Za’atar Chicken with Chickpeas

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This quick and delicious recipe for spiced za’atar chicken breasts is absolutely packed with flavor! Serve it family-style on a platter with chickpeas, pearl couscous and a creamy lemon tahini sauce.

This recipe takes your everyday chicken to another level — boneless chicken breasts are marinated in za’atar spices, garlic and lemon and quickly broiled. The chicken is perfect to serve family-style on a nice big platter (which by the way I wrote a cookbook about!)

Along with tender bites of lemony chicken, you’ll taste a mega hit of Mediterranean flavors, with chickpeas, pearl couscous and a zippy tahini sauce, which is amped-up with even more lemon.

The whole dish has a relaxed Middle Eastern flair I LOVE. I hope you will too!

Minimal prep and maximum flavor: Those two things are at the top of any busy (and hungry) person’s priorities!

Ingredients for zaatar chicken

This is a fantastic recipe to make with pantry staples like canned chickpeas and tahini and it doesn’t require much time to put it all together.

• Za’atar: A Middle Eastern spice blend native to Syria and Lebanon.
• Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cook quickly and really soak up the flavors in the marinade. Try to find “thin-sliced” breasts at your supermarket — they’re basically whole breasts that are sliced in half horizontally.
• Lemon: You’ll need both the zest and juice of 1 lemon (or enough for 2 tablespoons fresh juice).
• Garlic: Grate the garlic on a microplane grater or put it through a garlic press.
• Parsley: Italian or curly parsley.
• Canned chickpeas
• Tahini paste

What is za’atar?

Za’atar (zahtar) a/k/a “magic dust,” is both an herb and a seasoning blend. The herb is also known as Syrian oregano or hyssop and is related to mint and oregano.

It’s a variety of oregano that grows wild in the Middle Eastern regions of Lebanon, Syria and Israel, as well in Mediterranean areas of Southern Europe.

As a spice blend za’atar has varying components depending on region. But for the most part, it’s basically a mixture of the dried za’atar herb, thyme, sesame seeds and sumac.

How does Za’atar taste? It’s deeply aromatic in a way that will remind you of oregano times ten, and tastes like it has a splash of green grass, pepper and a hint of smoke.

You find za’atar in the spice section of large supermarkets, spice shops and definitely on online.

Recipe steps:

The seasoning for the chicken is a simple mixture of lemon, garlic, olive oil, za’atar and chopped parsley. Marinate the chicken at room temperature 15-30 minutes before cooking. Or, to prepare ahead cover and refrigerate the chicken up to 1 day ahead.

Serving za’atar chicken:

This dish is an excellent family-style meal — the sliced chicken, chickpeas and couscous look rustic and beautiful casually piled on a large platter.

I love to toss more parsley leaves over the top and have extra lemon wedges on the side for people to squeeze over their plate.

You can serve a few more vegetable salads on the side to round out the meal, like a colorful chopped vegetable farro salad.

Homemade za’atar spice

If you can’t find za’atar and want to make this recipe, here’s how to make a quick homemade blend:

1. Combine equal amounts of crushed or ground dried thyme, dried oregano, sumac and sesame seeds in a small jar.
2. Shake together and store up to 3 months.

If you can’t track down sumac, you can omit it. Try using ground coriander instead. It will still taste delicious, even if it’s not one hundred percent authentic.