An easy one-pan roast chicken dinner with a delicious citrus marinade starring turmeric and other Eastern Mediterranean spices! Step-by-step tutorial below.
At first glance, this is a bubbling one-pan roast chicken with a beautiful golden hue.
But truth be told, this all began as a turmeric recipe. I wanted a way to use the “superior medicine,” which has long been a part of Eastern Mediterranean cooking. The poor chicken just happened to be a good carrier for my happy experiment.
Because how else could I have disguised the turmeric in the form of something my kids would eat?! All I had to say was, “look kids, I colored the chicken yellow!”
So the golden hue is obviously thanks to the ground turmeric. But turmeric also provides the flavor base in this roast chicken recipe. The rest of the spices, along with the brown sugar; fennel; onions; and citrus, all kinda surround the turmeric building on it’s woodsy, earthy characteristics…
And coming together in this roast chicken dinner as in a perfect melody– slightly sweet, earthy, and comforting! Enjoy!
Step-by-Step Tutorial for Roast Chicken
(Scroll down for the ingredient list and print-friendly recipe)
Note: this roast chicken is best served with a plain rice like this Lebanese Rice. You can begin by making the rice and reheat later, if needed.
Prepare the ingredients as listed. Slice the fennel, onions, orange and lime. Set aside.
Make the marinade. In a large bowl or deep dish, mix together the first six ingredients: olive oil, white wine, orange juice, lime juice, mustard and brown sugar.
In a small bowl, mix together the spices: turmeric, garlic powder, coriander, paprika , salt and pepper. Now, add about half of the spice mix to the liquid marinade. Mix to combine.
Pat the chicken pieces dry and generously season with the remainder of the spice mix. Be sure to lift the chicken skins slightly and apply some of the spice mix underneath the skin.
Add the seasoned chicken and the remaining ingredients to the large bowl of marinade. Work the chicken well into the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours (if you don’t have time, you can skip the marinating).
When ready, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Transfer the chicken along with the marinade and everything else to a large baking pan so that everything is comfortably arranged in one layer. Be sure the chicken skin is facing up. Sprinkle with a dash or salt and more brown sugar, if you like.
Roast for 40-45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the chicken skin has nicely browned. Internal chicken temperature should be 170 degrees F.
Serve immediately with Lebanese Rice.
Mediterranean Roast Chicken with Turmeric and Fennel
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4-6 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
An all-star roast chicken recipe with a delicious citrus marinade starring turmeric and other Eastern Mediterranean spices! Step-by-step tutorial.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 lime, juice of
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 3 tbsp brown sugar, more for later
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tbsp ground turmeric spice
- 1 tsp ground corriander
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 large fennel bulb, cored, sliced
- 1 large sweet onion, sliced into half moons
- 6 pieces bone in, skin on chicken (chicken legs or breasts, or a combination)
- 2 Oranges, unpeeled, sliced
- 1 lime, thinly sliced (optional)
Instructions
- Make the marinade. In a large bowl or deep dish, mix together the first six ingredients: olive oil, white wine, orange juice, lime juice, mustard and brown sugar.
- In a small bowl, mix together the spices: turmeric, garlic powder, coriander, paprika , salt and pepper. Now, add about half of the spice mix to the liquid marinade. Mix to combine.
- Pat the chicken pieces dry and generously season with the remainder of the spice mix. Be sure to lift the chicken skins slightly and apply some of the spice mix underneath the skin.
- Add the seasoned chicken and the remaining ingredients to the large bowl of marinade. Work the chicken well into the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours (if you don’t have time, you can skip the marinating).
- When ready, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Transfer the chicken along with the marinade and everything else to a large baking pan so that everything is comfortably arranged in one layer. Be sure the chicken skin is facing up. Sprinkle with a dash or salt and more brown sugar, if you like.
- Roast for 40-45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the chicken skin has nicely browned. Internal chicken temperature should be 170 degrees F.
Notes
This roast chicken is best served with Lebanese Rice. If you choose to make the rice, go ahead and prepare it first according tothis recipe. You can reheat the rice later if needed.
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keywords: Roast chicken recipe, chicken recipe with turmeric
Recommended for this recipe: Large Baking Pan like in this set
More Recipes to Try
Turmeric Cauliflower and Chickpea Stew- Holy Land Inspired
Would boneless/skinless chicken breasts work in this recipe?
Hi Carrie! Yes, you can use boneless chicken in this recipe, but I would watch the cooking time, it will be ready faster.
Can’t say enough how incredible this dish is!
I had been looking for a great dish to help with my partner’s chronic pain from inflammation and this dish knocked it out of the park.
