When you don’t want to spend ages in the kitchen, try this easy turmeric chicken recipe with fennel, orange, and warming spices!
This turmeric chicken recipe is a no-fail situation that takes just 15 minutes of hands on time–the oven does the rest! It’s loaded with flavor from the savory, warming spice mix, and an easy marinade of olive oil, white wine, and citrus. Everything cooks in one pan!
While it roasts, you’ll have plenty of time to make a quick side of basmati rice or bulgur, throw together a side salad, or simply relax with a glass of wine. After about 40 minutes, the chicken turns golden and crisp, and the fennel and citrus become deliciously caramelized. The result is a comforting, flavorful dinner with just the right balance of sweet, earthy, and bright.
Turmeric Chicken Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this turmeric chicken recipe:
- Marinade: Extra virgin olive oil, white wine, orange juice, lime juice, yellow mustard, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
- Spice rub: This is where the star of the show, turmeric, comes in. It’s combined with garlic powder, coriander, paprika, kosher salt, and pepper.
- Chicken: I used whole chicken legs (the thigh and drumstick), but you could also use breasts, a combination of the two, or a whole chicken cut into 6 or 8 pieces.
- Vegetables and more: Fresh fennel has a strong anise kick when raw, but this transforms into a delightful sweetness when it’s roasted. I also add some sweet onion and unpeeled sliced oranges.
How to Make Turmeric Chicken
One of my favorite things about turmeric chicken is that it is so dang easy. You only spend about 15 minutes of hands-on time! After that, your refrigerator and oven do most of the heavy lifting. Here’s how to make it:
- Make the marinade. In a large mixing bowl, mix together 1/2 cup each olive oil, white wine, and orange juice. Juice in 1 lime and season with 2 tablespoons yellow mustard and 3 tablespoons brown sugar.
- Make the spice mix. In a separate small bowl, mix together the 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Season the chicken. Mix about half of the spice mix into the marinade. Pat the chicken dry and generously cover with the remainder of the spice mix, lifting the skin and applying some of the spices underneath.
- Marinate the chicken. Add the seasoned chicken to marinade, along with 1 sliced fennel bulb, 1 large sliced onion, 2 sliced oranges, and 1 sliced lime (optional). Toss to coat, then cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. (If you don’t have time, skip the marinating and let sit at room temperature while your oven heats.)
- Roast the turmeric chicken. Preheat your oven to 475°F. Transfer the entire contents of the marinade bowl to a large baking pan so that everything is comfortably arranged in one layer. Be sure the chicken’s skin is facing up. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and more brown sugar, if you like. Roast or until the chicken is cooked through (165°F) and the skin has nicely browned, 40-45 minutes.
What to Serve with Turmeric Chicken
The sauce is the real money-maker here, you’ll want something to soak it up. Simple basmati rice comes to mind, or pita bread for dipping. Start with something crisp and fresh, like cucumber salad.
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Ingredients
- 6 pieces bone-in, skin-on chicken (whole legs, breasts, or a combination), pat dry
- 1 large fennel bulb, cored and sliced
- 1 large sweet onion, sliced into half moons
- 2 oranges, sliced whole with the peel
- 1 lime, thinly sliced
For the Marinade
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar, plus more for sprinkling
For the Spice Mix
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Season the chicken. Mix the Marinade ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix together the Spice Mix, including salt and pepper to taste. Mix about half of the spice mix into the marinade. Pat the chicken dry and generously cover with the remainder of the spice mix, lifting the skin and applying some of the spices underneath.
- Marinate the chicken. Add the seasoned chicken to marinade, along with the fennel, onion, oranges, and lime (if using). Toss to coat, then cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. (If you don’t have time, skip the marinating and let sit at room temperature while your oven heats.)
- Roast the chicken. Preheat your oven to 475°F. Transfer the entire contents of the marinade bowl to a large baking pan so that everything is comfortably arranged in one layer. Be sure the chicken’s skin is facing up. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and more brown sugar, if you like. Roast or until the chicken is cooked through (165°F) and the skin has nicely browned, 40-45 minutes.
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Notes
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients, including the olive oil and spices used in this recipe.
