Baked Zhug Chicken with Spiced Brown Rice and Steamed Broccoli

A creamy, spicy, juicy zhoug chicken recipe with Middle Eastern-inspired flavors of cilantro, parsley, lemon, garlic, and tangy yogurt, served with turmeric, cumin, paprika-spiced rice with quinoa and served with fresh steamed broccoli.

How to Keep Baked Chicken Moist?

This Middle Eastern-inspired dish is a meal we return to for dinner at home. The secret is to keep the chicken moist when baking. I use a deep baking pan like a loaf pan to ensure that the zhoug chicken will not dry out while it's baking, and you get some browning at the top, too.

Enjoy this Quick Zhoug Sauce recipe as a condiment topping, sauce, and marinade. If you wish just to cook the rice, please check out the Easy Spiced Brown Rice and Quinoa recipe. Find more fantastic rice recipes in the Cook's Notebook section on Cooking Rice. What else can you make with the spiced rice? Well, Curried Chickpeas with Mushroom, that is! It also goes very well with the Air-Fryer Salmon with Pepper Cabbage Slaw recipe.

Ingredients

You will want to prepare the rice in your rice cooker or stovetop. I have provided instructions for both. Use basmati brown rice mixed with protein-rich quinoa; it comes out perfect in the rice cooker. Season the rice with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, turmeric, cumin, crushed red pepper chili flakes, cinnamon, and coriander. Then, when the rice is ready, you will fold in the lemon zest and chopped parsley.

See the zhoug chicken recipe card for quantities.

Then, you will cut the chicken breast into large chunks for the zhug chicken and combine it with zhug sauce, greek yogurt, and season with salt and pepper. This will then be placed in your air fryer or oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Finally, you will serve the zhoug chicken dish with quick steamed broccoli that only takes 3 minutes! This combination makes an incredible healthy chicken recipe that you'll keep coming back with a zhug recipe that can add to so many dishes as a marinade to using traditionally as a pepper sauce.

Instructions

Cutting the chicken into large chunks while baking it in a deep dish helps keep the chicken's juice in and moist. Learn more about prepping chicken. Undoubtedly, these color-coded flexible plastic cutting boards are the best to prevent cross-contamination.

Busy Folks - Become a better home cook with cooking tips to help you cook more efficiently on Cook's Notebook tab.  In addition, some related detailed steps can be found there.

Substitutions

• Brown Rice - You can use medium-grain brown rice or jasmine brown rice. For example, medium-grain brown rice refers to regular white medium-grain rice with the brain layer covering the white grain. Jasmine brown rice has a slight floral aroma. It is usually used in South East Asian and Caribbean cuisines.
• Quinoa - You can replace the quinoa in the same amount as rice.
• Ground Cinnamon - You can use one cinnamon stick.
• Lemon Zest - Try ¼ teaspoon dried lemon peel.
• Fresh Chopped Parsley - Try 1 teaspoon dried parsley.
• Quick Zhug Sauce Alternative - You might find an already-made version at your local store.
• Jalapeno Pepper - Use Serrano or a mixture of both.
• Chili Pepper Flakes Substitutes for Zhug Sauce - 1 Thai chili (Bird's Eye Chili) or ⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper for every ½ teaspoon.
• Ground Cardamom Substitute - ¼ teaspoon ground ginger with ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon per ½ teaspoon.

Change Heat Level - Modify the recipe's heat level to your liking and learn more about the Scoville Scale and Chili Pairings.

Variations

• Roasted Zhoug Chicken - Omit the yogurt and marinate the chicken in the zhug sauce. It makes a great roasted chicken meal with a salad, fresh sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, and a lemony vinaigrette.

Equipment

• Air fryer - We've always cooked this recipe in a small baking dish in our Ninja Foodi 5-in-1 Indoor Grill. It’s so convenient because it takes less time than the oven. I don’t have to worry about waiting for the whole oven to preheat for a long time, and it’s so simple to use, like using a microwave. All of this helps when time is limited. You can see how I use the Ninja, and there is an image link below as well, under recommended products in the recipe.
• Rice Cooker - Use this if you plan to make the rice and the zhoug chicken. I developed this recipe using my Aroma Housewares Digital Rice Cooker. However, if you do not have a rice cooker, you can make it on the stovetop, as you would usually make it. Then add the lemon zest and chopped parsley after it's cooked.
• Steamer - Use this if you will make steamed broccoli as well. If you do not have a steamer, you can also boil it briefly for 3 minutes in boiling water. Also, some rice cookers have steamers, but they can be easily overcooked since it really only takes about 3 minutes to cook to a bright green color where the texture still has a bite. For this recipe, I used my Stainless Steel Oster Steamer.

Kitchen Must Haves - Find other tools I use here.

