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This easy sumac chicken traybake is full of tangy, earthy and aromatic flavours, with peppers, onions and tomatoes roasted alongside the chicken. It’s an easy one-pan dinner that needs little more than some bread, rice or couscous on the side.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Sumac Chicken
This is one of those wonderfully easy traybake recipes – or sheet pan recipes, if you’re in the US – where almost everything goes into one dish and the oven does the work.
The flavours are inspired by Palestinian musakhan, with plenty of sumac and onion alongside warm spices. This isn’t traditional musakhan, which is served over bread, but rather an easy traybake using some of those same flavours.
I add peppers, mild green chillies and tomatoes to make it more of a complete meal, needing little more than bread, rice or couscous to serve.
What is Sumac?
Sumac is a deep red spice made from dried and ground sumac berries. It has a distinct tart, fruity flavour, almost reminiscent of lemon, without actually making the dish taste lemony.
It’s widely used in Middle Eastern cooking and works particularly well with chicken, onions, salads and grilled or roasted vegetables.
I prefer Palestinian sumac for its deep colour and tart, fruity flavour. You’ll find sumac in many larger supermarkets in the UK, as well as Middle Eastern grocers and online.
The Recipe
This is how we’ll be cooking our Sumac chicken:
- Mix the marinade ingredients together.
- Marinate the chicken – you can do this for just 20 minutes or so, or time permitting, go longer. You could even marinate it overnight.
- Chop up and slice the vegetables we’ll be using.
- Add the chopped vegetables to our marinated chicken pieces.
- Bake for 45 minutes. If using chicken legs, you’ll need an hour. Chicken breasts will only need 30 minutes.
That’s it. easy right?
Sumac Chicken Ingredients
This is such an easy recipe, there really is not much to talk about. Let’s very briefly take a look at a few things to note.
The Chicken
I love chicken thighs and that’s what I’m using here. They were fairly generous portions, so I’m serving 1 portion per person.
If your chicken thighs are small, you may need to double up; this is just a matter of preference.
You can use chicken legs, chicken breasts or drumsticks (definitely 2 per person) to cook this sumac chicken.
Vegetables
I’ve added an onion, a bell pepper, some mild green chillies and tomatoes. You could use 2 bell peppers if you like and get rid of the chillies if you’re not keen on that.
Sumac
Finally, the star of the show. The recipe is called sumac chicken, so you want sumac. Here in the UK, sumac is so easily found in our larger supermarkets, and most definitely online.
I only ever use Palestinian sumac, as mentioned above; it has the best flavour and colour.
This is the one I get from Amazon, when I run out of what I source from Palestine through friends.
How to Serve Sumac Chicken
I tend to serve sumac chicken with bread of some sort. Middle Eastern flatbread is perfect, but a good baguette or focaccia works too.
Rice is another favourite. Try it with mujaddara, Persian saffron rice or Egyptian rice with vermicelli. Couscous also makes an easy option when you want to keep dinner simple.
Storage
Keep leftover sumac chicken in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat thoroughly before serving.
You can also freeze the cooked chicken and vegetables. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating.
And with that, shall we get our aprons on?
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If you make any of my recipes, post them on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @azlinbloor and hashtag it #linsfood.
Lin xx
Sumac Chicken Traybake Recipe (Easy Sheet Pan Chicken)
Equipment
- 1 baking dish measuring about 30cm x 20 cm give or take
- Oven
Ingredients
- 4 large chicken thighs
- 1 large onion about 250g pre peeled weight
- 1 red or yellow capsicum bell pepper
- 4 long green chillies optional
- 1 handful cherry tomatoes or anything similar
Marinade
- 3 Tbsp EV olive oil
- 3 Tbsp sumac
- ½ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp mild chilli flakes
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
To Serve
- chopped fresh parsley optional, I don't bother
Instructions
Marinate the Chicken
- Mix all the marinade ingredients together and marinate the chicken thighs for a minimum 30 minutes. Leave aside about 1 Tbsp of the marinade for the vegetables.You could do this overnight too, if you like. Cover with a cling film and place in the fridge overnight.
Let's get Cooking
- Turn the oven on to 200℃ (400℉/180℃ Fan).
- Slice the onions into rings.Slice the capsicum into thick strips.
- Place the chicken, onions, pepper strips and chillies into a baking tin that will hold everything comfortably.
- Add the leftover marinade. Using your hands, mix everything together, covering the onions and pepper strips with the marinade.
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.Baste after 30 minutes, and tuck the onions under the chicken to stop them from burning.
- When done, leave to rest for 5 minutes, then serve with parsley if you like.
Nutrition
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This recipe was so delicious! It was easy to prepare and the entire family loved it! Perfect for a busy weeknight.
So pleased to hear that, Angela!
The sumac and allspice combo was amazing! This is one of those spices I love but don’t know how to use besides just making za’atar so I’m glad I came across your blog, I’m trying the lavender and sumac chicken next!
I’m so pleased to hear that, Veronika!
Sumac is my favorite spice, and we love and eat so much chicken, so I’m so excited to make your recipe. The onions look lovely, can’t wait, on my way to the store!
Let me know how it goes, Megan.
It’s in the oven now and it smell so good! Thank you!
My pleasure, Rusma.