Everyone needs a basic chicken marinade with yoghurt, and this classic will have you covered for all your chicken needs.

Lebanese chicken is not heavily spiced and it doesn't really need that many ingredients. Garlic, yoghurt and lemon juice will each contribute a different dimension of flavour.

The yoghurt not only holds the other ingredients together, it also tenderizes the chicken.

Chicken dishes represent the easiest type of cooking for me, as they simply involve making a marinade, roasting the chicken and turning it a few times in the oven.

If you are a chicken lover like me, try out my paprika and turmeric chicken as well as my mum's famous zaatar chicken.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Variations
Storage
Top Tips
📖 Recipe

Ingredients

You can use any cut of chicken for this recipe. Really doesn't matter. Chicken breasts need less time in the oven as they dry out faster.

Chicken on the bone can handle longer slow cooking.

Sourcing the freshest chicken you can find really makes the biggest difference. Try and find a local butcher who is busy.

The busier they are, the quicker their produce gets turned around. You know chicken that is fresh as it doesn't have a pronounced smell.

If you grab chicken form the supermarket it might be a week old and although it shouldn't poison you, it won't have the same taste sensation.

These are the fabulous five ingredient groups you will need:

Fresh chicken - any cut
Spices - 7 spice, turmeric, paprika, black pepper, coriander, sumac and salt
Garlic - mince your garlic well so it forms a paste and blends into the marinade
Yoghurt - any plain yoghurt will do, greek or strained.
Lemon juice - don't even think about using pre squeezed lemons from a bottle!

You can find my 7-spice recipe here.

Instructions

Take all the marinade ingredients and mix them together in a bowl

If using chicken on the bone, give the chicken a good rub under the skin, making a few gashes with a sharp knife to allow the marinade to seep in.

Ideally marinade overnight by covering the bowl with plastic wrap.

If you can't wait overnight at least a few hours. The more you marinade the better the flavour.

Then simply take out the chicken from the fridge around half an hour or so before cooking to let it come to room temperature.

This way the cold chicken won't tense up when it meets the hot oven.

You can oven roast the chicken, grill or even pan fry in a shallow layer of neutral vegetable oil.

Variations

Chicken marinades are extremely versatile meaning you can make many versions using the same core base.

Here are some of my variations

Spicy - add ½ teaspoon of cayenne or chilli powder
Earthy - add a dash of soy sauce around 1 tablespoon
Herby - add ½ teaspoon of dried oregano or Mediterranean herbs

Storage

I have a 3 day rule for chicken and meat. Maximum of 3 days uncooked in the fridge and maximum of 3 days when cooked in the fridge.

Anything that has garlic in it should also be consumed within 3 days.

You can store any marinaded uncooked chicken in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Top Tips

I love squeezing in potatoes and carrots to chicken dishes wherever I can.

After you place the chicken in the tray, chop up some potatoes and carrots and mix in with the remaining marinade juices to give a light coating.

Also I have no idea why people get scared about cooking chicken, follow the guidelines and simply cut into the chicken if you suspect it's not quite done to check for any pinkness.

If it's still a little raw in the middle simply cook it for a little longer.

When oven roasting turn the heat up for the first 20 minutes then reduce it slightly for the remainder of the cooking time.

Then turn the chicken every 15 minutes or so, until gorgeous and golden.

📖 Recipe

5 from 1 vote