Harissa-Roasted Chicken Recipe

Move over, sriracha and Tapatío—these days, spice seekers are going crazy for harissa, a garlicky hot chile paste common in Tunisian cuisine. Blended into a sauce with garlic, lemon, and honey, it brings extra heat and smokiness to skin-on chicken breasts (try it on everything from grilled fish to chickpeas). A side of cooling yogurt-mint sauce helps balance out the heat.

Harissa-Roasted Chicken

Yield: 3 to 4 servings
Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

For the harissa sauce:
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons harissa
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
Sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

For the chicken:
1 lemon, quartered
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
3 to 4 Thrive Market Chicken Breasts

For the yogurt-mint sauce:
1 cup plain Greek-style yogurt
1/4 cup mint leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a large roasting pan with parchment paper.

Make the harissa sauce
Combine garlic, harissa, lemon juice, honey, salt, and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large bowl and set aside.

Roast the chicken
Place lemon pieces, carrots, and chicken, skin side–up, in prepared roasting pan. Drizzle carrots and lemon pieces with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Rub harissa sauce all over chicken. Roast in oven 30 to 40 minutes, until chicken is golden and cooked through.

Make the yogurt-mint sauce
Combine all ingredients in a small food processor or high-powered blender and process to thoroughly combine.

Serve chicken and carrots with yogurt sauce on the side.

Photo credit: Paul Delmont