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!
The Perfect Dinner Party Recipe
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.
- 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.
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:
- Coconut Curry Red Lentil Soup by Ottolenghi
- Ottolenghi's Sweet and Spicy Brussels Sprouts
- Ottolenghi's Turkey Zucchini Meatballs with Lemony Yogurt Sauce
- Ottolenghi's Turkey Corn Meatballs with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- Ottolenghi's Lentil Salad with Herbs and Feta
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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PrintRecipe
Ottolenghi's Roast Chicken with Za'atar and Sumac
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
Delicious roast chicken thighs recipe with wonderful Middle Eastern flavors. An excellent dinner party recipe that can be prepped ahead of time and is worthy of a special occasion.
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 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 ½ teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
For The Topping:
- ⅓ cup pine nuts, toasted (see directions below)
- ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix chicken, onions, lemon, garlic, 4 tablespoons olive oil, spices, broth, salt, and pepper. Marinate in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400°F/200ºC. Transfer chicken and its marinade to a shallow baking pan large enough to hold all the chicken pieces lying flat with a little space between pieces. Chicken should be skin side up. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until just cooked through. If you want the skin more browned, turn oven up to broil/grill for the last few minutes of cooking, checking every minute or so until the skin is as crisp and brown as you like it. (Be very careful not to burn it)
- While the chicken roasts, toast the pine nuts. Line a plate with a double layer of paper towels. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add pine nuts and cook, stirring constantly, until they turn golden. Transfer to paper-towel-lined plate to absorb oil.
- To Serve, transfer chicken, onions and lemons to a serving platter. Pour pan juices over the chicken pieces. Sprinkle chicken with extra za'atar (if you like), chopped parsley and toasted pine nuts. See notes for suggested side dishes.
Notes
- What to serve with Ottolenghi's roast chicken: I recommend some kind of starch to help soak up the delicious juices - rice or potatoes, and a leafy salad with citrus vinaigrette. I love serving this chicken with these rustic mashed red-skin potatoes or this dish of roasted cauliflower and potatoes with kalamata olive vinaigrette and this Tricolore salad or this green salad.
- Nutrition Disclaimer: We do our best to provide accurate nutrition values using an online nutrition calculator however our nutrition information should only be used as an approximation.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
This post was originally published in December of 2017. Since then I've had lots of requests for side dish suggestions, so I've updated the post and added my recommendations to the recipe card. I also reworded some of the recipe instructions to make them easier to follow. Same delicious recipe!
Claudia Turgut
Your units and scale options don’t work 🥹
Catherine
I followed the recipe exactly, except, and I hate when people start with that phrase then change the recipe, but I subbed baharat for the cinnamon. I wanted to taste those warming spices that the baharat offers. I loved the chicken, the onion, and the lemons were absolutely amazing. I used bone in, skin on thighs. This recipe was absolutely amazing!
Lisa Goldfinger
Haha. I actually love hearing all the details about how people tweak my recipes - especially if they turn out well 🙂 I'm so glad you enjoyed!
Annette Gallardo
Ok..FYI I've been a pro chef for 20+ years. So I made this dish....cut the recipe it in half the only ingredient I didn't have on hand was pine nuts. The amount of lemon was way too much so it was quite sour. The red onions turned brown...nothing like the photo. I added a second round halfway through to get the brilliance of your photo. Lemon wheels also turned dark. I'm glad I only did half the recipe and it didn't need all the extra broth and it just wasn't great.
Lisa Goldfinger
I'm sorry to hear this dish didn't do it for you. I'm a little surprised it was way too lemony, as there is only one lemon in the entire recipe. As for the onions turning brown and the lemon slices turning brown - that makes me wonder if perhaps your oven is running hot? I've never had that happen in all the dozens of times I've made this dish. In fact I have to crank the oven up at the end to get the chicken to brown. If you decide to give the recipe another try, maybe use half a lemon and cook it on 350 in stead of 400? Regarding the beautiful colors of the finished dish, as a longtime food styler and food photographer I care a lot about this. In the case of dishes that are largely brown or dark in color like this dish is, it's very important to add lighter and brighter colored toppings, such as pine nuts and parsley, to break up an otherwise dull-looking dish. Those toppings really do a lot to bring out the color of the onions and the warm tones of the spices.
