Chicken Musakhan, Your New Favorite Roast Chicken Recipe

Chicken Musakhan

The beloved Palestinian roasted chicken dish, Chicken Musakhan, is instantly energetic, vibrant, and comforting. Smothered in silky onions, pine nuts, parsley, and bright, lemony sumac, the chicken is set on top of flatbread which soaks up the juices and at times becomes the instrument for eating. This recipe simplifies the browning of the skin and faster cooking by breaking down a whole chicken.  Add this to your list of homemade meal kits as it warms up beautifully, but wait to garnish and place over bread until ready to serve.

Prep Time: 15 min, Cook Time: 55 min, Serves 4-6 people 

Ingredients

1 tsp Allspice, ground 
½ tsp Cardamom, ground
½ tsp Cumin, ground
2 tbsp Sumac, plus more for garnish
1 whole Chicken, cut up into 8 pieces
Kosher salt
¼ cup, plus 2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium Yellow onions, sliced thin
¼ cup Pine nuts
1 cup Parsley, roughly chopped
1 Lemon, halved
Flatbreads – Naan or Taboon

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix allspice, cardamom, cumin, and 2 Tbsp. sumac in a small bowl to combine.

Step 2

Season chicken all over with salt in a large bowl. Rub with half of the spice mix, pressing and working it into the meat.

Step 3

Heat large ovenproof skillet over medium-high until lightly smoking. Add ¼ cup of oil. Gently place chicken, skin-side down, turn down heat to medium-low and cook until skin is golden brown about 5-7 minutes. Transfer chicken to a large plate, leaving fat in skillet.

Step 4

Return skillet to medium-high heat. Cook onions, scraping any browned bits on bottom of skillet and adding a splash of water if pan gets dry, until softened and golden brown, about 18–25 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining spice mix and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add ¼ cup water, season with salt, and bring to a simmer. Nestle chicken back into the skillet, skin side up, and transfer to oven. Bake, uncovered until liquid is mostly evaporated and chicken is cooked through, 30–35 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in the skillet.

Step 5

While chicken is cooking, toast pine nuts in the remaining 1 tbsp. oil in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt.

Step 6

Arrange warmed bread on a platter and top with chicken and onions. Mix pine nuts, parsley, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, and scatter over chicken. Sprinkle with more sumac. Squeeze juice from one lemon over the chicken. Sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh cracked black peppercorn.