Traditionally, joojeh kebabs are made with cubed, marinated chicken pieces threaded onto metal skewers and grilled. But in this version from Samin Nosrat’s new book Good Things, whole boneless chicken thighs stand in for a quicker prep—with no flavor sacrificed.
The marinade for this grilled chicken recipe, like every recipe in the book, is personal to Nosrat. “If I don’t have a deep relationship with it, and I haven’t made it countless times over the course of years and years and years,” she says, “it wasn’t going in the book.” It’s essentially a descendant of her beloved buttermilk-brined roast chicken—and a tribute to the Persian kebab restaurants she grew up visiting in Southern California. Saffron, onion, lemon juice, tomato paste, black pepper, and yogurt work together to tenderize the meat and create the signature balance of acidity, sweetness, and umami that defines so many Persian chicken kebab recipes.
No grill? No problem. Just lay the marinated thighs on a foil-lined baking sheet and slide them under the broiler on high heat until charred and cooked through.
Serve the saffron chicken with raw or lightly grilled tomatoes and warm lavash (baste it with olive oil and sumac for bonus points). Any leftover garlicky labneh is a gift. Nosrat recommends enjoying it with vegetables, fish, crudités, chips, crackers, or pita—basically, everything.
This recipe was adapted for style from ‘Good Things’ by Samin Nosrat. Buy the full book on Amazon or Bookshop.
Recipe information
Total Time
40 minutes (plus 2 hours for resting)
Yield
4–6 servings
Ingredients
Labneh
1
1½
¼
½
Chicken and Assembly
½
2
2
1½
¼
1
½
1
2
Need to make a substitution?
Preparation
Labneh
Step 1
Whisk 1 garlic clove, finely grated, 1½ cups labneh (Lebanese strained yogurt) or plain whole-milk Greek yogurt, ¼ cup finely chopped mixed tender herbs (such as parsley, dill, and/or cilantro), and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a small bowl to combine. Taste labneh and season with more salt if needed.
Do Ahead: Labneh can be made 5 days ahead. Cover and chill.
Chicken and Assembly
Step 2
Grind ½ tsp. (packed) saffron threads and a small pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle to a fine powder. (Or, if you don’t have a mortar and pestle, just finely crush saffron between your fingers before placing in a small bowl.) Add 1 Tbsp. hot water and let sit 10 minutes.
Step 3
Whisk saffron mixture, 2 garlic cloves, finely grated, 1½ cups plain whole-milk yogurt, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, 1 Tbsp. double-concentrated tomato paste, ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper, and 2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. plus ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a small bowl. Scrape into a 1-gal. resealable plastic bag. Add 1 medium onion, thinly sliced, and 2 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs, halved if very large, seal bag, and squish to work marinade over chicken to coat. Place bag on a rimmed baking sheet and chill at least 2 hours and, preferably, up to 12 hours.
Step 4
Remove chicken from marinade, scraping off any onion pieces; let sit at room temperature 1 hour before grilling.
Step 5
Prepare a grill for medium-high indirect heat (for a charcoal grill, bank coals on 1 side of grill; for a gas grill, leave 1 or 2 burners off). Lightly oil grate with vegetable oil. Place chicken over direct heat and grill, turning halfway through and moving to cooler side of grill if browning to quickly, until deeply browned in spots and cooked through, 10–15 minutes.
Step 6
Arrange chicken on a platter and serve with labneh and lemon wedges.