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Mediterranean Roasted Chicken Breasts. You're going to love this recipe, because it can all be made ahead and just popped into the oven at the last minute, making it a wonderful dish for guests or for a healthy, easy dinner.
I've made quite a few changes and, though we really enjoyed the original recipe, it's actually evolved into one of our very favorite meals here at The Café. I tinkered around with the spices, cutting back on the smoked paprika and adding crushed (or ground) coriander, oregano and a bit of curry powder. I exchanged the crushed red pepper for a splash of Sriracha chili sauce and layered everything with slices of super thinly shaved fresh lemon.
I love bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Though we don't eat the skin (as it adds a lot of fat to a very lean protein), it keeps the chicken moist and tender as it bakes and adds a ton of delicious flavor. So for roasting, I always purchase this type of chicken and stock my freezer when one of my local markets has a great sale. The thing I don't like about them is that they're so large and bulky and having to pull the meat off the bone makes for messier eating, not the greatest when serving guests.
Did you know that many butchers at your everyday grocery store will cut the meat off of the bone for you? At no charge? When I'm in a hurry, as is often my dilemma, I'll take advantage of this service. However, whenever possible, I take my sharpest knife and do the job myself. It only takes minutes and the advantage here is that I get to throw the bones (still clinging with meat) in the freezer. When the urge strikes me, I've got the base for a delicious pot of soup!
Don't worry though, you can just as well make this Mediterranean Roasted Chicken Breasts with the whole skin-on, bone-in breast, it just won't be quite as pretty, but still makes a super delicious dinner!
The other changes I made were using cannellini beans instead of garbanzo beans. I love garbanzo beans, but Mr. Café (aka known as my husband, photographer, chief taste tester and cohort in crime) is not so fond of them, and they do tend to get a teeny bit tough as they roast. You could use either, but the cannellini beans took the whole thing up a notch for us.
One last change I made was the sauce. The original recipe called for adding some of the same spice mixture as used on the chicken to the Greek yogurt. I decided to keep it simple, cool and refreshing and added a smashed avocado, the juice of a lemon, a bit of sea salt and a splash of olive oil to my Greek yogurt. To us it's just the crème de la crème for an already delightful dinner.
Oh, and make a little extra, because the leftovers are quite amazing piled into a pita! I love to warm a pocketless pita in a hot pan with a tiny bit of olive oil. I spread a bit of hummus down the center topped with a generous spoonful of the tomato mixture along with some of the chicken, thinly sliced. Shower it with fresh cilantro, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a dollop of the avocado and Greek yogurt sauce. Oh my! It's the best lunch EVER!
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves pressed
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon sriracha chili sauce*
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 medium lemon very thinly sliced
- 4 chicken breast halves boned, but with skin left on (You can use the whole breast with skin and bones, if desired.)
- 2 15 ounce cans cannellini beans rinsed and drained
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes. I like to use one pint of red and one of yellow or orange just to make it pretty
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro divided
- ½ cup plain yogurt or Greek yogurt
- 1 medium ripe avocado smoothly mashed
- 1 Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
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Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix first 9 ingredients in medium bowl.
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Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan. Rub each chicken breast with about 2 teaspoons of the olive oil/spice mixture. Place in heated pan, skin side down and sauté for several minutes until skin is golden brown. Remove from pan and place in a large oven-safe dish.
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In a large bowl, combine remaining oil mixture with the beans, tomatoes, lemon slices and ½ cup cilantro, stirring gently to coat. Add to dish with chicken, surrounding chicken, but not covering. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Roast until chicken is cooked through, about 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with ½ cup cilantro. Serve with Greek yogurt sauce.
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Combine all ingredients. If preparing ahead, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Serves 4-6 depending on how large the chicken breasts are.
Shimei says
Made this for dinner on Monday. It was such a simple dish to put together and the flavours were incredible!
Chris Scheuer says
Oh, thanks for letting us know, I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
Shannon says
Delicious!! I made this last night for dinner. My husband and I loved it. I will definitely be adding this into regular rotations at my house. Especially when I have guests. I made 1 modifications: instead of making your sauce, I scooped 1 tsp of the olive oil/spice mixture in the greek yogurt. Again, delicious.
I cannot wait to make this again!
Ps. It's absolutely beautiful looking when it's done cooking. My instagram photo got a lot of likes.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks Shannon for letting us know. So happy you enjoyed this and had such great results. Love your sauce idea!
Odette says
This is a fabulous recipe. I've made it three times and there is a pan in the oven at this moment. My frineds LOVED it when they were served this beautiful looking and tasty dish. Thank you, for sharing!
Chris Scheuer says
Oh, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. Everyone in my family loves this dish too. If by chance, you have any leftovers, try them on pitas with hummus, fresh tomatoes, Feta, cilantro .......... SO good! 🙂
Bonnie Cooper says
Hi Chris! I love your website, all of your posts and follow on Pinterest. I've been checking periodically hoping to find the recipe for the Lemon, Herb & Pistachio Israeli Couscous you paired with the Mediterranean Roasted Chicken Breasts w/Tomatoes & Cannellini Beans. Any chance it might be up soon? I'd love to make this side dish with the chicken!
Chris Scheuer says
Bonnie, You have an amazing memory. I promise I will work on this one. It would be so nice for Easter. I already have the recipe just have to put it together again and get the photos. Thanks for reminding me!
Bobbie says
I absolutely love this meal! I've made it several times. I like to serve it with pan fried pita bread sprinkled with sea salt. Delish!
Anonymous says
Quite possibly, the best dinner I've ever made! So much flavor!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for taking the time to get back to us. So happy you had such great results!