We first tried it without marinade and it was amazing, but the second time around I was able to for about 3 hours and it was unreal how much more flavorful and delicious it was. The tumeric, fennel and onion are all stars in this simple dish and really recommend it if folks are looking to add more anti-inflammatory ingredients into their diet!
★★★★★
Jason, i am so glad to hear this recipe provided what you’re looking for! Thank you for the thoughtful comment!
Hi. I’m making this tonight but I’m curious about the marinade. Did you squeeze the oranges and limes as well as use slices? Your picture looks beautiful with the sliced fruit but you don’t mention that anywhere.
Thanks!
I see it now 🙂
Rarely do my attempts look as good as your photos, but I think I got close!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/znEAar6KgRC9fp2L9
★★★★★
This makes too much for just my husband and myself. Can I cut all the ingredients in half or are there some I shouldn’t?
Helen, yes you can cut the ingredients down (I think our recipe card has that capability now to calculate down or up)
I made this tonight and it was delicious. I served it with jasmine rice.
★★★★★
Can the chicken be marinated overnight?
It’s not necessary. If you do, I would make sure you refrigerate in a non reactive container with tight lid. Glass is best. I would not marinate this for longer than 1 night.
Can this dish be frozen?
Sure, Joy. You can freeze leftovers. Thaw in the fridge and heat in a medium-heated oven, covered, and with a little bit of liquid added.
Yum? easy peasy and really tasty. I made the marinade this morning, popped it into a baking pan with remainder of ingredients 45 minutes later “viola” served with rice and beans
★★★★★
thanks for sharing, Amanda! Love the prepare-ahead
This looks good! I was wondering though if anyone has tried to use fresh tumeric in this recipe. Our local asian market has it fresh most of the time. I’ll try it , perhaps both ways, and see how it compares. Pureeing the fresh might be best.
Stephen, great question! I have not tried fresh turmeric myself here. I found out in a quick research that 1-inch piece of fresh turmeric would approximately equal 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder, as far as substituting. But I find that turmeric powder will be easier to use in spicing the chicken. Would be eager to hear what you find out!
Thanks for sharing Natalie! I am so glad you enjoyed it!
I love this recipe! I’m cooking this again today but this time I’m not adding any salt and brown sugar due to some of my guests’ diets. I’ve marinated it overnight to really get those flavors in. Wish me luck but I’m sure it will be delicious! Thanks!
Hope you all loved it, Ingrid!
I am out of limes but could I use the juice of a lemon?
Sure, Tiffany! That would work!
Could I use boneless skinless chicken for this recipe?
Yes, absolutely! You’ll just need to adjust the cooking time here as boneless chicken cooks faster. Enjoy!
Made this recipe last night and the family loved it. They yellow mustard, was it supposed to be dry mustard or liquid yellow hot dog mustard? We decided it was dried mustard.
★★★★★
That’s wonderful, Renee! This is a winner at my house as well. It’s actually liquid mustard (the condiment you buy in bottles). Sorry about the confusion. It sounds like dry mustard works just as well here! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Suzy,
Love the sound of this dish. I am making this tonight. I want know if you have marinated this longer?
I am so excited to try this. I have made many of your dishes and they are wonderful.
Thank you for the great recipes.
Hi Mark! Thanks so much for the kind comment. If you do not have the time to marinate the chicken, you do not have to in this recipe! Enjoy!
Can I subsittute the white wine for chicken broth? This chicken looks delicious and I want to make it for my husband.
Thank you 😉
Hello, Lariza. Yes, I think you can make this substitution. You’ll get a slightly different result, but it will still be great!
I am totally in love with the color of your dish – not to mention the flavors that smell good until my house or almost. I need to make it soon. I will let you know 🙂
★★★★★
You have packed in such incredible flavors into this chicken. This looks absolutely perfect!!!
Dear Suzy,
I want to let you know how happy I am that I found your site. I was looking for Mediterranean food recipes because my husband was recently diagnosed with kidney and bladder stones and I read that a Mediterranean diet was beneficial in reducing those stones. And it also helped that I have had a long standing love affair with Mediterranean food. And after finding your web site I was amazed at the variety of recipes you provide and the ones I have tried have all been truly delicious. This is a dietary change we have not minded making. We miss nothing and are eating much healthier because of you and your delicious recipes. Thank you!
Oh, Mike. Thank you! Your kind comment truly means a lot. I am ever so humbled to know that I can help in some small way. And I’m excited to hear that you’ve enjoyed the recipes you tried so far. Please feel free to come back and report on progress! Love hearing from you. And all the best re fighting back those kidney issues!