If I could write an ode to any piece of cookware or kitchen tool, I wouldn’t praise a fancy appliance. I love my stand mixer, extra-capacious food processor and high-speed blender, and I’m newly smitten with my air fryer. The item that gets my top billing is fairly pedestrian and one you probably already have in your kitchen. She’s inexpensive; she’s not showy; she’s downright homely looking. But she is mighty — and used to being underestimated and underappreciated.
She is a sheet pan.
I love sheet pans so much, I wrote an entire cookbook dedicated to them with my friend Sanaë Lemoine. “Hot Sheet: Sweet and Savory Sheet Pan Recipes for Every Day and Celebrations” includes recipes for breakfasts, snacks, appetizers, mains and desserts. There are predictable dishes, such as chicken thighs and a slab of fish to feed a crowd. And recipes you may not have thought about, such as sheet-pan “fried” rice, herby frittata, a stewy tagine, mac and cheese with loads of crispy bits (the best part), slab pizza, crispy ramen, fish tacos, a chicken “stir-fry” and mille-feuille, to name a few.
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The seed for the book was planted in the summer of 2020 — the first year of the pandemic — as The Washington Post’s Food team was trying to brainstorm the best way to cover Thanksgiving in an unprecedented time. No one was traveling, and no one was having people over. But the holiday is so important to so many that we wanted to help our readers celebrate, albeit in a smaller, less work-intensive way. My suggestion — a sheet-pan Thanksgiving — struck a chord with my colleagues, and with readers, too.
After that, I couldn’t stop thinking, “What else can I make on a sheet pan?” I started playing around with various recipe ideas, to see whether adapting them for a sheet pan would make life easier and tastier — and leave fewer dishes to clean. A sheet-pan quesadilla meant that I didn’t have to stand and make individual ones and that we could all sit down to eat at the same time. While the quesadilla was in the oven quesadilla-ing, I made myself a cocktail, threw together pico de gallo, sliced some avocados and set out other fun toppings for our dinner. It took about half an hour.
At the end of the meal, cleaning the sheet pan was a breeze.
Get the recipe: Sheet Pan Quesadilla
Even a layer cake comes together faster and easier with the help of a sheet pan. Bake the cake layer in one sheet pan, cut it in half (or thirds if you like) and stack the pieces on top of one another with frosting in between. Or leave the cake in a single layer, and top with frosting, for easier, but no less tasty, presentation.
Get the recipe: Sheet Pan Chocolate Cake With Cherries and Mascarpone Whipped Cream
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I realized what I wanted was a comprehensive cookbook using sheet pans, but such a book didn’t yet exist. And if I wanted it, I would have to write it, which I did — largely because I am a harried working adult with a family to feed and figured there are others out there like me. While the meal is in the oven, I can help my son with his homework, feed the dog and cat, maybe declutter a messy part of the house that’s bothering me, or just sit down and enjoy a glass of wine.
I shared my sheet-pan thoughts with Sanaë, a novelist and former cookbook editor. “Would you buy a cookbook on this?” I asked her. “Yes!” she immediately wrote back. And within days, Sanaë was sending me so many delicious-sounding recipe ideas, I thought it would be fun to write this cookbook together.
Sheet pans, to me, are unique in their approachability, adaptability and affordability. They can be used by all types of cooks: those just starting out in the kitchen, college students on limited budgets, busy working professionals or those who may not be able to lift a heavy pot or Dutch oven, to name a few.
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So first things first: Let’s define what a sheet pan is.
A sheet pan is a baking sheet that’s wide and shallow, with about a 1-inch rim around its perimeter. Those low sides and ample surface area encourage airflow and browning. They are excellent roasting vessels. Sheet pans are the underestimated, underappreciated workhorses of your kitchen. They’ll never win the “best looking” award, but they probably hold the “most versatile” title.
What kind of sheet pans are best, and how many do you need?
Most home cooks do best with half-sheet (13-by-18-inch) and quarter-sheet (13-by-9-inch) sizes. The latter is especially useful for smaller ovens or when cooking several things at once.
I recommend starting with two half-sheet pans and one quarter-sheet pan, but I’ve discovered that, like gas expanding to fill the space it’s in, no matter how many sheet pans I have — six half-sheets and two quarter-sheets, if we’re counting — I could always use at least one more. Luckily, they stack neatly, take up little space and are virtually indestructible. (More on that later.)
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When shopping for sheet pans, look for thick metal — aluminum or aluminized steel — with a heavy gauge (13 to 18 gauge). (It’s counterintuitive, but the higher the gauge, the thinner the sheet pan.) My go-to brands are Nordic Ware and Chicago Metallic, both widely available and affordable. I don’t recommend nonstick or dark sheet pans: The coating may scratch and ruin the quality of the sheet pan, and the dark color may skew cooking time.
How to care for your sheet pans
My preferred way to clean sheet pans is to hand-wash them in hot, soapy water, dry them immediately and put them away, but you can also let them dry on a rack.
Over time and with lots of use and love, your sheet pans might develop dark brown spots and patina. To me, that’s a sign of a well-used pan — a reminder of many delicious meals — and I think of my darkened, spotted pans as heirlooms. But if the discoloration bothers you, a little elbow grease and some Bon Ami or Bar Keepers Friend will help restore your sheet pans to their patina-free glory. For things that are really stuck on a pan, a 30-minute soak usually does the trick. You can also put sheet pans in a dishwasher, but they might develop a dull gray patina; it won’t change the quality, but the look will be different. For more cleaning tips and care for sheet pans, my colleague Becky Krystal wrote a handy piece.
If you’re cooking something especially greasy or sticky and want to minimize cleanup, you can line the sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.
Other tips
- A trick I learned from Ina Garten is to grease the sheet pan with a little oil and sprinkle it lightly with salt before you place the food, so everything you put on the pan gets a little seasoning on the bottom. You then can drizzle more oil and sprinkle salt on top and lightly shake the pan to combine the ingredients. No need to use your hands to toss everything together.
- Chilling rice: Spread the cooked rice in an even layer, transfer to the fridge to quickly chill, then transfer to the freezer.
- Drying washed produce: Line a sheet pan with a clean kitchen towel and spread rinsed, drained berries, grapes or similar-size fruits and vegetables to dry before storing.
- Use quarter-sheet pans (or even eighth-sheet pans) to organize items in your fridge — by type, such as condiments; by meal (group ingredients you plan to cook together on a given day of the week); or however you prefer. Or use them when grilling, as trays to transport things outside and back.
And you can even use a sheet pan to shield yourself from the rain, as Sanaë did once. Is there anything a sheet pan can’t do?
correction
A previous version of this story misstated the preferred metal for sheet pans. They should be aluminum or aluminized steel. This version has been corrected.
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