemon juice or a teaspoon of mild vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Step By Step: Holiday Sheet Pan Chicken With Herb Demi Pan Sauce

Step 1 – Mix The Herb Butter And Prep The Pan

1. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a large, heavy sheet pan with parchment for easier cleanup if you like.
2. In a small bowl, mix the softened butter with garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, lemon zest, a pinch of salt, and a little pepper.
3. Add the potatoes, carrots, onion, and Brussels sprouts to the sheet pan. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper until everything is lightly coated, then spread into a mostly even layer with a few gaps.

The vegetables will shrink as they roast. Leaving small open spaces helps the chicken make contact with the pan so the skin can crisp.

Step 2 – Season The Chicken

1. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Dry skin is one key to crisp skin.
2. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper.
3. Rub the herb butter all over the chicken pieces, making sure some gets under the skin and some stays on top.
4. Nestle the chicken pieces directly on the pan so they touch the metal in a few spots rather than sitting entirely on top of the vegetables.

Step 3 – Roast Until Deeply Golden

1. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces and your oven.
2. Halfway through, rotate the pan front to back to help everything brown evenly.
3. The chicken is done when the skin is deep golden, the juices run clear, and an instant read thermometer in the thickest part of a thigh reads at least 165°F. The vegetables should be tender and caramelized around the edges.

If the vegetables ever look like they need a little more time, the chicken can come off the pan and rest while the vegetables get a few extra minutes.

Step 4 – Make The Herb Demi Pan Sauce

This is where everything comes together.

1. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a warm platter and tent loosely with foil.
2. Tilt the pan and spoon off some of the excess fat, leaving the browned bits and a thin layer of fat behind.
3. Place the sheet pan across two burners on the stove over medium heat. If that feels awkward, scrape everything into a wide skillet instead.
4. Pour in the wine or ½ cup stock. As it simmers, use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up all the browned bits from the pan.
5. Stir in 1 tablespoon of chicken demi until it dissolves. Taste the sauce. If you want more intensity, add another half to one tablespoon.
6. If you want more volume, add up to another ½ cup of stock and simmer for a minute or two until slightly thickened.
7. Turn off the heat. Add the cold butter and swirl or whisk until the sauce turns glossy.
8. Finish with a squeeze of lemon or a splash of mild vinegar to brighten the flavor, then taste and adjust salt and pepper.

The sauce should lightly coat the back of a spoon. If it feels too thick, splash in a little more stock. If it feels thin, simmer for another minute.

Step 5 – Serve Family Style

1. Spoon a little sauce over the chicken and vegetables on the platter.
2. Pour the rest into a small pitcher or bowl for the table.

Set the platter in the middle, add a simple green salad and some bread, and let people help themselves. This style of serving suits the holidays well. It feels generous and relaxed at the same time.

How To Scale This Dinner For A Bigger Crowd

Holiday gatherings grow quickly. Cousins arrive. Neighbors drop by. A sheet pan recipe should flex with that.

• For 8 to 10 people, plan on about 1½ to 2 pieces of chicken per adult and 1 per child, plus extra vegetables.
• Use two sheet pans if you go beyond about 8 pieces of chicken and a full layer of vegetables. Crowded pans steam instead of brown.
• Roast the pans on two racks. Swap their positions halfway through so everything cooks evenly.

For the pan sauce:

• You can either make a separate batch of sauce using drippings from one pan, or scrape drippings from both pans into one skillet and build a larger batch at once.

Make Ahead, Leftovers, And Shortcuts

December is busy. Anything that can be set up ahead of time is a gift to future you.

What To Prep Ahead

• Chop the vegetables up to a day in advance and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
• Mix the herb butter up to three days in advance and keep it chilled. Bring it back toward room temperature so it spreads easily on the chicken.
• Measure out the demi so it is ready to go when the pan hits the stove. For more ideas on using the rest of the jar, see What to Do and How to Cook with Demi-Glace.

On the day, you are just assembling everything on the pan, sliding it into a hot oven, and making the sauce.

Which Demi Should We Use Here

Pasture Raised Chicken Demi Glace is the first choice for this recipe. It matches the flavor of the roast, keeps the sauce light in color, and tastes like the best pan gravy your family has ever had.

Beef demi will work too if that is what you have on hand. The sauce will taste more like a steakhouse red wine reduction. That can be wonderful, just a bit deeper and darker on the plate.