Storage

• Refrigerator - Place the zhoug chicken, rice, and broccoli in the fridge in a 2-inch shallow pan to cool down quickly. Then, store the meal and the rest of the zhug in an air-tight sealing container. The meal will last for up to four days, and five days for the zhug sauce.
• Freezer - First, follow the refrigeration process mentioned above. For the meal, please place it in the freezer in a labeled, airtight container. Place the zhug sauce in a labeled freezer-sealing bag or divide portions into an ice cube tray, then pour the frozen cubes into a labeled freezer-sealing bag.

Air Tight Food Containers - I use Glass Food Storage Containers with a plastic clipping lid to store food.  For example, I always suggest glass storage containers since you can microwave them and hold food without staining the container, and the glass keeps them at a more stable temperature, which keeps the food fresher longer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Chicken Recipes

Looking for other chicken recipes like this? Try these:

Middle Eastern Recipes

Looking for other Middle Eastern-inspired recipes like this? Try these:

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📖 Recipe

ninja foodi, quick and easy, dinner, meal prep, bake, bowls, pollotarian, healthy, spicy

Poultry

Middle Eastern, Yemeni, Mediterranean

Yield: 2 ¼x ½x 1x 2x 3x 4x 5x 6x 7x 8x 9x 10x

Author: Maika Frederic

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Baked Zhug Chicken with Spiced Brown Rice and Steamed Broccoli

A creamy, spicy, juicy chicken recipe with Middle Eastern-inspired flavors of cilantro, parsley, lemon, garlic, and tangy yogurt, served with turmeric, cumin, paprika-spiced rice with quinoa and served with fresh steamed broccoli.

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 55 Min

Ingredients US Metric

Rice Cooker Spiced Brown Rice and Quinoa

• ¾ cup basmati brown rice
• ¼ cup quinoa
• 1 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper chili flakes
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 lemon, zested
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Zhug Chicken

• 15 ounces chicken breasts
• 1 cup onion, large diced
• ½ cup of quick zhug sauce
• ¾ cup Greek yogurt, room temp
• ¼ teaspoon salt, or taste preference
• ¼ tsp ground pepper

Steamed Broccoli

• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup of water

InstructionsFahrenheitCelsius

Rice Cooker Spiced Brown Rice and Quinoa

1. Save time in the kitchen: Read the instructions thoroughly, then gather and prep all your ingredients before cooking!
2. Rince the Rice: To rinse the rice, remove the insert from the rice cooker. Pour the rice into the rice cooker’s insert and fill the container halfway with water.
3. Mix the rice in the water using the rice paddle to loosen up the starch and other impurities.
4. Drain the water from the rice. I like to use a small sieve strainer to catch escaped rice when pouring the water out. Repeat this process two more times.
5. Cook the Rice: Combine all ingredients in the rice cooker insert except for lemon zest and chopped parsley.
6. Select the "whole grain" or "brown rice" setting on your rice cooker.
7. Fluff the Rice and Season: Once the timer goes off for the cooked rice, fluff the rice with a rice paddle (a fork may scratch the non-stick coating) to help evaporate the excess liquid.
8. Once the steaming slows down, add and mix in the lemon zest and chopped parsley.

Zhug Chicken and Broccoli

1. Set Air Fryer: Preheat your air fryer or oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Set the air fryer's cooking time to 20 minutes.
2. Prep Chicken: On a cutting board for raw poultry, pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and cut it into 1-½-inch chunks.
3. Place the chicken chunks into a medium mixing bowl.
4. Add the onions while separating the onion layers.
5. Marinate: Add the zhug sauce, yogurt, salt, and pepper, and combine well.
6. Pour the yogurt-chicken mixture into a deep 6 to 7-inch air fryer liner. The deep container maintains chicken breast moisture. If you are using the oven, place it in a greased loaf pan.
7. Cook: When the air fryer is ready, place the yogurt-chicken mixture in. If using the oven, bake your yogurt-chicken mixture for 25 to 30 minutes. Cook the chicken without stirring.
8. Five minutes before the chicken is done, bring a steamer pot of water to boil and steam the broccoli for 2 ½ minutes; remove immediately and set aside.
9. Once ready, check that the internal temperature is 165 degrees Fahrenheit with a meat thermometer and firm to the touch. The chicken will also have a slight golden brown color along the edges. Remove the chicken from the air fryer or oven and rest for 5 minutes.
10. Serve with 1 cup of Spiced Brown Rice per serving and 1 cup of steamed Broccoli.

Notes

Fluffing Rice Method

• Fluffing the rice with a fork or a paddle evaporates the extra moisture, leaving you with a bowl of lighter, fluffier rice.
• The method involves scooping and mixing the cooked rice within the container to allow steam to escape.

