Serves a Crowd

All-in-One Sheet-Pan Brown Rice with Sweet Potato and Broccoli Rabe

by:
November 14, 2017
4
14 Ratings
All-in-One Sheet-Pan Brown Rice with Sweet Potato and Broccoli Rabe
Photo by Rocky Luten
  • Serves 4 to 6
Author Notes

This recipe uses a reliable, forgiving method for cooking grains on a sheet pan in the oven—a huge win for weeknight (or holiday) cooking. Plus, when you cook the rice on the same pan where you just roasted vegetables and sautéed alliums, you'll channel all of that collective flavor straight into your grains. So where other grains salads can be bland and one-note, this one builds flavor at every step of the way. —Sarah Jampel

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch broccoli rabe, trimmed of woody ends
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and roughly cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • Salt, for seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 1 small bunch scallions, light and green parts thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 cups long-grain brown rice, tossed with 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 3 cups free-range chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup hazelnuts
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley
  • 1/4 cup finely grated pecorino (or more, to taste)
Directions
  1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower positions, place a rimmed sheet pan on each rack to warm up, and heat the oven to 400° F.
  2. When the oven is hot, toss the broccoli rabe with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, then divide onto the hot baking sheets and spread with a spoon. It should sizzle.
  3. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring once, until tender and charred. Transfer to a bowl and return baking sheets to the oven. Sprinkle broccoli rabe with 1 teaspoon or so of lemon juice from the halved lemon.
  4. Mix the sweet potatoes with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika. Spread onto the hot baking sheets and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring once, until charred in places and tender throughout. Transfer to the bowl with the broccoli rabe.
  5. Lower the oven temperature to 350° F. Add the sliced scallions to one of the still-hot baking sheets (you can remove the other from the oven but leave it dirty—you’ll use that later). Roast for 5 to 7 minutes, until wilted. Next, add the oil-tossed rice, stirring to incorporate the scallions and any roasty bits from the baking sheet.
  6. Carefully pour the chicken broth over the rice and stir in the liquid. Use oven mitts to cover the sheet with aluminum foil and crimp it around the edges. Bake for 35 minutes, until the rice is cooked through. In the last 10 minutes of baking time, add the hazelnuts to the other tray and toast until deeply golden brown. Rub off the skins in a dish towel, if you’d like, then roughly chop.
  7. When the rice is cooked through, remove the sheet pan from the oven and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove the foil, fluff with a fork, then transfer to the bowl with the sweet potato and broccoli rabe. Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Mix in parsley, pecorino, and hazelnuts, reserving some of each for the top.
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14 Reviews

Catherine N.
Catherine N. February 1, 2024
Annoying number of steps. How do you keep the first items cooked warm? No liquid so it’s dry too. The perils of not reading the reviews!
 
Sasha
Sasha January 20, 2024
I thought this recipe was delicious, filling, and so healthy - but way to finicky as written. Building on other reviews, a couple suggestions to make this close to a true 1-pan meal: (1) while I do love Rabe, I find broccoli florets roast for the same amount of time as chopped sweet potato, so put both in a single pan and roast for the same amount of time. Set a timer for 10mins before the veggies will be done (for me 15-20mins @ 425), and then add alliums of choice and hazelnuts with a dollop more olive oil, toss and roast another 10mins. (2) cook grain of choice (I used farro) in the usual way, timing it to be done at the same time as the veggies. Use broth for better flavor. (3) pull the pan of veggies out of the oven and add the cooked grains, dash of olive oil, and lemon juice to the pan and toss well , still getting the grains to pick up the pan flavors and charred bits. Serve from the pan into bowls and season as you like (I didn't like the cheese flavor so omitted it the 2nd time I made this while upping the nuts for more crunch and protein and adding red pepper flakes - perfect vegan dish!). Voila. I made this in 30mins flat and it was perfect.
 
LynnB
LynnB August 24, 2023
I wish I’d read the reviews first. Not a quick meal, unnecessarily complicated cooking instructions for a simple meal. Cook the rice separately on the stove and/or before the vegetables. Another disappointing recipe from Food52.
 
Taylor S.
Taylor S. August 31, 2019
very tasty but i agree with the other reviewers - this isn’t a “one-pan” meal. however it is easy to assemble if you cook the rice on the stove and roast the veggies in the oven. once the veggies are out i put the scallions and hazelnuts in to char/toast for a few minutes. from there it’s easy assembly!
 
Tony
Tony May 14, 2019
I found this recipe in an article that listed “Easy week night meals.” This is definitely not an easy time saving meal. It takes forever and we used a ton of dishes to cook it. If this ends up being fabulous, I’ll post an update. Otherwise, think twice before trying this recipe.
 
Pat
Pat April 17, 2019
This turned out really well! Thank you for the recipe. I added chicken sausage for some protein and it tasted great.

I'm normally a fan of one-pan dinners, but this recipe seemed to be bending over backwards to fall into that category. Not sure just how much folks may hate doing dishes, but if you're up for tending a stovetop and oven at once, you can save yourself at least half the prep time. Here's what I did and it took less than an hour start to finish:
- Roast sweet potatoes and rabe on two separate trays, but at the same time (rabe comes out first). When you take the rabe out, use that tray to toast hazelnuts.
- Saute scallions
- Cook rice however you normally cook rice
 
Ann
Ann February 14, 2019
I literally can't quit eating this. Perfect balance of savory/sweet and nutty. I didn't have hazelnuts so subbed pecans and it was terrific.
 
Dave T.
Dave T. February 11, 2019
Made this tonight, all went to plan, took longer than the recipe times to cook, maybe help if timings given for fan ovens and conventional ovens.
We loved it, eat the lot, the rice was spot on and uber delicious in 30 minutes.
Ditched the nuts, can’t imagine why you’d want those, might swap the sweet potato for Squash and have the rice with flaked salmon next. Great recipe.
 
Mathew H.
Mathew H. January 29, 2019
This was good. Made it with broccoli instead of broccoli rabe as my local grocery store was out. Also ditched the hazelnuts, and didn't think it needed the cheese.

My biggest issue was the sheet pan. It felt like this was trying to fit into a trend, and the cooking time was made much longer for it. Why not just make the rice on stovetop while roasting the vegetables? This could have been done in half the time - clutch on a weeknight.
 
Anne W.
Anne W. December 29, 2018
In the process of making this tonight. I hope it's good because it has taken 2 hours thus far, and I just checked the rice, and it isn't cooked. Frustrated.
 
Tina T.
Tina T. December 10, 2017
do you have suggestions for what can be used instead of hazelnuts for someone with nut & seed allergies?
 
Sarah J.
Sarah J. December 10, 2017
Toasted breadcrumbs!
 
Tina T.
Tina T. December 10, 2017
ah! excellent! thanks!
 
nampla
nampla December 1, 2017
Couldn't you use an inverted sheet pan over the top versus foil? Seems less awkward and maybe a bit safer?