Your email address is required to begin the subscription process. We will use it for customer service and other communications from Milk Street. You can unsubscribe from receiving our emails at any time.
Jerusalem-Style “Mixed-Grill” Chicken
This recipe is free for a limited time. Start your 14-day free trial to access every Milk Street recipe. Learn More.
Jerusalem mixed grill, or meorav yerushalmi, is a popular Israeli street food, one that is said to originate in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market. The term “mixed” refers to the sundry ingredients that go into the dish—chicken meat, hearts, spleen and liver, along with bits of lamb, plus onions and spices. To re-create a simplified mixed grill at home, we borrowed from chef Daniel Alt’s version at The Barbary and Omri Mcnabb’s take on it at The Palomar, two London restaurants that serve up modern Levantine and Middle Eastern cuisine. We limited the meat to boneless, skinless chicken thighs and seasoned them assertively with select spices. Our “grill” is a nonstick skillet on the stovetop. Amba, a pickled mango condiment, is commonly served with mixed grill to offset the richness of the meat; we, however, quick-pickle sliced red onion to offer a similar acidity and brightness. Nutty, creamy tahini sauce is, of course, a requirement. Serve the chicken with warmed pita.
4-6
Servings
Tip
Don’t stir the chicken-onion mixture too often while cooking; doing so disrupts browning. Intermittent stirring—no more than every 2 to 3 minutes—allows the chicken to develop nice, deep, flavor-building char.
35 minutes
¼ cup white vinegar
½ teaspoon white sugar
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
⅓ cup tahini
4 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1½ teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch chunks
Ingredients
-
¼
cup white vinegar
-
½
teaspoon white sugar
-
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
-
1
large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
-
⅓
cup tahini
-
4
tablespoons lemon juice, divided
-
3
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
-
1½
teaspoons ground coriander
-
1
teaspoon ground allspice
-
1
teaspoon ground turmeric
-
¾
teaspoon ground cinnamon
-
2
pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch chunks
Directions
-
01In a small bowl, stir together the vinegar, sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt until the sugar and salt dissolve. Stir in 1 cup of sliced onion; set aside. In another small bowl, mix together the tahini and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, then whisk in 6 tablespoons water. Season to taste with salt and pepper; set aside.
-
02In a medium bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of oil, the coriander, allspice, turmeric, cinnamon and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Add the chicken and the remaining sliced onion, then stir until evenly coated.
-
03In a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil until barely smoking. Add the chicken mixture in an even layer and cook, uncovered and stirring only every 2 to 3 minutes, until the chicken is well browned all over and no longer is pink when cut into, 10 to 12 minutes.
-
04Off heat, stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice, then taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving dish, drizzle lightly with some of the tahini sauce and top with the pickled onion. Serve the remaining tahini sauce on the side.
Shop the Milk Street Store
Reviews
June 19, 2022
Easy and great
The chicken was quick and the pickled red onions gave a nice contrast.
Incredibly easy - and VERY good. I basically halved the recipe and it was a perfect hearty lunch for two. What I found so unique about this one was that it really and truly does taste “grilled” even though I made it on the stove in the dead of winter. And I need to say it one more time - super easy and fast. Well done, Milk Street.
As a complete amateur in the kitchen who still doesn't know how to effectively turn a bunch of boneless/skinless chicken thighs into uniform pieces, I still had great success with this. Using the Chinese cleaver Chris K. once recommended, I just went medieval and sloppy on the chicken pieces. Turns out, in the finished dish, you couldn't tell that I wasn't supremely accurate with the chicken trimming and cutting. Regardless of all of that, the spice mixture on the chicken was wonderful. And that tahini sauce - wow! This was my first time making anything with tahini, and the first time I made this dish I followed the recipe to the letter and it was perfect. For some reason though, a month or so later when I made it again, the tahini sauce required at least twice as much lemon and some more water for it to taste right. Does tahini go bad or change flavor/texture over time? I can't explain the difference between the first time and the second. Either way, if any reads this you should probably chalk it up to my own amateur user error, but please do hear me when I say that as even a kitchen neophyte, this dish was full-on amazing.
This recipe is fantastic. I can't overstate it. A few notes: If you want to make life easier, you can just make the base chicken/onion recipe and save time by using store-bought tzatziki or other accompaniments. Don't get me wrong, the tahini sauce in the recipe is amazing, but for those wanting this to be a Tuesday Night situation, that's what I'd recommend. Also, I served this with the ATK cucumber/parsley salad -- it was a great addition. A side salad works great even in the pita with the chicken/onion mixture! Anyhow -- this is going into our regular rotation!
Another absolutely fantastic Milk Street recipe! I even ended up using boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I know.) because it was all I had and it was still great! I put the chicken mix, pickled onions, and tahini into a pita with some lettuce and cucumbers. So much flavor and so incredibly easy to make. This is going to be a regular in the recipe rotation!
Absolutely delicious and authentic tasting. I left the boneless thighs whole and grilled on medium for 10 minutes total. I almost left out the pickled and grilled onions, but don't they are easy to make and really add to the dish. I might add a touch of ground cardamom next time. Kids and adults loved the dish.
Hi Robert -
We haven't tested it on the grill and, as it's written, think it would be hard to do with the small pieces of chicken and onions and the oily coating unless you do it in a cast-iron skillet. It looks like some folks have had success using whole, bone-in chicken thighs, though, so that might be a route to take although it does change the recipe as written somewhat significantly.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
I used rice vinegar rather than white vinegar, and I didn't mix my own spices - I just used 4 teaspoons of the Balti Curry (the Whole Foods store brand) mix that bought very recently. Served it in whole wheat pocket pita bread. It wasn't my intention to buy whole wheat, but it was what was left at the store on a Sunday night. It actually worked great, so I recommend it. I'm surprised how well the marinated onions worked with the tahini sauce. and the rest of it.
Become A Subscriber To Rate and Review All Our Recipes.
Please Log in or join today for $1.
FOR FREE ACCESS TO THIS RECIPE, PLEASE ENTER YOUR EMAIL
Thanks, you’re in! You will receive a confirmation email that includes a link to download your digital copy of 12 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook.
Your First Issue
This was not only extraordinarily quick and easy to make, but was also amazingly full of flavor. My dinner guest wouldn’t stop saying “this is absolutely amazing”. So, kudos once again to Milk Street. This was great. And that tahini sauce? Puts it over the top. Word to the wise - it was great with a side of charred broccolini with tahini yogurt sauce drizzled over it. Thank you!