This aromatic fruity Pumpkin Spice Chicken Traybake with Apple and Rooibos recipe is super easy to make, perfect for entertaining.
PUMPKIN SPICE CHICKEN TRAYBAKE
I am a huge fan of pumpkin spice and use it in all sorts of dishes, both sweet and savoury. It works really well in this Pumpkin Spice Skinny Cupcakes with Lemon Icing recipe. But it’s equally delicious in this Turkey Shepherds Pie with Pumpkin and Spiralized Potato. And today I am sharing a super quick and easy Pumpkin Spice Chicken Traybake with Apple and Rooibos.
There are some ingredients I love to experiment with and use in unconventional ways and rooibos is certainly one of them. Yes, I know it’s tea, so it’s meant to be a beverage, mainly, though it can be more than that, as this recipe proves. I have added loose rooibos leaves to the pumpkin spice spice mixture and created this super easy crispy sheet pan chicken recipe.
Rooibos is a very nutritious and tasty beverage which I enjoy in great quantities daily. For more information, including culinary uses of rooibos check out my brief post on What is Rooibos (Red Bush)? Facts and Recipes. Rooibos leaves are tiny and soft (not prickly though they look like they might be), perfect to combine with the pumpkin spice mixture and coat the chicken thighs in. My fragrant rooibos spice mix goes really well with the chicken as well as the sour autumn apple I also used in this recipe.
If you a fan of rooibos you may like this Rooibos (Redbush) Raspberry Iced Tea. Check out also this super easy to make Rooibos (Red Bush) Cranberry Tea Cake recipe!
We are in the apple season and bramley apples are great in so many desserts but they complement savoury dishes too. I left the skin on them so they would keep their shape better and also because the skin is an integral part of the deliciousness of bramley apples.
If you live outside the UK and can’t get bramley apples just use another sour variety.
This healthy chicken traybake is filled with sweet and sour notes and tastes delicious with a generous sprinkling of black pepper. It can be enjoyed on its own or with a side dish of quinoa, couscous or rice. (Don’t forget to add some fresh pomegranate seeds and chopped coriander)
Other easy chicken traybake recipes ideas you might like include this Spinach and Almond Stuffed Chicken Breast with Quinoa and Almonds. This easy meal idea is gluten free, nutritious and surprisingly easy to make. You might also like this Cauliflower Bulgur Wheat Casserole with Honey Chicken and Peaches.
Pumpkin Spice Chicken Traybake with Apple and Rooibos
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs patted dry, skin left on
- 1 and 1/2 or 2 bramley apples cut into quarters, cores removed
- 2 red onions peeled, cut into 6 parts each
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 2 rooibos teabags
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 4 garlic cloves peeled, whole
- 1/3 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/3 teaspoon nutmeg
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- Coriander and pomegranate seeds for garnish
Instructions
- In a small bowl empty the contents of the rooibos teabags, add the ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and enough seasoning for 4 chicken thighs. Mix thoroughly and tip onto a large plate. Coat only the skin side of the chicken thighs. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F/ 200 C/ gas mark 6. Place the apple pieces in a large baking tray. Set aside.
- In a frying pan heat up the oil and fry the chicken, skin side down only, on a medium/high heat for 5-6 minutes taking care not to burn it. This will get rid of most of the fat in the skin and crisp it up. 3 minutes into the cooking add the garlic and onion pieces (stir a few times as they are frying, but don't stir or turn the chicken over).
- Transfer everything into the baking tray placing the chicken skin side up, sprinkle any remaining spice mixture onto the vegetables, season the whole thing with salt and plenty of pepper, drizzle with a little olive oil and bake for 30 minutes (halfway through you can give the onions a little stir if you like but it's not necessary).
- Serve immediately with pomegranate seeds and freshly chopped coriander.
Pumpkin Spice Chicken Traybake with Apple and Rooibos recipe
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RECIPE LINK PARTIES
I am sharing this Rooibos Chicken with Autumn Apple with Simple And In Season and Gluten Free Fridays. Also sharing with Fiesta Friday and Saucy Saturdays.
Hi, I am Monika, welcome to Everyday Healthy Recipes! This blog is all about creatively simple recipes with a healthy twist, old classics with a modern take, and an occasional Polish dish thrown into the mix - all easy to make, healthy and delicious, perfect for everyday cooking. 
This really sounds appealing as I’m hugely into sweet and sour flavours… what gorgeous pictures too! Thanks so much for linking up with Simple and in Season this month 🙂
Thank you! I love to mix different flavours – making this dish was so much fun!
This is an excellent recipe. This dish is such a combination of wonderful flavors!!! It’s great since you can precook everything BEFORE your guests arrive, arrange everything nicely in your oven dish and then simply place the rooibos chicken in the oven while everyone is busy eating their starters! Just half an hour of baking and there you go!! I have just 2 comments to make for next time:
1. I suggest sprinkling the chicken with freshly chopped garlic right before putting everything in the oven rather than frying the garlic with the red onions (I found that my garlic started to burn too quickly before my onions were ready).
2. I suggest frying the onions a bit longer than suggested or even chopping them up into smaller pieces since some of my onion bits turned out almost raw despite the 30 minutes in the oven. Another solution would be to chop the onions into smaller pieces.
What a wonderful idea to use rooibos as a seasoning! My guests loved it!!!! And so did I!
Dziekuje bardzo za ten swietny pomysl laczenia smakow!!!
Thank you so much for all your comments and suggestions Krystyna! I can see how the garlic might start to overcook, though it didn’t in my oven, but ovens differ. The onions were ok for me but maybe I chopped them up more finely than you did yours. I think I like my onions to be quite firm after roasting. Thank you for making this recipe for your guests. I am so glad they liked it!
Laczenie smakow to moja pasja:)
A moja pasja to probowanie nowych potraw! I admire how creative you are! Next in line will be your roasted cauliflower and apple soup – sounds so delicious!
Thanks Krystyna! Do let me know what you think if you make it:)
Krystyna made this Rooibos Chicken again for some other guests – my husband and me! It was excellent!
Great! Thanks for letting me know, Marybeth:)
Rooibos is one of my favorite tea but I have never thought to use it for cooking, especially in a salty recipe! Thanks a lot for sharing, this is an awesome recipe!
Thank you so much! I’d never before used rooibos in seasoning either but I’ll definitely do it again.
What a fantastic idea! We love incorporating tea into dishes and this is a great way to use rooibos! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Thanks Kirsty! Rooibos can be more than just a beverage, I thought it deserved a place in my recipes too:)
Oh yum! This must be an amazingly fragrant dish! I have never heard of cooking with rooibos, but I am sure this is very delicious! Thanks so much for sharing with us at FF this week! 😀
Thank you! Though cooking with rooibos is probably not very common it’s a simple idea to add more goodness to your diet. And it tasted really yummy too:)
I’m really intrigued by this recipe. Never would have thought of using tea as a spice. The photos are just gorgeous and so colourful.
Thank you! I love rooibos so much I wanted to also include it in my cooking. Turns out it can be more than just tea:)
It’s such a fantastic idea!
I love this recipe, Monika! It looks wonderfully simple, and such great flavours 🙂 I love rooibos tea but have never though of cooking with…but I might now! Eb x
Thanks Eb! I’ve decided to treat rooibos not just as tea but also a spice. This recipe really was very simple:)