Egyptian Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Pomegranate (sheet pan recipe!)
- Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Pistachio Dukkah (spiced nut topping)
- 1 cup pistachios (you can mix in/add almonds, if you like)
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
For the Chicken and Veggies
- 8 pieces of bone-in, skin-on chicken (any cuts you like; I use a mix of drumsticks and thighs)
- 5 to 6 ounces plain Greek yogurt (full fat; one individual container is usually fine)
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, plus more as needed
- 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons honey, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
- 2 sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 red onion
- 1 pomegranate
- Fresh parsley, mint, and/or cilantro, for serving
- SERVING SUGGESTIONS: warm flatbread (pita or naan are great), store-bought hummus, topped with extra dukkah, pomegranate arils, and olive oil.
Instructions
- Combine the yogurt, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon fresh pepper, the zest of one lemon and the juice of half of it, 1 tablespoon honey, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Using a large dish or sealable bag, add the chicken pieces and yogurt marinade, massaging to ensure they’re fully coated. Refrigerate while you preheat the oven and whip up the Dukkah
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Adjust the rack to the lower third of the oven.
- In a large dry skillet over medium heat, add the pistachios and toast until they smell nutty and look a little golden; about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a food processor. In the same skillet, add the fennel, sesame, and cumin seeds (see note). Toast for just a couple of minutes until golden/fragrant and add to the food processor, along with the ground coriander. Pulse until you have a coarsely ground mixture, season with salt to taste, transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
- Cut ¾ of the onion into petals (about 1-inch pieces), and the remaining ¼ into thin slices. Put the sweet potatoes and onion petals onto a large baking sheet. Toss with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay the chicken pieces on top and season them with more salt and lots of pepper (yep, even more).Â
- Cut the remaining lemon in half and add those along with the remaining lemon half to the sheet pan. Cut the pomegranate into quarters and nestle three of them in the pan. Roast until the chicken is wildly, deeply golden brown and cooked through, see note (165 degrees F); about 32 to 35 minutes. The lemon and pomegranate wedges will release their juices as they cook, mixing with the salty chicken fat, making the most amazing simple sauce (which the potatoes will soak up).
- Drizzle with extra honey before serving, and shower with some of the Dukkah – as much as you like. Serve with extra Dukkah on the side, hummus, flatbread, fresh pomegranate arils from the remaining wedge, chopped green herbs, and extra salt on the side as needed.Â
Notes
On the spices: If you’d prefer, you can skip the cumin seeds and use 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin instead, just adding it in when you add the coriander.
On the browning of the chicken: If the chicken is getting darker than you’d like, before the veggies are done, just lay a big piece of foil over top of the pan. This will really slow that browning while still allowing things to cook.Â