Mediterranean Sumac Chicken Thighs Recipe With Charred Lemon & Pickled Red Onions Mediterranean Diet Recipes Gluten-free Chicken Recipes Grilling Lunch Dinner Middle Eastern Recipes

Grilling is something that happens quite often at my house, year-round. Pork chops, steaks, chicken breasts and chicken thighs are some of my favorite ingredients to throw on the grill. Chicken thighs top the list because they stay moist, even if you overcook them a bit (it has happened!).

This Mediterranean grilled sumac chicken thighs recipe with charred lemon and pickled red onions, inspired by The Mediterranean Dish, is a new favorite. The chicken thighs are moist, juicy, tender and full of strong flavors from the marinade. Top with crispy and tangy pickled red onions, tart charred lemons and creamy tzatziki, and you have a winning chicken dinner.

To make this simple marinated grilled chicken you will need to gather the following ingredients from your fridge and pantry: boneless chicken thighs, yellow onion, fresh garlic, sumac, ground coriander, allspice, crushed red pepper flakes, healthy lemons for cooking and juicing, and olive oil.

The chicken is cooked on the grill, quickly, after being marinated. You can marinate the chicken for as little 30 minutes, but if you have time, let it hang out in the highly seasoned marinade as long as you can. While the chicken soaks, make quick 10-minute pickled red onions (read about the health benefits of onions) and homemade tzatziki (or buy it from the grocery store). The charred lemons are so simple and cook in minutes along with the chicken.

If you're wondering what the heck sumac is, it is a ground spice used in Middle Eastern cooking. The spice is crimson in color and has smoky, citrusy and floral notes. It's used in many dishes in the Middle East and on the table as a condiment in Iran. You'll find it in fattoush, a Lebanese salad, and in my mahammara dip recipe and crispy Parmesan carrot coins.

For a pretty presentation, put all the ingredients onto a colorful serving platter. You can serve the chicken thighs whole or slice it up and pile onto naan or pita bread and add the red onions, tzatziki and lemon. This is a wonderful meal-prep recipe!

Cuisine: Mediterranean
Prep Time: 10 minutes plus time to marinate
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes plus time to marinate
Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Marinade

• 1 yellow onion, cut into chunks
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons sumac
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil

For Serving

• tzatziki
• pickled red onions
• charred lemons
• naan or pita bread, grilled or warmed

Recipe Notes

• You can use store-bought tzatziki or make homemade tzatziki. I made this lazy tzatziki recipe and added chopped cucumber.

• I used my Breville food processor for the marinade. If you don't have a food processor, you can use a blender.

• Warm the bread in the oven or toss it on the grill.

• The original recipe called for ground Aleppo pepper. I could not find it, so used crushed red pepper flakes instead.

Here's how to make it: 

1. Put all the marinade ingredients into a food processor or blender.
2. Pulse until combined.
3. Put the chicken into a food storage bag or shallow dish. Pour the marinade over and shake or stir to ensure all the chicken is coated. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
4. When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the marinade. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Preheat the grill.
5. To grill the lemons, put the slices onto the grill and cook, flipping often, until charred and softened. Remove to a plate.
6. To grill the chicken thighs, put them onto the hot grill. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken over and continue to cook the chicken until charred and cooked to 165 degrees F on a food thermometer.
7. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving with the charred lemons, warm bread, pickled red onions and tzatziki sauce.

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. This recipe has been analyzed by HappyForks. However, any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

Need to convert cooking and baking measurements? Here are some kitchen conversion charts. Here's how to submit your recipes to 30Seconds.

Take 30 seconds and join the 30Seconds community, and follow us on Facebook to get recipes in your newsfeed daily.