Spiced Roast Chicken With Tangy Yogurt Sauce

Spiced Roast Chicken With Tangy Yogurt Sauce
Joe Lingeman for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(1,543)
Notes
Read community notes

This weeknight meal is inspired by the spiced chicken and rice that draws lines at halal street carts across Manhattan. Whether it’s lunchtime or late at night, the scent and Mediterranean flavors of grilled and chopped chicken served over turmeric-tinged yellow rice (or wrapped in pita) alongside shredded iceberg salad lures a crowd. Everything gets an imperative, generous drizzle of that signature creamy and tangy white sauce, made here with a blend of yogurt, mayonnaise and spices. Fresh garlic, cilantro and lemon juice are combined with a tasty mix of fragrant spices, then rubbed all over the chicken before it’s roasted until golden and crispy. The iceberg-and-tomato salad offers a cool, refreshing contrast to the spiced chicken.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

    For the Roasted Chicken

    • ¼cup neutral oil, such as safflower or canola
    • 5garlic cloves, minced
    • 1tablespoon ground coriander
    • teaspoons ground sweet paprika
    • 1teaspoon ground cumin
    • 1teaspoon dried oregano
    • ½teaspoon granulated onion
    • ¼cup chopped cilantro
    • 2tablespoons lemon juice, plus wedges for serving
    • 2pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
    • Salt and black pepper

    For the White Sauce

    • ½cup plain Greek yogurt (2 percent or whole-milk)
    • ¼cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
    • 1tablespoon distilled white vinegar
    • ¾teaspoon granulated sugar
    • A big pinch of granulated garlic
    • A big pinch of granulated onion
    • Salt and black pepper
    • To Serve:
    • 1small head iceberg lettuce, shredded
    • 2medium tomatoes, diced
    • Warm pita bread and hot sauce (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

580 calories; 34 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 16 grams polyunsaturated fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 52 grams protein; 1083 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare the chicken: Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the oil, fresh garlic, coriander, paprika, cumin, oregano and granulated onion with half of the cilantro and half of the lemon juice; mix well. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper, and toss to evenly coat.

  2. Step 2

    Spread the seasoned chicken in a single layer on a large sheet pan and roast until golden and caramelized, about 20 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    While the chicken roasts, make the white sauce: In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, granulated garlic and granulated onion; season with salt and pepper, then mix well; set aside.

  4. Step 4

    Add the remaining cilantro and lemon juice to the roasted chicken and mix well, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Divide chicken, lettuce and tomatoes among 4 plates and drizzle with some of the white sauce. Serve with lemon wedges, plus pita and hot sauce, if using.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,543 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

This is basically identical to how I do it, except this time of year I skewer it and put it on the grill when I can’t stand to turn on the oven that much. Also, it makes great camping food to cook over the fire. The spices make it! Super!

If you don't do chicken with dairy, a tahini sauce also goes gloriously with this, and King Arthur Baking's 'quick and easy flatbreads.'

Made this tonight and my husband inhaled it! Made exactly as printed with one small substitution. As I really don't care for iceberg lettuce, I used finely shredded napa cabbage which I've used in many Indian dishes. Perfect. Encourage the use of hot sauce for serving. I also removed the chicken before 20 minutes as it would have been too dry. Check it at about 12 minutes to guage just how much time is needed.

Turned out really good. I added turmeric and paprika to chicken seasoning and cooked in pan. Otherwise did everything the same. Was a big hit with my 11 year old son.

I've tried replicating Halal cart chicken and this is the closest I've gotten at home. This recipe is so good. My chicken released a ton of water so watch for that, if you want a nice sear you need to drain that off or finish in a hot skillet or grill.

I didn’t have granulated onion so tossed some sliced vidalias onto the sheet pan with the roasting chicken pieces. While the seasoning makes for an exceptional oven roasted chicken thigh, the addition of the dressing, setting all on top of greens and tomatoes takes the entire dish to a higher level. Add in the fact that this dish comes together quickly enough for a weeknight dinner makes this a keeper for me.

And I forgot to mention that we used chicken breasts. It turned out very good.

I marinated the chicken for a few hours, and then added thinly sliced sweet red bell pepper to the salad for crunch, color and taste. Served with Zatar flatbread.

Used rotisserie chicken, and this was easy and really good. The chicken and the yogurt sauce could have used more garlic...but we are quite the garlic lovers.

