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Za'atar-Roasted Chicken
Za'atar is a Middle Eastern blend of herbs and sesame seeds; look for it in well-stocked markets, Middle Eastern grocery stores or online. We mix za'atar with dried oregano to boost its herbal flavor. Use chicken breasts, legs, thighs or a combination.
4
Servings
Tip
Don't use a roasting pan. The low sides of a sturdy rimmed baking sheet allow the chicken to cook quickly and brown evenly.
50 minutes
Ingredients
-
3
tablespoons za’atar seasoning
-
2
teaspoons dried oregano
Directions
-
01Heat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle position. In a small bowl, combine the za'tar, dried oregano, sugar, 1½ teaspoons salt and 2 teaspoons pepper.
Reviews
January 23, 2023
Flavorful and aromatic chicken
What a wonderful Chicken, very easy to make and did not have that much fat, one thing I did was scoring the pieces of chicken to get the marinade deeper into the chicken!!! Such a quick recipe and super flavorful. This will become my to go Chicken!!!
January 2, 2023
Delicious!
so tasty and easy
September 3, 2022
Our weekly go-to!
We love this dish! It was our first introduction to Za'tar. We now make weekly, doubling batch, so that it's available for a few days, makes great leftovers too. Thank you!
This was an easy and flavorful adventure! Since we can't travel right now, I'm using Milk Street recipes such as this one to take us around the world! I used bone-in thighs (skin on) and added a small maui onion around the edges of the pan to roast with the chicken and garlic. I didn't have quite enough za'atar for three tablespoons so I ground sumac, cummin and white pepper to fill in. Many compliments and we will serve this again when we can have friends over to enjoy this adventure. Mahalo!
I converted this to a grill recipe by using all of the ingredients except the fresh oregano and about half the garlic to make a paste. I marinated the chicken pieces in the paste for about 2 hours. I grilled the chicken between 450-500 until pieces came up to temperature (which was very fast, so keep a close eye on it). I then grilled a quartered lemon for a few minutes after the chicken came off. Topped the grilled chicken with fresh oregano and a squeeze from the grilled lemon wedges. It was *devoured* and has already been put on the list of family favorites!
Made it with chicken drumsticks and added little whole carrots and little whole potatoes for a terrific Thanksgiving feast. Love that it's a very easy and quick recipe. One-pan too, since I unpack and put the chicken directly into the pan on top of paper towels and dry and season, all in same pan. Then also make the gravy there. Checked at 30 minutes, and drumsticks and veggies were done, but next time I will check at 20 and 25 minutes to be spot on with temperature and will have cut my little potatoes in half.
I love this recipe and often spatchcock the chicken to make for more even cooking and crisper skin. My question is about pre-salting. I generally salt whole chickens or chicken parts meant for roasting 24 hours (or even 36 hours) ahead. If I'm doing that, can I "za'atar" them at the same time? Or will those dried herbs lose some of their freshness and aroma sitting out for that long? (The last few times I've pre-salted a roast chicken I've smeared the za'atar mixture on right before roasting. It was great--but could it be EVEN BETTER?)
Delicious. This recipe is perfect as written. I loved the concept of roasting the garlic on the pan with chicken and using that with water to make the paste for the sauce. Worked perfectly. I baked this with my oven set for convection at 425 for 35 minutes. Perfectly cooked chicken. Crisp skin. Don't overthink this one. My za'atar contains salt so I certainly wouldn't want any more. Served withsaffron rices and saute'd broccoli with garlic and lemon
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Made this tonight, and it was a hit with everyone, even my son who doesn’t like chicken thighs! I didn’t have any fresh lemons, so I subbed in lime juice and zest in the sauce. This was the easiest, most flavorful meal! Will definitely make this again — soon!