Tahini Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Squash

This Tahini Roasted Chicken is a delicious and easy one-pan meal served with carrots, butternut squash, and a herby Zhoug sauce!

I use tahini a lot. I’m definitely obsessed. I love tahini so much that I needed to create a marinade with it, too. This one-pan tahini roasted chicken with perfectly tender carrots and butternut squash is another stellar way to use tahini paste. It adds amazing flavor to the chicken itself, dripping down and mixing with the chicken juices. To add even more flavor, I serve it all with a bright and herby Zhoug sauce and crispy pistachios.

Sauce sauce sauce. Who doesn’t love it? The chicken itself is so delicious it doesn’t necessarily need the Zhou. But it’s an absolutely excellent addition that will make your dish pop. One bite and you’ll be hooked on the flavor combination.

The carrots and butternut squash are the perfect vegetables for cozy season and go perfectly with the tahini roasted chicken. However, they have different cooking times. This is why you add the butternut squash to the pan part of the way through. You don’t want it to be too soft and falling apart.

Ingredient Notes:

• Skin-on Bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks – I prefer dark meat. However, if you want to substitute a few skin-on bone-in chicken breasts for some pieces of the dark meat, go right ahead. 8 pieces total.
• Carrots – Make sure they’re half an inch thick. Any larger and they may not be tender by the time the chicken is finished cooking.
• Tahini Paste – Make sure to get equal parts of the thicker paste at the bottom and thinner liquid at the top when scooping out of the tahini jar.
• Agave – You can also substitute honey or brown sugar, if you cannot get agave.
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil – The better quality the olive oil you use here, the better the Zhoug sauce will be.

Tahini Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Squash

This Tahini Roasted Chicken is a delicious and easy one-pan meal served with carrots, butternut squash, and a herby Zhoug sauce!

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Marinating Time 12 hours hrs

Total Time 13 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean, Middle Eastern

Servings 4

Equipment

• Large Bowl, Tupperware, or Ziplock Bag for marinating chicken
• 1 Sheet Pan
• Parchment Paper
• 2 Medium Bowls
• 1 Small Saucepot optional (for reducing chicken juices)
• Food Processor

Ingredients

  

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For the Chicken:

• Tahini Marinade recipe below
• 4 skin-on bone-in chicken thighs
• 4 skin-on bone-in chicken drumsticks
• 3 medium carrots peeled and sliced into ½ inch rounds on the diagonal
• 4 shallots peeled and cut in half lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 18 oz. butternut squash pre-cut or half a butternut squash peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• ½ lemon thinly sliced into half moons
• ¼ cup roasted pistachios
• Zhoug Sauce recipe below

For the Tahini Marinade:

• 3 tablespoons tahini paste
• ½ lemon juiced
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons avocado oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon agave
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the Zhoug:

• ½ bunch cilantro leaves and thin stems
• ¼ bunch parsley leaves and thin stems
• 2 jalapenos roughly chopped, seeds and ribs discarded
• 1 garlic clove peeled
• ¼ lemon juiced (plus more if needed)
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

 

For the Chicken:

• In a large bowl, Tupperware, or plastic zip-close bags (whatever you choose to marinate the chicken in), combine the tahini marinade and chicken parts. Rub marinade all over chicken and under the skin. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
• When ready to cook. Let the chicken come to room temperature. Position a rack in the middle of the oven (If doubling the recipe, position a rack in the upper third of the oven as well). Preheat to 400°F. Line a sheet-pan with parchment-paper.
• Place carrots and shallots onto parchment-lined sheet-pan and toss to combine with half the avocado oil, half the garlic powder, a big sprinkle of kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Spread out evenly on the sheet pan and then place chicken pieces into the empty spaces on the pan within the vegetables.
• Roast for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the butternut squash with the remaining avocado oil, the remaining garlic powder, a big sprinkle of Kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Add the squash to the pan after everything has roasted for 20 minutes. Scatter lemon slices throughout the vegetables. Return to the oven and cook for another 35-40 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked through and skin is crispy (TIP: If skin isn’t looking crispy in the last 10 minutes, move sheet pan to the top rack).
• At this point your chicken is ready to eat with the vegetables and delicious drippings. However, if you’d like to go a step further, pour the juices from the bottom of the pan into a small saucepot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until slightly thickened and reduced, then pour into serving dish with the vegetables and serve with the chicken.
• Sprinkle roasted pistachios over entire dish and serve with Zhoug on the side, to drizzle over the chicken and vegetables, as desired.

For the Tahini Marinade:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth and combined.

For the Zhoug:

• Place all ingredients except for the olive oil, Kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Process until as smooth as possible, then transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Add olive oil and stir to combine. Season generously with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Add in another squeeze of lemon juice, if needed.

Notes

Tahini Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Squash can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven until skin is crispy again and chicken is warmed through. You can also reheat in the microwave, but you will lose the crispy chicken skin.

Tahini Marinade can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, if choosing to make ahead of time.

Zhoug Sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. 

Keyword easy, healthy, Sheet Pan Meal

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