Sheet-Pan Chicken With Chickpeas, Cumin and Turmeric

- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus marinating
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1(3½ to 4 pound) chicken, cut into parts (alternatively, 3 to 3½ pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken parts, such as breasts, thighs and legs)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1½cups full-fat Greek yogurt, divided
- 5tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
- 2teaspoons ground turmeric, divided
- 2(15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1tablespoon fennel seed
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- 1large red onion, thinly sliced, divided
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- ½cup mint or cilantro leaves, torn
Preparation
- Step 1
Season chicken parts with salt and pepper.
- Step 2
Combine ¾ cup yogurt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon turmeric and 2 tablespoons water in a large bowl. Season well with salt and pepper. (It should be on the salty side, as this is a marinade.) Add chicken and toss to coat evenly. Let sit at least 30 minutes at room temperature, and up to overnight in the refrigerator.
- Step 3
Place oven rack on the top third of the oven and heat to 425 degrees.
- Step 4
Combine chickpeas, fennel seed, cumin, remaining teaspoon of turmeric and half the red onion slices on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat.
- Step 5
Move chickpeas to the outer edges of the baking sheet. Scrape any excess marinade off the chicken, and place the chicken parts in the center. Place baking sheet in oven and bake, tossing chickpeas occasionally, until the skin of the chicken is evenly browned and the chickpeas are golden and starting to crisp, 45 to 50 minutes.
- Step 6
Meanwhile, toss remaining onion slices with 2 tablespoons lemon juice and season with salt and pepper; set aside.
- Step 7
Combine remaining yogurt with remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice and season with salt and pepper; set aside.
- Step 8
Once chicken is ready, scatter with lemony onions and mint or cilantro. Serve with seasoned yogurt alongside as a sauce.
Private Notes
Comments
I am a good and confident cook, but this was for a dinner party and I did not have time to try it ahead of time so I decided to follow the recipe EXACTLY as written. It was absolutely delicious. I'll make it again and the only change I'll probably make is that next time I will add some cumin to the marinade. I think this recipe could be adapted for any flavor profile - French with herbs de Provence, Thai with soy, lime and ginger, etc.
Big hit with my family who admittedly love Indian and Persian flavors. Modifications to have more leftovers : Used 4 and1/4 lb chicken thighs, 3 cans rinsed garbanzos, 2 red onions, 1 head of broken cauliflower and divided it between 2 sheet pans on middle and upper rack. Changed position partway through. Used more cumin (3 tsp) also some cayenne (1/4 tsp), garam masala on the veggies (1 tsp), and more lemon juice on veggies too (1 lemons worth).Don’t skimp on salt.
Loved it! Here’s how I’ll do it next time. HEAVY on the S&P and onion. Leave a good bit of marinade on chicken. Add another can of chickpeas. Use the lemon onion, yogurt and cilantro as a topping on sliced cucumber as a second side.
I liked this more than I expected to, given how bored I am with chicken. I cut the recipe in half, but probably had more than half the amount of chickpeas and onions, which was fine. Following one reviewer's comments, I left most of the marinade on the chicken while roasting, and that led to more moist and flavorful chicken. I removed chickpeas and onions after 25 minutes, and cooked the chicken another 10, though I probably could have left the chickpeas and onions in a bit longer. Yum!
Excellent dish. Cut recipe in half using only bone in thighs, went heavy with spices as per many comments. Added broccoli the last 20 minutes and everything was evenly cooked. This will go into rotation at our house.
Delicious. I followed the recipe exactly as written although I only used legs and thighs because we couldn't find bone-in breasts. It turned out perfectly. The chicken was crisp on the outside and juicy inside. The chickpeas we're nutty and so flavorful. The presentation with the marinated onions and mint leaves was dinner party beautiful. I'll definitely make again.
