Honey Harissa Chicken
Enjoy this simple recipe for sweet and spicy Honey Harissa Chicken, served with white rice, veggies, marinated olives, and fresh herbs!
Friends, looking for an easy prep meal to serve that will wow your family or guests? We love this Sweet and Spicy Honey Harissa Chicken, with a five ingredient marinade—so easy! You may also love to try out Lemon Garlic Chicken Shawarma :)
Honey Harissa Chicken
This five ingredient marinade is magic for this Honey Harissa Chicken. Grated onion is a secret weapon to making the meat stay tender and juicy after it cooks. The other ingredients add a bright, peppery sweetness to the chicken that goes so well with simple rice and veggies, but there are so many ways to use this recipe, so get creative! Harissa adds a lot of flavor to a recipe, if you’ve never tried it.
What is harissa?
Harissa is a paste made of red chilies, garlic, oil, an acid (we used vinegar & lemon juice), and spices. You can keep it stocked in your pantry.
Ingredients for Sweet and Spicy Honey Harissa Chicken
- Yellow onion
- Olive oil
- Harissa chili paste (or tomato paste)
- Honey
- Kosher salt
- Chicken breasts
Harissa Honey Sauce:
- Honey
- Harissa paste
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Salt
What do you serve with the honey harissa chicken?
- White rice
- Grilled zucchini
- Marinated olives
- Fresh herbs like mint, cilantro, and basil
Make the Marinade:
Grate or blend the onion. Optional: strain the onion in cheesecloth, or use a fine mesh sieve to separate the fibers from the juices, using your hands to squeeze out excess moisture. Add the juice to a bowl along with the olive oil, harissa, honey, and salt. Add meat to a bag and pour the marinade over top. Let sit preferably overnight or up to three days. Before cooking, let chicken sit out fifteen minutes or so, to come closer to room temperature.
Make the Harissa Honey Sauce:
Combine the honey, harissa, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste in a bowl, refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cook the chicken:
There are a few ways to cook the chicken.
- Broil on high on a greased, foil-lined baking sheet (with or without a greased rack on top). The chicken should be lightly charred and caramelized after cooking. If you find the chicken is darkening too quickly, move the sheet tray down a rack.
- Arrange chicken onto skewers and cook on a grill.
- Cook on stovetop until caramelized and lightly charred.
How do you serve harissa chicken?
Serve the chicken hot with white rice, grilled and fresh vegetables, and marinated olives, or serve with pita bread, creamy yogurt garlic sauce, fresh herbs, and a tomato cucumber salad.
The chicken is also delicious served cold, mixed into a salad with olives, feta, herbs, crunchy vegetables and a balsamic vinaigrette.
Tips and substitutions:
- If you don’t have white rice, you can serve the chicken with couscous.
- Harissa is delicious on fish!
- If you make your own, leave it in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to develop.
- Straining the onion and using only the juice makes for a better marinade texture in my opinion, but the onion can be grated or blended and left unstrained if desired.
- The easiest place for me to get harissa is at Trader Joe’s (but it can be found online as well).
- Double this recipe to have leftovers throughout the week! It’s delicious eaten cold or warm!
More chicken recipes to try:
Baked Apricot Greek Yogurt Chicken Thighs
Greek Style Chicken Drumsticks
Mozzarella Chicken Marinara Recipe
There’s nothing like starting off the week of menu planning, with an easy chicken recipe. Our family loves this Honey Harissa Chicken, served with rice and a tomato cucumber salad. So good!
ENJOY!
Get the Recipe:
Honey Harissa Chicken
Ingredients
- ½ yellow onion, grated
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp harissa chili paste, or substitute 1 Tbsp for tomato paste for less spice
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2 large chicken breasts, about 1-1/25 lb cut into 1’’ thick pieces
Harissa Honey Sauce:
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 ½ Tbsp harissa
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- Salt to taste
Serve with:
- Grilled zucchini
- Marinated olives
- Fresh herbs like mint, cilantro, and basil
Instructions
Make the Marinade:
- Grate or blend the onion. Optional: Strain the onion in cheesecloth or use a fine mesh sieve to separate the fibers from the juices; use your hands to squeeze out excess moisture.
- Add the juice to a bowl along with the olive oil, harissa, honey, and salt. Add meat to a bag and pour the marinade over top. Let sit at least 45 minutes, preferably overnight or up to 3 days. Before cooking, let chicken sit out 15 minutes or so to come closer to room temperature.
Make the Harissa Honey Sauce:
- Combine the honey, harissa, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste in a bowl, refrigerate until ready to serve.
There are a few ways to cook the chicken:
- Broil on high on a greased, foil-lined baking sheet (with or without a greased rack on top) for 3-4 minutes per side. The chicken should be lightly charred and caramelized after cooking. If you find the chicken is darkening too quickly, move the sheet tray down a rack.
- Arrange chicken onto skewers and cook on a grill set to medium-high—turning 2-3 times as it cooks, about 3-4 minutes per side, depending on the grill.
- Preheat a large skillet to medium-high and add 1-2 Tbsp of neutral oil. Once hot, add the chicken and cook until caramelized and lightly charred—8-10 minutes.
Serve the chicken:
- Serve the chicken hot with white rice, grilled and fresh vegetables, and marinated olives, or serve with pita bread, creamy yogurt garlic sauce, fresh herbs, and a tomato cucumber salad. The chicken is also delicious served cold, mixed into a salad with olives, feta, herbs, crunchy vegetables and a balsamic vinaigrette.
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