Zesting

• Zesting is peeling only the skin of the citrus fruit without the white flesh, referred to as pith. The skin contains aromatic oils and is a great addition to recipes to intensify the flavors of a dish. A fine grater is the most convenient way to obtain the zest of the citrus fruit, usually referred to as zester or a Microplane. Learn more about Zesting on the Cook's Notebook tab.  

Quicker Zesting

• You can zest the lemon right over the cooked rice instead of zesting it in a separate container to prevent it from sticking. Read notes before for more detail.

Alternative to Brown Basmati Rice

• You can use medium-grain brown rice or jasmine brown rice.
• Medium-grain brown rice refers to regular white medium-grain rice with the brain layer covering the white grain.
• Jasmine brown rice has a slight floral aroma.
• It is usually used in South East Asian and Caribbean cuisines.

Quinoa Variations

• You can replace the quinoa in the same amount with rice.

Ground Cinnamon Substitute

• You can use one cinnamon stick

Lemon Zest Substitute

• Try ¼ teaspoon dried lemon peel

Fresh Chopped Parsley Substitute

• Try 1 teaspoon dried parsley

Quick Zhug Sauce Alternative

• You might find an already-made version at your local store.

Zhug Sauce Servings & Yields

• Recipe Yields: 2 cups
• Serving Size: 2 tbsp
• Servings: 16

Jalapeno Pepper Substitute

• Use Serrano or a mixture of both

Removing Seeds to Control Heat Level

• When recipes call to remove seeds from hot peppers to control the heat level, you have to actually remove the rib (pith) of the pepper, the white flesh.

Chili Pepper Flakes Substitutes for Zhug Sauce

• 1 Thai chili (Bird's Eye Chili) or ⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper for every ½ teaspoon

Ground Cardamom Substitute

• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger with ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon per ½ teaspoon

Zhug Usage

• Use as a marinade to grill/bake/roast tofu, meats, poultry, fish, and vegetables or as a dipping sauce in hummus or on its own.

Storage: Refrigerator

• Place the zhoug chicken, rice, and broccoli in the refrigerator in a 2-inch shallow pan to cool down quickly.
• Then store the meal and the rest of the zhug in an air-tight sealing container.
• The meal will last for up to four days and five days for the zhug sauce.

Storage: Freezer

• First, follow the refrigeration process mentioned above.
• For the meal, please place it in the freezer in a labeled, airtight container.
• Place the zhug sauce in a labeled freezer-sealing bag or divide portions into an ice cube tray, then pour the frozen cubes into a labeled freezer-sealing bag.

Reheat: Stovetop

• Thaw it out entirely in the refrigerator to prevent bacterial growth.
• I suggest heating it slowly in a saucepan on low heat covered with an ice cube, occasionally stirring to prevent scratching on the bottom of the pan.

Reheat: Microwave

• Thaw it out entirely in the refrigerator to prevent bacterial growth.
• Heat the meal in a wide bowl for two minutes with one ice cube over the rice and use a microwave cover, stirring the dish content every minute and a half until it is hot.

Alternative Stovetop Spiced Rice Recipe

1. In a medium pot, combine all the ingredients (except lemon zest and chopped parsley) and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
2. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat.
3. When the boiling process has started, decrease the heat to low to allow the rice to simmer and cover it with the lid.
4. Keep covered and only check after 40 minutes.
5. The liquid should have evaporated, leaving you with just the cooked spiced rice and quinoa.
6. Taste to check tenderness. If not done, cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
7. Once the rice is cooked to desired texture, please remove it from the heat, and fluff it with a fork (for stainless steel pots) or a wooden/plastic paddle (works with all pots, such as non-stick).
8. Add the lemon zest and parsley and combine and serve.

Recommended Products:

Ninja AG301 Foodi 5-in-1 Indoor Grill with Air Fry, Roast, Bake & Dehydrate, Black/Silver

KitchenAid Classic Bamboo Spatula, Set of 2, Pistachio

Cutting Board Mats Flexible Plastic Colored Mats with Food Icons, Fotouzy BPA-Free, Non-Porous, Anti-skid back and Dishwasher Safe, Set of 7

Nutrition Facts

Calories

300.87

Fat

6.02 g

Sat. Fat

1.32 g

Carbs

5.22 g

Fiber

0.47 g

Net carbs

4.75 g

Sugar

3.79 g

Protein

53.34 g

Sodium

1860.04 mg

Cholesterol

139.83 mg

These are calculations based on search results of the ingredient's nutritional information.

Similar Recipes

Easy Spiced Brown Rice and Quinoa

Quick Zhug Sauce

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Food safety

• Cook chicken to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C).
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat to prevent foodborne illness from contaminated uncooked meats.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat to prevent cross-contamination.
• Don't leave food at room temperature for extended periods; this can breed bacteria.
• Never leave cooking food unattended to prevent burns and fires.
• Use oils with a high smoke point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

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