I use boneless, skinless thighs and cook in a cast iron pan or on the grill. Fantastic.

We made this last night and found it to be really good; threw it under the broiler for the last two minutes. It's really about the garnishes. We did lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, raw onion and sliced radish. Also served it with our homemade pickled green tomatoes; frankly anything pickled adds the needed acid.

Made this tonight following the recipe except for using 3 cloves instead of 5 of garlic. It can take the 5 cloves I think! I like garlic but don’t want to be overpowered by it. Also my cilantro was a bit tired but what a super yummy meal! I will definitely make this again! I should add that my husband ate two big helpings so it served 3!

This is delicious! I would recommend using half sheet pan vs quarter sheet pan to allow plenty of room so chicken gets crusty and for some find to form on pan. When I used quarter sheet pan (chicken did fit nicely in one layer) but juices didn’t evaporate and the crusty layer didn’t form. This is now going to be in my rotation of recipes! Served with garlic rice. Added a little water to thin out the yogurt sauce so it could be drizzled-who knew such few ingredients could be so flavorful.

Recommend doubling the marinade (or halving the meat!) to really get flavor intense! And throwing the broiler on for a few minutes at the end helped get some delicious crispy bits in there.

Made this following the recipe, added some basmati rice as a side. Very good, and easy…will definitely add to the dinner rotation.

I have tried to replicate this with other recipes, and this was by far the best.

Excellent recipe! I should have heeded the reviews and tried roasting the chicken for 10 minutes before broiling it on high. Some ground cloves to the chicken marinade was nice to have. The white sauce is great with dill, but it will be better if prepared the night before. I enjoyed having this dish with turmeric rice and dill.

I can’t believe the rave reviews on this one! After I made it, I went back through the recipe multiple times to make sure I used the correct measurements for all ingredients. The chicken was fine, but not especially flavorful. 1 tablespoon of vinegar for the white sauce was far too much. Overall a major disappointment.

Used fresh garlic and onion instead - probably would have more kick with the powdered versions. Used mix greens basil as salad base: good Added green onions into yogurt sauce - good Sriracha on top

Used the marinade and made tahini yogurt sauce and rice to go with

This recipe is so good! I used nonfat yogurt instead of oil to make it a little healthier and let the chicken marinate for an hour or so. Roasted on a sheet pan with half a sweet onion sliced. Served with store bought naan, lettuce, tomato and the sauce. I may make it again next week!

So delicious! My son-in-law remembered I made this & requested it again. I used a little over 3lbs of thighs & had enough for 8. Also tripled the sauce as we love the flavor and like to eat it on about anything. Yummy healthy meal. I served it with lemon Parmesan risotto good pairing! A great dinner party meal as you can prep chicken ahead & just toss in the oven. Chicken best served warm or room temperature.

I followed the recipe as shown except I left the boneless thighs whole, and everyone loved it! My wife suggested that this would be outstanding with Naan instead of Pita bread.

Fantastic Easy to make and very tasty

Yum! Used naan and it was easy and delicious.

Y’all: I am vegetarian but I make one carnivore dinner a week for my omnivore family. When I say the smell of this chicken while it was roasting tempted me to try a bite (which I did not) you know it’s that good. Served this in a bowl format with chopped romaine, grape tomatoes, homemade tzatziki and NYT dill rice (look up the rice if you don’t know it, hard yes). Used chicken breasts instead of thighs because my meat eaters are weaklings who do not care for real meat.

Sooooooooo delicious!!

Excellent dish. Easy to prepare, healthy and delicious. Followed the recipe exactly, loved all the flavor combos. Definitely will make this again!!!

There are some recipes, as they come together, that you just know are going to be good. This is one of them. Made it exactly as written and it was amazing. Hit with the whole family and it’s going to the top of my rotation. I pretty often make adjustments to recipes but I can’t think of a thing to change. Not normally a fan of iceberg either but it works here. Yum!!

This was an outstanding recipe. I used Ras El Hanout instead of Garam Masala, and tangerine vinegar that I had in my pantry. I had leftover Spicy Chicken with Tangy Yogurt Sauce (a Kay Chun recipe here on the site) in the fridge, so I combined the leftovers with the chickpeas and sweet potatoes. I can’t believe how unbelievably GREAT these two recipes are together - complimentary, but still each keeps its own identity. I will serve them together from now on.

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