Robin Elkins
So easy and so delicious! I took the chicken out of the inion mixture after it cooked to about 150F and put it under the broiler to crisp up the skin. It was for sure a crowd pleaser!
Lucy
The first time I made this, I accidentally omitted the chicken stock, meaning it was more of a very chunky rub, and the flavour was so much nicer than the next time when I remembered the stock. Amazing flavours.
Lisa Goldfinger
So glad you enjoyed!
Dawn
This dish was so easy and flavorful. My family loved it and I'll be making it again.
Susan Perez
Love this recipe! I’ve made it multiple times and it’s always a hit.
The chicken thighs are so juicy and the flavour profile is delicious.
I’m a fan, thank you!
Marcy
Truly delicious. Marinated almost 24 hours. Served with couscous and green salad, and crunchy bread. Agree with the comment that double the "sauce" would be even better. It was great as leftovers the next day, too. I'm making it again this next weekend for guests who are foodies. I have no doubt it will be a hit.
Ioana
Came out perfect.
Lisa Goldfinger
Great to hear!
Sal
How much by weight of boneless chicken thighs should I use?
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi - that's a good question but hard to answer. Bone-in chicken thighs can weigh anywhere from 2-6 ounces. A pound of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs is, on average, three pieces. So, assuming you want a minimum of 8 pieces, I would suggest that you buy 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. I hope that helps and I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Alan
Cooked it with skinless chicken thighs in air fryer last night and it was extremely moist and tasty. Served with creamed potatoes and steam mixed vegetables.
Continuing to love Ottolenghi recipes.
Lisa Goldfinger
That sounds like a delicious dinner. I'm glad to know this recipe works in the air fryer.
Charles Allen
I'm a simple man, with simple culinary skills. This recipe is simple enough for me to prepare, cook and deliver to a culinarily demanding audience, with oohs and aahs of gustatory joy bearing witness to the wonderful tastes and flavours in this dish. The chicken was moist, full of flavour and the marinade accompaniments, once cooked with the chicken, ended up in a fabulous oniony/gently spicy sauce after we added and cooked out a bit of cornflour with it in the cooking pan.
Sue winsin
It’s a great recipe I served it with the roasted aubergine and saffron yogurt dressing, and served it with plain cous cous delicious
Lauren
HI, would this work with skinless chicken thighs?
Thanks!
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi - Yes! If you use bone-in chicken thighs without skin, the recipe will work perfectly as is. Because of all the colorful toppings, you don't need to brown the skin or the top of the chicken. If you want to use boneless, skinless thighs, you might reduce the cooking time by 5-10 minutes, as the chicken will cook faster without bones. I hope you enjoy!
Lynne LeBlanc
Delicious. The combination of flavors is incredible. A friend is averse to cinnamon so I added a bit less than the recipe (she didn't notice and LOVED the dish). I also used only breasts (halved) as the same guest was averse to thigh meat. I served this with cous cous, roasted carrots (with a tiny amount of brown sugar and cardamom after they were tossed with oil and S+P) and asparagus. The orange carrots and green asparagus made for a beautiful plate.
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Lynne - I'm so glad you enjoyed this dish so much! I love what you served on the side - Thanks for reporting back! 🙂
BC
This is a really wonderful recipe; the smell alone is a real delight, and the flavours are spot on. We have now made this dish 2 times, adding in some extra lemon the second time because our kids couldn't get enough of the tart edge. I do recommend at least 6 hours of marinating to really allow the flavours to meld together.
Lucy
Hello,
I’d like to cook this for a dinner party this week but one of my guests can’t eat lemon. What could I use as a substitute please?
Also, the starter I’m making has lots of pine nuts in - is there anything I can use instead in this dish?
Thanks for your help!
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Lucy,
You can leave out the lemon and the dish will still be delicious. Sumac has a lemony flavor. I suggest serving lemon wedges on the side for those who may like to squeeze some over their chicken. As for the pine nuts, those are just for a final flourish and some toasted nutty flavor. I think toasted chopped pistachios would also work well. I hope you enjoy!