Za’atar is definitely one of my favorite spices to use, and there is no shortage of ways to add it to a variety of dishes: on pita chips, roasted chickpeas, hummus, shakshuka, and even garlic confit! The addition of honey in this recipe makes it the perfect festive dish for the High Holidays, but it’s also simple enough to make during the week.
This recipe is reprinted with permission from Millennial Kosher by Chanie Apfelbaum, ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications.
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Honey Roasted Za’atar Chicken with Dried Fruit
Sweet and savory chicken? What could be better!
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 10 oz. dried apricots (scant 2 cups)
- 10 oz. pitted dried prunes (scant 2 cups)
- 3 Tbsp za’atar
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 chicken legs, skin-on
- ½ cup dry red wine
- kosher salt, to taste
- ⅓ cup honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread apricots and prunes into a 9×13-inch pan.
- In a bowl, combine za’atar and olive oil to create a paste. Rub the za’atar paste over chicken; place chicken on dried fruit. Pour wine around the chicken; sprinkle with salt.
- Cover tightly with foil; bake for 1 hour.
- Uncover the pan. Drizzle the chicken with honey. Bake, uncovered, for an additional 30-45 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with the pan juices.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Holidays
what is za’atar?
Za’atar is both a herb and a spice blend that’s popular in the Middle East and Israel. You can read more here.
This dish has become one of our Shabbat main staples. It’s great for entertaining as it always looks so fancy, even though it’s so simple to prepare! The chicken always turns out flavorful and juicy. The little kids don’t always eat the chicken, but they love the dried fruit. I prepare it exactly as written and it always turns out beautifully (though recently I subbed out the prunes for dates because I didn’t have any dates on hand, and the dates worked perfectly).
★★★★★