Roasted Chicken and Beets with Noodles

A simple, easy, and healthy one pan meal, these juicy roasted chicken bites with beets and noodles are done in under 60 minutes and will make everyone in the family squeal with delight! It's fun and kid-friendly, too, because the whole meal turns bright red as it bakes in the oven.

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Besides delicious, I don't exactly know what to call this recipe.

I have mentioned before my love of beets. I grew up eating my Grandma's homemade and home-canned pickled beets.

How I love me those pickled beets!

Our CSA has been bursting with beets this summer, and we were looking for ways to eat them beyond plain old roasted beets (which are still AWESOME, but my family got tired of them {not me, I never get tired of beets}).

The recipe below is what we came up with. It was so delicious that I ate it for every meal (even breakfast) until it was all gone.

What you need to make oven roasted chicken with beets and noodles

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Ingredients:

• Beets, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks - Some people swear by roasting beets whole, wrapped in foil. I personally hate this method as it takes hours to cook them through and then you still have to peel and cut the darn things.
  My preferred method is to wash and peel the beets, then chop them into bite-sized pieces and roast the small pieces. They cook much faster this way.
• Large onions, chopped - I prefer sweet onions, but use what you like.
• Chicken, cut into 2-inch pieces - You can choose white or dark meat; I like how the neutral flavor of the chicken lets the beets really shine. You'll want to leave your chicken pieces on the larger side though. If they are too small, they will be done and dried out before the beets are fully cooked through. The chicken pieces should be at least twice the size of the beet pieces.
• Balsamic vinaigrette - Our favorite salad dressing by far is Chef Tim's Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette which you can get on Amazon or directly thought the Chef Tim website. No one asked me to endorse his dressing; it's just our favorite.
• Egg noodles, cooked and drained - Any noodles or pasta will work. I'm not really sure why I chose egg noodles except that my mom used them a lot when she was alive.
• Feta cheese - Beets are synonymous with balsamic vinaigrette and feta cheese for me. You can't have one without the others.

Does it have to be beets?

We can't be friends if you don't like beets.

If you can't get beets for whatever reason, you could make this with other root vegetables such as turnips, carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, or sweet and/or white potatoes. But of course, don't forget the onions.

I haven't tried it, but I think this recipe would also be quite good with a winter squash such as butternut or even pumpkin. The noodles won't turn red, but you have to make concessions sometimes.

Won't the chicken dry out?

If you cut the chicken pieces too small, yes, they will dry out. The best way around this is to increase the balsamic vinaigrette and put the chicken in the casserole dish first. Then, don't stir the layers at all. Just let the chicken sit in the salad dressing and cook in the liquid. That will hopefully keep it juicy rather than letting it get dried out.

If you find that your chicken is consistently dried out when you make this recipe, it is possible that your oven gets hotter than mine and you can either adjust the temperature down a bit or pre-bake your beets for about 30 minutes before adding the chicken and onions. If you do this, you will be able to cook the chicken for less time. Just make sure you use a meat thermometer to ensure that the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF.

How to make roasted chicken with beets and noodles

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1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Layer the beets, onions, and chicken over the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Pour vinaigrette over the mixture and toss until all of the pieces are coated. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
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3. Remove pan from oven. Stir the beets, onions, and chicken. Add more vinaigrette if the mixture looks dry.
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4. Bake an additional 30 minutes or until the beets are tender and chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165ºF.
5. When the beets and chicken are cooked through, stir the prepared noodles into the beet mixture.
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6. To serve, sprinkle generously with additional balsamic vinaigrette and feta cheese crumbles.

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