Sweet & Spicy Chicken with Arugula Mashed Potatoes
Most mashed potato sides do one thing. This one folds two handfuls of raw arugula into the hot mash, where the leaves wilt just enough to lose their bite and cherry tomatoes push pockets of sweetness through every forkful.
On top, chicken strips coated in honey, garlic, paprika, and a pinch of chili, baked at 210°C until sticky and browned. The pan drippings go right over the plate. 555 kcal, 28g of protein, 25 minutes.
Most mashed potato sides do one thing. This one folds two handfuls of raw arugula into the hot mash, where the leaves wilt just enough to lose their bite and cherry tomatoes push pockets of sweetness through every forkful.
On top, chicken strips coated in honey, garlic, paprika, and a pinch of chili, baked at 210°C until sticky and browned. The pan drippings go right over the plate. 555 kcal, 28g of protein, 25 minutes.
Ingredients
- garlic 1 clove
- chicken breast 3 ounces
- potato 0.5 pound
- cherry tomatoes 10 pieces
- olive oil 1.5 tablespoon
- honey 0.5 tablespoon
- paprika (ground spice) 0.5 teaspoon
- chili powder 1 pinch
- milk, 2% reduced fat 1 tablespoon
- arugula 2 handfuls
Method
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Preheat the oven to 400°F (210°C).
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Chop the garlic. Cut the chicken into strips. Cut the potatoes and tomatoes into pieces.
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Mix the olive oil with the garlic, honey, paprika powder, chili powder, salt and pepper. Combine the oil mixture with the chicken.
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Spread the chicken on a baking tray. Place the baking tray in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the chicken is browned and cooked through.
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Meanwhile, cook the potatoes for 12-15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and mash them with a potato masher. Mix the potatoes with the milk, arugula, and the tomatoes.
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Serve the sweet and spicy chicken with the mashed potatoes. Drizzle it with the cooking liquid from the chicken.
Spread the chicken strips in a single layer with gaps between pieces. The honey in the marinade needs direct oven heat to caramelize. Piled-up strips steam instead of browning.
Behind this recipe
Is 28g of protein enough for a single meal?
More recent research has pushed back on the 20 to 30g per meal ceiling. A systematic review looking at controlled feeding trials found that how much protein you eat across the whole day predicts muscle outcomes better than any per-meal number. At 28g from chicken breast, this meal lands comfortably within what the evidence supports for a single sitting.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I use sweet potato instead of regular potato?
Yes. Sweet potato mashes just as well and pairs nicely with the arugula. Keep the pieces small so they finish in 12 to 15 minutes alongside the chicken. The macros shift slightly, a bit less starch and a touch more fiber, but the meal stays in a similar range.
Why mix raw arugula into the mash instead of cooking it separately?
The residual heat from freshly mashed potatoes wilts the arugula just enough to soften its peppery bite without cooking it flat. Stirring it in while the mash is still hot keeps the color bright green and gives the texture a slight crunch that fully cooked greens lose.
