Chicken Drumsticks and Roasted Vegetables | AIP Paleo One-Pan Dinner

Welcome! Thanks for dropping in today to see what’s happening at Flawed yet Functional. I am a Type 1 Diabetic managing my blood sugar levels through diet, exercise, and healthy habits without additional insulin. Through an elimination diet called the Autoimmune Protocol, I’ve been able to identify the trigger of my autoimmune disease (gluten) as well as other gut irritants (dairy and eggs, so far!). I love to cook so it has become natural for me to create recipes that fit in my diet, are delicious to eat, and don’t require all day in the kitchen! Today I’d like to show you an easy one-pan dinner, Chicken Drumsticks and Roasted Vegetables.

Who Buys Drumsticks Anymore?

A couple shopping trips ago, Costco was out of chicken thighs. Are you shocked? I was. This never happens. I needed chicken for meals I had planned that week, so I bought drumsticks instead. They were so delicious! What a happy accident! With the extra drumsticks, I whipped up this easy, one-pan dinner one weeknight.

Note: Yes, I shop at Costco for meat. Organic, free-range would be my first choice, but I have a budget to keep too. I buy the cleanest ingredients that I can afford, and I would encourage you to do the same. Don’t get down on yourself if you can’t do all the things, all the time. Just do what you are able. If the budget relaxes someday, I’ll buy higher quality meat! Cooking from-scratch meals with whole foods without preservatives will go a long way to improve your health.

Cooking Tips

Even though this recipe takes an hour to get to the table, that is not all active cooking time. Once the prep is done and the dish is in the oven, set a timer and walk away. Very little babysitting is required! Bonus: it’s harder to burn things in the oven than it is on the stove-top!

There is one trick to cooking this best. The vegetables usually take longer to bake than the meat, so I toss the pan with just veggies on it into the oven first for 10-15 minutes. Then I take the pan out, arrange the meat on top and stick it back in the oven until the meat and vegetables are fully cooked. So I guess that is a little babysitting, but only a little.

Chicken drumsticks and roasted vegetables is a testament to AIP/Paleo meals don’t have to be complicated or take hours in the kitchen. Can you make phenomenal meals that are both of those? Yes! I choose to do complicated meals sometimes, but as a mom of young kids juggling multiple things at once, I need easy dinners too. For me, the best recipe for a healthy dinner is 1 protein + 1 starchy vegetable + 1 low-carb vegetable. Chicken Drumsticks and Roasted Vegetables follows this formula. Experiment with it and you will find easy, healthy dinners for your family too!

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Chicken Drumsticks and Roasted Vegetables

This easy, one-pan dinner is AIP, Paleo, and kid-friendly. Who doesn't like handheld meat? Fewer dishes and less babysitting as it cooks make this dish a winner for a busy weeknight dinner!

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine AIP, Kid-friendly, Low-Carb, Paleo

Keyword Dairy-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Grain-free, One-Pan

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings 5

Calories 460 kcal

Author Emily Stauch

Ingredients

• 3 medium sweet potatoes peeled and large cubed
• 1 lb. brussel sprouts trimmed and halved
• 1-1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil more as needed
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. dried ground sage
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 10 chicken drumsticks, skin on
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• sea salt to taste
• ground pepper to taste (omit for AIP)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400° and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop into large cubes. The sweet potatoes will cook faster than the Brussels sprouts so they need to be cut into larger pieces.

3. Trim off any loose leaves and the stem from the Brussels sprouts then cut in half.

4. Add sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and spices. Stir to evenly coat.

5. Arrange vegetables in a single layer on the lined baking sheet. Put in oven and bake for 15 minutes.

6. While the vegetables pre-bake, drizzle additional olive oil, salt, and pepper over the drumsticks. Rub the oil and spices all over the skin and meat. 

7. Remove the vegetables from the oven and place drumstick on the pan. Make sure the drumsticks are not touching each other.

8. Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes or until vegetables are to desired softness and chicken registers 165°.

Recipe Notes

**One serving of two drumsticks plus 1/5th of vegetables has 18 net carbs.**