Chicken With Green Olives

By Mark Bittman

Updated May 30, 2024

  • Craig Lee for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(931)
Comments
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This dish, which draws inspiration and ingredients from Moroccan cooking, is astonishing for its complexity, even in this simple form. It features sweet spices like cinnamon and ginger offset by garlic and paprika. But what makes it a real winner is the combination of those flavors with lemon and green olives, both of which have a mouth-puckering quality that, combined with the spice mix, is enchanting.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

  • 3 to 4 pounds leg-thigh pieces of chicken, cut in two, excess fat removed

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • 1 large onion, chopped

  • 2 teaspoons peeled and minced ginger

  • 1 1-inch cinnamon stick, or ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic

  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin

  • 1 teaspoon paprika

  • 2 cups chicken stock or water

  • 1 ½ cups green olives, drained and pitted

  • Lemon juice to taste

  • Chopped cilantro leaves for garnish

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

13 grams carbs; 62 milligrams cholesterol; 365 calories; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 27 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 933 milligrams sodium; 19 grams protein; 4 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put oil in deep skillet or casserole. Turn heat to medium-high and wait a minute, until oil is hot. Add chicken, skin-side down, and brown it well, rotating and turning pieces as necessary and sprinkling with salt and pepper as they cook; 10 to 15 minutes total. Turn heat to medium, remove chicken and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat.

  2. Step 2

    Add onion, ginger, cinnamon, garlic, cumin, paprika, ½ teaspoon or more of pepper and some salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until onion softens. Add stock and raise heat to medium-high; return chicken to pan, skin-side up. Cook at a lively simmer for about 10 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Add olives and continue to cook until chicken is done, another 10 to 15 minutes or so. Add lemon juice, then taste and adjust seasoning. Garnish and serve.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
931 user ratings
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Comments

Es

Simply delicious! For 2 people I used 3 small thighs and 4 small legs but made all of the sauce. Served over couscous. The lemon is essential: very interesting how just a squeeze of lemon changed the dynamic of the sauce.

MWG

More information about variety of green olives would help for those of us not living in NYC. Also type of paprika: mild, sweet, hot, smoky? When someone remarks a dish is bland and I read a list of ingredients like this I think especially in cooking well: "the devil is in the details".

Sunny

Made this with thighs. Lots of oil spatter but omg it was delicious. The sauce was delicious over mashed potatoes.

Marina Zee

SO tasty. Only adjustment was 1/2 castelveltrano and oil cured olives (because I had to use them). So went easy on the salt.

Anne H.

Lovely and kinda easy. After browning chicken on stovetop, we cooked in 400deg oven to finish. This allowed skin to stay crisp, but we had to reduce liquid, then added lemon juice and devoured this with couscous

Tom O

Quite good, but it was hard to get chicken thighs to cook all the way through when the liquid doesn't cover them - and you don't want it to, because you want the skin to stay crispy. I ended up having to put the lid on to get the internal temp above 160, so they did get a bit soggy. I had turned the chicken at 7 minutes, when it was only lightly browned. Next time I'll leave it skin side down longer, so that the thighs are fully cooked on the bottom and deep brown.

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