- To use boneless chicken: You’d need to tweak the recipe so the chicken stays moist—especially if you use breasts, which are much less forgiving:
- Pound the chicken so it is more or less uniform in thickness. This will promote even cooking.
- Set the oven to 425°F instead of 475.
- Cover the chicken in foil for the first 10 minutes of roasting. This allows steam to cook the chicken from the inside out.
- The chicken should be cooked in about 18 minutes.
Nutrition
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Easy and delicious!!
This was outstanding! I marinaded the chicken for about two hours then fried it. My family and I loved it. It was easy to make. I made chicken salad from the leftovers for lunch sandwiches. 100% will make again!
I found this recipe and the same photo an anti inflammatory book I am reading, by Kate Longfield. So not sure if its her recipe ir yours?
Looks yumm
Hello! This recipe is 100% Suzy’s. We don’t have any affiliation with Kate Longfield.
Can I leave the chicken to marinate overnight and then cook for dinner? That’s roughly 24 votes of marination.
Hi, Jim. I don’t think I would recommend marinating the chicken in the marinade for that long. After awhile, the citrus could negatively affect the texture of the chicken.
This was my first attempt at making a dish from this site, and I’m so glad I did! The chicken was so flavorful and the leftovers were great a day later. The chicken was so moist as well. It’s definitely a keeper.
Planning to make this tonight. Wondering if the mustard should be ground mustard powder or prepared yellow mustard? Maybe that is why some people say it’s bitter? If they used ground?
Hi, Connie. You’ll want to use prepared yellow mustard with this recipe. Hope you love it!
I made this dish tonight for dinner. I cannot believe how incredible it tastes! This dish is also so beautiful and worthy of serving for guests. My husband absolutely devoured his dinner. I was hesitant about adding the lime slices after reading some of the previous comments, but honestly it was perfect and I can’t figure out why people said the dish was bitter. Are they eating the lime slices with the rind on?? That is the only way this dish would be bitter. The flavors combine to make the most perfect dinner. I did add the salt and brown sugar on top before baking as the recipe suggests and I’m so glad I did because it really adds to the flavors of this very complex dish. I cooked some quinoa and served this over the quinoa and it was amazing. You really don’t need anything else. I will be making this over and over! Thank you Suzy!
Wonderful! Thanks so much, Anna!
Made this last night. Followed recipe exactly and it came out very bitter. I’m super bummed because we love turmeric. Any ideas on what could have gone wrong? Could it be the orange rind? We don’t normally eat fennel, does it get bitter?
Oh, no! Unfortunately, without being there, it’s hard to say exactly what might have caused the bitterness. Yes, it could have possibly been due to the orange rind and/or the fennel, but it could also have been another ingredient causing the problem. I’m so sorry this didn’t turn out the best for you. I do hope you give it another try in the future!
We found this to be too oily, especially when combined with skin-on chicken. Think I’ll only use a quarter-cup for the marinade next time. Otherwise, this was super good!
This chicken recipe is amazing! So flavorful and chicken cooks perfectly.
So delicious, light, and perfect for summer. Did not add the lime slices as I figured that would be a bit bitter but did include the lime juice. I also skipped the white wine because I did not want to open a whole bottle and instead substituted with a dash of white wine vinegar (which I think helped tenderize the chicken while marinating).
Thanks so much, Rensie!
I made this for dinner last night and the hubby raved! It was so good! I served over a bed of basmati/turmeric rice with added Zatar seasoning… was fantastic!
I added some small peppers to the baking dish. This was super easy and delicious!
One of my favorite dishes! Never had anything like this before and love the brightness of the citrus. We eat the orange slices with the chicken and it’s fabulous. Tried the lime slices too the first time but now just used the lime juice and skip the slices since they are bitter.
Thanks, Nancy!
Left out the srs on my original rating.
I made this last night after an overnight marinade.
It was moist but not particularly flavorful.
If I make again I would add larger amounts of the herbs .
It wasn’t bad but for the time & cost of ingriediants I likely won’t.
I love so many of Suzys recipes this one just wasn’t as over the top amazing.
Thanks, Sheila! We appreciate the feedback!