Ottolenghi's Roast Chicken with Za'atar and Sumac

Name: Ottolenghi's Roast Chicken with Za'atar and Sumac
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 8 chicken thighs with skin and bones, trimmed of excess fat and loose skin; 2 red onions, thinly sliced; 1 lemon, thinly sliced; 2 large cloves of garlic, crushed; 5 tbsp olive oil, divided; 2 tablespoons za'atar plus more to taste; 1 tablespoon sumac; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 cup chicken broth; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste; 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted (see directions below); 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

February 3, 2024 by Lisa Goldfinger 103 Comments This post may contain affiliate links

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Here's an amazing roast chicken recipe from chef Yotam Ottolenghi. Chicken thighs are spiced with za'atar and sumac, tossed with onions, lemons and garlic, and roasted. This is a great dinner party recipe because you can do all the prep ahead. The chicken is tender and juicy and the flavors are fantastically delicious!

I love how quickly and easily this recipe comes together. Just throw everything into a big bowl to marinate. You can do this step several hours or up to a day ahead. Then transfer everything into a baking pan and roast.

The Perfect Dinner Party Recipe

My definition of a perfect dinner party recipe is a dish that will totally wow the crowd without stressing out the cook. This roast chicken recipe fits that description. Plus it's a beautiful looking dish with the contrasting colors of the roasted red onions, lemons and toppings of parsley and pine nuts.

I just love this dish. Whenever I serve it, my guests go back for seconds and I get lots of requests for the recipe. It's a great one to have in the cooking repertoire!

How to make Ottolenghi's Roast Chicken

This is an overview of the recipe - for full details and directions, scroll down the the recipe card at the bottom of this post

Slice two red onions and one lemon. Throw them into a big bowl.
Add all the other ingredients: Chicken thighs, spices, olive oil and two crushed garlic cloves
Toss the chicken with all the marinade ingredients. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge for at least three hours.
Preheat the oven to 400°F/200ºC. Transfer the chicken and all the marinade ingredients to a baking pan large enough to hold all the chicken pieces without overlapping.
Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through.
Turn the oven up to broil/grill for the last few minutes of cooking, until the chicken skin is crisp and golden brown.
Garnish with chopped parsley and toasted pine nuts. You can toast them up while the chicken is roasting.

plastic bowl filled with chicken thighs, red onions, spices, lemons and garlic.

I made a few minor tweaks to the original Ottolenghi roast chicken recipe.

Instead of chicken quarters I used only thighs, just a personal preference.
I omitted allspice from my recipe (Ottolenghi uses 1½ teaspoons). I tried it with and without and found the allspice too dominant. I prefer to let wonderful flavors of sumac and za'atar shine through.
Also, I discovered that roasting the chicken in a deep roasting pan resulted in juicier chicken and more delicious gravy vs roasting it in a shallow rimmed baking sheet.
The skin doesn't brown as much in the deeper pan but If you're set on crispy skin, simply turn on the broiler/grill for the last few minutes of cooking time until the skin is crisp and brown to your liking.

Baking pan with 5 cooked chicken thighs topped with lemon, red onions, pine nuts and spices.

Ottolenghi has been one of my chef-heroes for years. When I lived in London, his home city, I found myself wanting to cook his beautiful Middle Eastern recipes more than ever. I brought very few cookbooks with me overseas but my entire Ottolenghi cookbook collection made the cut.

This roast chicken recipe comes from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook - his first cookbook and one of my favorites.

If you are an Ottolenghi fan, don't miss these other delicious Ottolenghi recipes on Panning The Globe:

If you try this Ottolenghi roast chicken recipe I hope you come back to leave a rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!

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