Berbere Chicken

Chicken in metal pan with small bowl of seasoning spoon and napkin on white table.

5 from 3 votes

This Berbere Chicken is an easy Ethiopian food dish with juicy chicken and crispy skin. Topped with a sweet and spicy Berbere, honey and garlic sauce!

Course Main

Cuisine Ethiopian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 50

Servings

Calories 344kcal

Author Sharee

Ingredients

Chicken Seasoning:

4 whole chicken thighs with skin and bone
2 teaspoons Ethiopian Berbere Seasoning
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Kosher Salt

Sauce Ingredients:

8 garlic cloves finely chopped or pressed in a garlic press.
1 cup dry white wine
1/8 cup pure raw honey
½ teaspoon Ethiopian Berbere Seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Kosher Salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Score the skinless side of the meat by slicing slits into the thighs using a knife.
Season each side of the poultry with the salt, pepper and Ethiopian seasoning.
In a small bowl mix together the garlic, wine, honey, and remaining Ethiopian seasoning. Set aside.
Heat a cast iron pan or oven safe pan on the stove top using medium high heat. Once pan is hot, add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan.
Place meat skin side down in the cooking vessel. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes or until it gets a nice golden brown.
Once browned, turn the pieces over in the pan. Turn the stove top heat off. Add sauce mixture to the pan.
If using an oven safe pan, using oven mitts, place the pan in the oven. If you don't have an oven safe pan, put all the ingredients in a baking dish with the skin side up.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees when a food thermometer is placed in the thickest part of the meat.
Remove pan from oven using oven mitts and serve.

Notes

Scoring meat- This will help the season and the sauce permeate it for more flavorful results.

Other meat alternatives- You can use chicken breasts instead when cooking this dish. If using this, only use the stove top to cook the meat. After searing the breasts, cook them for six to eight minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees when inserting a meat thermometer into the pieces.

Thicker sauce- If it is too thin for you, add a mixture of two teaspoons of cornstarch and 3 teaspoons of water to the sauce. If there is too much oil in the pan after you brown the pieces of meat, discard some of the oil with a heat resistant spoon before adding the sauce mixture as this can help with thicker results too.

Other Cooking Methods- To save time you can just use the oven to cook this dish. Omit the browning step, cook the sauce mixture in a medium pot using medium heat on the stove top and set aside. Cook pieces of chicken in the oven on a sheet pan or baking sheet lined with parchment paper for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees. The meat should still turn light brown with some crispy skin. Serve the sauce with the cooked meat.

Nutrition