This is the type of recipe that should become one of your regulars in your rotation of favorite recipes. It’s easy, it’s versatile, and has a lot of flavor. Serve it with an easy salad (like mine here) or rice for a quick weeknight meal.
Berbere spice is a bit of a unique ingredient, but I highly recommend spending a little extra time tracking it down! It has a strong flavor, but isn’t spicy. If I had to compare it to a spice, I’d say it’s like paprika. I found this at a local spice store and add it to anything when I want it to have an extra kick of flavor. If you can’t find it, add another two teaspoons of paprika, 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin and coriander, plus 1/4 teaspoon ginger.
Easy Ethiopian Spiced Chicken
- 2 pounds chicken breast, trimmed of fat
- 1 tablespoon Berbere spice (see note above if you don’t have it)
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- juice of 1/2 lemon
Combine all spices together and mix thoroughly. Place chicken in a large bowl or ziploc bag. Add in spices, olive oil, and lemon and mix until the chicken is coated with the spices. Let marinate overnight. You could probably get away with marinating it for an hour or two, but I think the longer you can let it marinate, the stronger and better the flavor!
Preheat oven to 425. Spread chicken out onto a sheet pan (I like to line mine with foil and spray oil on it- makes for easy cleaning) and place in oven for 20-25 minutes. Check temperature of chicken (should be 165 degrees) or cut through- it should be white. Set aside to cool slighlty and serve immediately, or store in an airtight container.
For the salad that I served with this chicken, I threw together arugula, roasted cauliflower (I roasted it while I baked the chicken) pistachios and freshly shaved Parmesan. I then tossed it in a light lemon olive oil dressing.