Paprika and cumin add deep flavor to this flavorful chicken. Serve with warm pita or naan, feta, and mint for an easy Persian inspired meal.
- Prep Time:
10 mins - Cook Time:
20 mins - Total Time:
30 mins *
* Plus overnight marinating time.
I am always on the lookout for easy, tasty and healthy dinner recipes. Keeping dinner interesting for the family yet easy for the cook can be a challenge. But I think I found a winner with this one.
This Moroccan chicken comes from this month’s issue of Bon Appétit magazine featuring middle eastern inspired dishes. The chicken does need a long marinating time so a little planning is required. But you can toss the chicken with the herbs and spices in the morning and be ready for a quick-cooking dinner that evening.
The use of paprika and cumin to flavor the chicken really drew me in because we love the Tunisian egg dish, shakshuka, in which eggs are poached in a tomato sauce seasoned with the same spices. The aromas of the paprika and cumin coming from the kitchen as the chicken cooked was enough to draw my daughter out of her room to inquire about what I was making.
The original recipe grills the chicken as kebabs which I have a love-hate relationship with. I love the idea of kebabs but always feel like it is too much extra work to cut the meat into small pieces and put them on skewers. And as much as I want to improve my grilling skills, I am still not a good griller. So, I kept the chicken in large pieces and used my trusty cast iron skillet to cook it. This actually created a nice pan sauce that you can sop up with warm pita bread.
Moroccan Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
Paprika and cumin add deep flavor to this flavorful chicken. Serve with warm pita or naan, feta, and mint for an easy Persian inspired meal.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- Olive oil, for cooking
- Warm pita or naan bread, feta, and fresh mint leaves, for serving
Instructions
- Marinated chicken. Mix together garlic, parsley, cumin, paprika, and salt in a medium bowl; add chicken and toss together until the chicken is evenly coated with the herbs and spices. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.
- Prep oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cook chicken. In an oven proof skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. When oil begins to shimmer, add chicken pieces and sear on both sides (1- 2 minutes per side). Transfer skillet to the oven and cook until chicken is cooked through, 15–20 minutes. Serve with pita or naan bread, feta and mint.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit, July 2014.
SherryS says
I made this tonight using boneless chicken breast. It was delicious and easy. I will make this when entertaining friends. I think you can brown the chicken the night before and then throw in the oven 20 minutes before ready to sit for dinner. A go to for sure.
Taming of the Spoon says
Thank you so much! This reminds me I haven’t made this dish in awhile. I think I need to fix that soon.
Jenn says
What would be a good side dish for this main course?
Taming of the Spoon says
If you want something Persian inspired, I would suggest some warm pita, feta, fresh herbs like basil, parsley, and mint and a cucumber and tomato salad dressed with a little lemon juice, olive oil, and salt/pepper. I think some oven roasted carrots or tomatoes would also work. Thanks.
Teri says
I made this tonight and LOVED it. And the pan sauce was absolutely delicious! I will definitely be making this again. (Bonus points because it gave me an excuse to buy a bigger cast iron skillet!)
Taming of the Spoon says
Any excuse to get another cast iron skillet is good, right? I love mine! Thanks so much for coming back to comment. I’m really happy you liked the recipe.