BonnieC000 says
Chris, as a new follower, I am impressed with your cooking style as well as the gorgeous food photography! I appreciate how all of your recipes come together over time and contain easy-to-find ingredients. Thank you for sharing all of this beauty and goodness!! P.S. I would love to have the Lemon, Herb & Pistachio Israeli Couscous recipe to serve with the Mediterannean Chicken. Any chance it will be posted soon?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Bonnie! Thank you and welcome!! I appreciate your kind words. I had forgotten about that wonderful couscous salad. Yes I will tweak it just a bit and post it soon 🙂
Ally says
Chris! Anything w/that much color has to be good!! I could eat the photo!! xo ~~ally
cooking with curls says
Oh wow, that looks amazing! I will definitely be giving this dish a try 🙂
Unknown says
I rarely repeat recipes, but this one I will make again and again! I used a whole chicken butterflied and subbed a few other ingredients based on what I had on hand, but it got rave reviews from my not-easily-impressed husband and my two young kiddos. Thanks so much!
Chris Scheuer says
Very cool! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and your results. It is one of my favorite chicken dishes EVER!
SavoringTime in the Kitchen says
I followed over from Monique's post 🙂 This is both such a beautiful presentation and the ingredients sound so delicious!
Anonymous says
I actually made this recipe the day after I saw the photo on Pinterest. It is all that and more! I used a can of can of chick peas and a can of can of canellini beans and it was fine. I sliced the tomatoes in half and had to stop myself from eating all of them right out of the oven because they were loaded with flavor. One thing I didn't like was I used the skin on breasts (and I agree they produce a moister chicken) but I don't eat the skin so I think a lot of flavor gets tossed. Also, the next day, the pan was gelatinous, which leads me to believe there was a lot of fat. Next time, and there will absolutely be a next time(!!), I think I'll use boneless/skinless, rub the spices on them, and layer the tomatoes and lemons on top to keep them moist.
I had to wing the couscous because you haven't posted it yet!! I just put olive oil, fresh lemon juice, finely chopped parsley and S&P. It was excellent but I'd love to hear your version.
Thanks so much for sharing, this is a keeper!!
Anonymous says
I'd love to, just tell me how! I didn't know what most of the other profile options meant so I went with annonymous! I have two pics of my version, straight out of the oven! I'd be happy to share!
Chris Scheuer says
Oh, thanks so much for getting back to me about your results. I love hearing from people like you! Also love your version, that's what's so fun to me about cooking; the end product can be totally unique, even if you're following someone else's recipe. And thanks for reminding me about the couscous, sometimes I'm such a flea brain, maybe because I always have a zillion culinary ideas swirling and twirling! I will post the couscous, might take just a little bit before we can get photos but I have to say, your version sounds wonderful! Do you want to do a guest post? 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
How fun, why don't you send me your photos and we'll add an addendum to the end of the post with your version and your photos.
Wendy says
Hi! I'm making this now with some black cherry tomatoes from my patio plants and can't wait for dinner! To the person who commented about the gelatinous quality of the leftovers I would like to point out that this is more likely from the albumin...a form of protein and not from fat. It makes a delicious stock so don't throw it out! The hard, white film on top of the gelatin is the fat. Skim that stuff off!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks Wendy!
Kyle says
Fantastic. I made this yesterday and when everyone came home for dinner all I heard was " Wow, something smells terrific". It was delicious!
Lora CakeDuchess says
This is such a pretty spring or summer chicken dinner. I make chicken pretty often and I'm trying this one this weekend!
Mr. & Mrs. P says
This recipe in our opinion s perfect for entertaining. Looks simple and you are not slaving over the stove for a long time...
Mr. & Mrs. P says
This recipe in our opinion s perfect for entertaining. Looks simple and you are not slaving over the stove for a long time...
Patty Price says
Your photos are beautiful Chris! Reminds me of a meal I might enjoy somewhere in the south of France..maybe with a small glass of chilled Rose??!! I love the way your blog gets my imagination going---thanks for your inspiration and wonderful recipes;-) ps. the chicken looks amazingly good!!!
Andrea_TheKitchenLioness says
Chris, what a fantastic presentation - I read through the original recipe and your changes and your version sound so fabulous that I feel I should serve this for lunch this week! I just have to try out your version of this recipe as it not only looks and sounds delicious but I also really appreciate the fact that it can be prepared in advance! Glorious photography too!
La Table De Nana says
I cannot wait to make this and your photos are stunning:-)
Jen Laceda | Tartine and Apron Strings says
Happy Mother's Day, Chris! As usual, I am in awe of your beautiful photos! Mediterranean roasted chicken breasts - yes please! So tasty...
lena says
our butchers here also will help to cut the meat off the bone, thank god cos i'm really not good in doing that. Pita is a wonderful idea too!
Kitchen Riffs says
Most of my recipes evolve over time - so much fun to change things! This recipe looks like a keeper. And as you say, it's an easy dish. I'd probably not debone the breasts, just because I think the bone adds a bit of flavor. But you're right that it's a bit messy to eat. Good stuff - thanks.
Erin Dee says
I'm always looking for new and interesting ways to make chicken breasts and this looks like a fantastic one! Thanks for sharing with us. 🙂
Rosie @ Blueberry Kitchen says
This is such a stunning looking dish and it sounds so delicious! Thanks so much for sharing this, I will definitely be saving this recipe!
Lisa {Authentic Suburban Gourmet } says
I love when people take the time to tweak a recipe over and over again - since that is when it is almost perfect. This looks REALLY delicious! I am having a dinner party next week and this might make an appearance. Smile.
Liz Berg says
Oh, what a killer meal! Fantastic presentation...and it can't be anything less than incredibly delicious. Bill would do better with canellini beans, too. I think you've tweaked it to please our family, too. Wishing you a very happy Mother's Day!!! xo