Broiled Za’atar Chicken with Lemony Tahini
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There’s a small list of spice blends I turn to when I want to jazz up chicken for dinner, and za’atar is at the top. Rub it into boneless chicken breasts with lemon zest, garlic and olive oil, and a simple marinade turns aromatic, herbaceous and a little smoky. Instead of roasting or firing up a grill, I make the process even faster by broiling for about 12 minutes. Serve on a platter of chickpeas and pearl couscous with a zingy lemon tahini sauce.
This is the kind of recipe I put in my cookbook for a reason: it works as well for a weeknight as it does for having people over. The marinade can go on the chicken up to a day ahead, and the tahini sauce comes together while the broiler preheats.
Za’atar and the ingredients that matter
- Za’atar: The actual plant is a variety of oregano that grows wild in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and parts of the Mediterranean — but the blends you find in grocery stores are mixtures of dried thyme or oregano, sesame seeds and sumac, each one a little different. What they share is a deep, layered aroma — oregano times ten, with a splash of green grass and pepper, nuttiness from the sesame, a faint smokiness and a citrusy edge from the sumac. All those components give a 15-minute marinade serious depth.
- Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken parts soak up the flavors in the marinade and cook quickly. Breasts cook through under the broiler in about 12 minutes, while thighs can take a few minutes longer and are a little more forgiving if you lose track of time.
- Lemon: I use both the zest and the juice, doing different jobs. The zest goes right into the marinade, where its oils help to perfume the chicken. The juice goes into the tahini sauce, where it cuts through the richness of the sesame paste and keeps it bright and light tasting.
Make your own za’atar blend
If you can’t find za’atar and want to make this recipe, here’s how to make a quick homemade blend. If you can’t track down sumac, you can omit it or substitute ground coriander. The flavor won’t be quite the same, but it’ll still work.
- Combine equal amounts of crushed or ground dried thyme, dried oregano, ground sumac and sesame seeds in a small jar.
- Shake together and store up to 3 months.
How to make broiled za’atar chicken
1. Whisk together lemon zest, garlic, olive oil, za’atar and chopped parsley into a quick marinade. 
2. Pour over boneless, skinless chicken and marinate for 15 minutes — or up to a day ahead
3. Arrange the chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet. 4. Broil about 12 minutes, then slice and serve over chickpeas and couscous with tahini sauce
How to serve it
Pile the sliced chicken, chickpeas and couscous onto a large platter and drizzle generously with the tahini sauce — this is a family-style endeavor, so don’t be shy about it. Scatter parsley leaves over the top and tuck lemon wedges around the edges for people to squeeze over their plates. A chopped vegetable farro salad or a marinated white beans alongside rounds out the meal without much extra effort.
Broiled Za’atar Chicken with Lemony Tahini
Recipe Video
Ingredients
Tahini Sauce:
- 1 garlic clove, grated or put through a garlic press
- ½ cup (10 g) Italian parsley leaves, finely chopped
- ½ cup (120 g) tahini paste
- ¼ cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup (60 ml) cold water, plus additional as needed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Za’atar Chicken
- Grated zest from 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup (5 g) chopped Italian parsley, plus a handful of leaves
- 1 tablespoon (12 g) za'atar seasoning
- 1 finely chopped garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken, about 2 breasts or 4-6 thighs
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 1½ cups pearl couscous
- 1 14-ounce (400 g) can chickpeas, drained
Instructions
Tahini Sauce
- In a small food processor, pulse 1 garlic clove, ½ cup Italian parsley leaves, ½ cup tahini paste, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, ¼ cup cold water and 1 teaspoon kosher salt or whisk in a bowl until smooth. Add more water if necessary to achieve a loose mayonnaise-like consistency. Taste and season with more salt to taste. The sauce keeps in the refrigerator up to 3 days ahead.
Za'atar Chicken
- Mix Grated zest from 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, ¼ cup chopped Italian parsley, 1 tablespoon za'atar seasoning1 finely chopped garlic clove, and 1 teaspoon kosher saltin a large bowl. Add 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken and toss to coat. Set aside to marinate 15-30 minutes or cover and refrigerate up to one day ahead.
- Cook 1½ cups pearl couscous in boiling, salted water according to package directions. Drain and toss with the chickpeas in a bowl.
- Preheat a broiler to high, with an oven rack arranged closest to the heat source. Put the chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Broil the chicken 5-6 minutes per side, until the meat turns golden brown feels firm to the touch. Let it rest about 10 minutes, then slice into ½-inch thick pieces
To serve
- Spread some of the tahini sauce over the bottom of a large serving platter. Spoon the couscous mixture over the sauce. Arrange the sliced chicken on top and sprinkle with the remaining parsley leaves. Serve warm or at room temperature, with additional sauce on the side.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- For even cooking, slice boneless breasts in half horizontally.
- Cooked za’atar chicken can be refrigerated 3 days.
- The tahini sauce will keep about a week. Before serving, whisk in some cold water if it has thickened.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
Professionally trained cook, cookbook author, and the person behind every recipe here. I cook the way I was trained: Start with good ingredients, understand why they work, and don’t apologize for the salt. These are the recipes I actually make, for the people I love. Read more about me here.
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I really enjoyed the recipe but agree that it’s salty. I’ll definitely make it again but will withhold the salt. One can always add salt but one has a difficult time taking salt out of a recipe. ❤️
Karen: First, I appreciate you because this is really good. I made it yesterday for my wife and I. The tahini sauce might be a bit salty. I did indoor-grill the chicken. To ensure tender breasts, I “velvet marinated” (Barbara Tropp) them for six hours before putting them in your marinade for 4 hours. The flavor of the chicken is out of this world. Thanks again. Well done.
Swen
Swen, thank you so much for sharing your tweaks and kinds words! Wow, I love that you are a fan of Barbara Tropp. Her books played a big part in my culinary education too. Her velvet marinade technique is brilliant, and I’m sure it made the chicken extra tender and juicy.
Absolutely delicious. My whole family wants it put in regular rotation after tasting it tonight! I was gifted a lot of quality za’atar seasoning, so have been experimenting w/different za’atar recipes. This one is definitely a keeper.
Is the chicken marinade 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil? It’s listed twice in the ingredients under “za’atar chicken” but I don’t see separate instructions for each one.
Hi Elle – The marinade uses 2 tablespoons of olive oil. You can also drizzle over another tablespoon when you’re serving.
I love Middle Eastern food and often I cannot get the flavor profiles just right. This recipe was excellent since I didn’t have bone-in breasts on hand, and was thrilled the boneless breasts didn’t dry out. I have an amazing Z’atar from Burlap and Barrel I have been wanting to use and this was perfect. And…miracle..the whole family loved it!
This was super delicious, especially the chicken.
Family fav! I serve it with lemon pepper couscous and triple the herb tahini because it’s SOOO yummy. Couldn’t find prepared za’atar so I made my own and it turned out delicious. Thanks for this!
So happy you enjoyed this Alicia! Herb couscous sounds like a perfect choice.
this is totally going on the menu this month! I can’t wait to try!
Yay! I hope you love it!