When you combine North Africa's favorite spice mix 'ras el hanout' with yogurt, garlic and lemon juice, you get one of the world's best marinades for grilled chicken thighs. The yogurt is a natural tenderizer. The spices are warm and fragrant. Prep time is minimal. Let the chicken soak up the marinade for an hour or two, throw it on a hot grill, and you are in for a treat.
My favorite new flavor discovery of late is North African ras el hanout spice mix. I've been testing it out in a bunch of recipes. And since the best recipe I know for chicken thighs on the grill involves marinating them in yogurt, garlic, lemon and spices, I decided to try using ras el hanout as the spice component.
The experiment was a huge success, yielding moist and deliciously tender tasty chicken.
Why is yogurt a great marinade for chicken?
Yogurt is an ideal marinade base for beef and poultry and here's why. Dairy – yogurt , milk, buttermilk – is an excellent tenderizer, partly because is is not very acidic. Acidic marinades, like lemon for example, can actually toughen meat whereas the calcium in dairy marinades activates enzymes in the meat, causing the proteins to break down.
I have to assume all that “breaking down” makes way for the delicious flavors of ras el hanout, lemon, and garlic to move in.
How to Make Ras El Hanout Spice Mix
- Ras El Hanout is not difficult to make and you probably have most of the ingredients in your spice cabinet. Here's my favorite go-to ras el hanout recipe. It takes less than five minutes to make.
- Instead of making it yourself, you can purchase ras el hanout spice mix on Amazon or in the spice section of some grocery stores.
Ras El Hanout grilled chicken thighs goes with everything. A simple green salad, boiled potatoes and steamed asparagus drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt is a perfect accompaniment.
I also love it with a lemony veggie pasta salad. For a bright and flavorful finishing touch, serve ras el hanout grilled chicken thighs with lemon wedges on the side and freshly chopped parsley or mint sprinkled on top.
Here's the recipe for ras el hanout grilled chicken thighs. If you make this, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
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Ras El Hanout Grilled Chicken Thighs
- Total Time: 1 hour 12 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
A simple marinade with yogurt, lemon, garlic and wonderful spices transforms ordinary chicken thighs into something extraordinary. [Note: Prep time doesn't include marinating time]
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs
For the Ras El Hanout Marinade:
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ras el hanout spice mix
- 1 cup plain whole fat Greek yogurt
- Zest of 1 lemon (Best to zest the lemon before juicing it)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or double if you like it really hot and spicy)
- 5-6 garlic cloves, smashed
Garnishes:
- Lemon wedges
- Mint or parsley leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour them into a bowl or container large enough to hold all the chicken. Add chicken and toss to coat. Allow chicken to marinate for at least an hour and up to 6 hours, covered, in the fridge.
- Heat the grill to medium-high. Grill the chicken for 5-6 minutes per side or until it's cooked through.
- Garnish with lemon wedges and chopped parsley or mint
- Serve with rice or couscous. Another great side for this is Moroccan raw carrot salad or this simple green salad with citrusy dressing. You could also cut up the chicken and roll it up in pita with chopped salad and tahini sauce like in this recipe for grilled chicken shawarma.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Category: Main dish
- Method: grill
- Cuisine: North African
Mary Stacey
Can I use boneless skinless chicken breasts? I have it marinating now in my refrigerator. I want to use them to top my salads for work next week.
Lisa Goldfinger
Yes - this recipe will be great with breasts. You may need to adjust the timing a bit, depending on the size of the chicken breasts - check for doneness a minute or two earlier just to be safe.
Sandi
This recipe looks delicious! Can I make this with bone in chicken thighs?
Susan M
Made this for dinner the night before last and am excited to have leftovers for lunch today!
We halved the recipe for the two of us, used Aleppo pepper for heat, and ate it with couscous studded with Golden raisins and diced apricots. It was a party of flavors! Thanks for yet another keeper!
Lisa
That's so great to hear Susan! Thanks for your note 🙂