How to make Berbere Chicken
It starts with the spices. You can use pre-ground spices, but using whole seeds will intensify and deepen the flavors of the Berbere. I use a mix of both. You can purchase Berbere at select stores, but truthfully, where we live, it’s a challenge to find.
Use a mortar and pestle, or even a coffee grinder, to grind the seeds.
Once the Berbere spice mix is done, start on the lentils.
When the lentils are simmering, rub chicken thighs on all sides with kosher salt, pepper and Berbere Spice Mix.
Heat a skillet with oil on medium-high heat and place thighs skin side down, searing until golden and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Turn over and sear for a few more minutes. Place in a hot oven until the internal temp reaches 165F.
Serve over the Ethiopian Lentils and sprinkle with Italian parsley.
Storage
Leftovers will keep 3-4 days in the fridge in an airtight container, or can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Serving Suggestions
This truly is a meal unto itself, but you could also serve it with Berbere Potatoes and leafy green salad or slaw like our Lemony Kale Slaw.
More FLavorful Chicken Recipes!
Berbere Chicken with Ethiopian Lentils
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6
- Category: Main, Chicken
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Ethiopian
Description
Berbere Chicken and Lentils – a flavorful delicious Ethiopian recipe that features Berbere Spice. See notes for a vegan tofu option!
Ingredients
- 1 cup French Green, OR Black lentils, OR Beluga Caviar lentils (do not use a split lentil)
- 3 cups water
- 2 cups diced onions
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1 cup diced tomato
- 2–3 tablespoons Berbere Spice Mix (see below)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Fresh Italian parsley for garnish
Berbere Chicken:
- 6 chicken thighs (skin-on)
- 2–3 tablespoons Berbere Spice Mix
- olive oil
- Kosher Salt
Berbere Spice Mix
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, ground plus more for extra spicy
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds or powdered cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds or powdered coriander
- 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds (shelled) or powdered cardamom
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds or powdered fenugreek
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns or freshly ground peppercorn
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- Make the lentils: In a heavy bottom pot, or dutch oven, saute diced onion, carrots, garlic and ginger in 2 tablespoons olive oil, until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add 2-3 tablespoons Berbere Spice mix and sauté 2-3 minutes. Add 1 cup lentils, 1 cup diced tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 cups water, and bring to a boil, cover, turn heat to low and let cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Uncover and cook off any extra liquid.
- Make the Chicken: Pat dry the chicken and salt all sides with salt and pepper and generously rub each piece with Berbere Spice Mix. The more, the spicier.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy bottom skillet, on medium-high heat, place chicken skin side down and sear until it is crispy and golden, about 6- 8 minutes. Turn over, and turn heat down to medium, searing for 2-3 minutes. Place in a 400 F oven until internal temperature reaches 165F (10-15 minutes)
- Serve over a bed of the Ethiopian lentils, and garnish with fresh Italian parsley.
Berbere Spice Mix:
- If using whole seeds, lightly toast them on the stovetop in a skillet for 2-3 minutes.
- Grind them using a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Remember to crush or grind the chili flakes.
Notes
If subbing tofu for the chicken: Use extra firm tofu and cut into 1 inch thick slabs or “filets”, pat dry with paper towels, very lightly pressing down. Sprinkle each side generously with salt and pepper then place a few tablespoons of Berber Spice on a plate, spreading it out, and coat each side of the tofu lightly. Pan sear in a well-oiled skillet, over medium heat, allowing the tofu to form a crust thereby, naturally releasing itself from the pan. This will prevent sticking and allow easy flipping. Pan sear each side until crispy, golden and warmed through. Serve over the lentils. I’d use two large blocks for 6 people.
Nutrition
- Calories: 405
This meal was absolutely fantastic. On this chilly evening, it was the food and smells that truly soothed my soul. We followed the recipe to the tee, but shhould have gone with the 3 tbs of spice in the lentils rather than 2.. we like our stuff on the fire side! Overall 5 out of 5.
Looks outstanding! Was gifted some berbere by my niece, whose husband is from Eritrea. Question: do you soak the lentils overnight like you would other legumes?
Awesome! Glad you liked this! I don’t usually soak lentils, but feel free to. It will shorten cooking time so be mindful of this. 😉
OMG, Sylvia! You do have the most amazing recipes! My only dilemma is how long it takes me to go in and save each one to my recipe book when you have a list of 2, 5 and I love 20 of them! Do you have a cookbook for sale, or is there a way to save a whole batch of recipes in one go ;D
The berbere chicken is mouthwatering, and making the spice mix was great fun! Thanks so much!
Thanks Pam, not at this time.
Would the lentils be tasty by themselves (without the chicken)? I’m a vegetarian. Would they go better over pasta or rice? Thanks so much.
Are you vegetarian? They are also great with Berbere Tofu- see recipe notes. Or over rice would be good too.
A friend gave me a packet of Berberi spice mix, and I did not know what to do with it. I found this recipe on Pinterest, and was so pleased with the results! I ended up not having enough spice mix, so was thrilled to have it included in the recipe. It was spicy enough for my brother, who likes to eat fire for meals (well, practically), and had depths of flavor that made it worth the heat for me. The best part is that I have found this very inspiring blog about beautiful food! I preserved some lemons last week, and am going to start some kimchi this week. So excited to have found you!
Awww, thanks! Glad you are enjoying the blog! have fun with the preserved lemons and kimchi!
Absolutely fantastic. This was so delicious, the kind of food that makes you want to dance after the first bite. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!
Absolutely fantastic. This was so delicious, the kind of food that makes you want to dance after the first bite. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!
Haha- love it and thanks so much. Love the visual! I like this one too. 🙂
My most ambitious recipe to date but your instructions saw me through it! My wife loved it as did I and will definitely make it again!
Thank you!
Congratulations!!! Love that you made this!
We are in an international supper group and I think I may use this recipe when it’s my turn. I’m so excited to try this. Your food looks heavenly.
Thanks Sandra- I really like this recipe, let me know what you think!
We loved this!
Great to hear Susan! thanks!
Tasted great!!!
Yay, I’m so happy you enjoyed this!
I have a huge bag of berbere that a friend brought back from Ethiopia. I’ve been making this recipe for years now. It’s a total go to for an easy, healthy, tasty dinner. I like to serve with a side of greens of some sort. Last night was kale. If I’m a bit heavy handed with the spice I serve the lentils with some sour cream to tame them. Sometimes a squeeze of lemon in them too. I have also used pork in place of the chicken.
Sounds delicious!
The smell in my house while making this is absolutely divine!
Eating it is even better!
Many many thanks for this recipe!
Jeanette
Canadian Rockies
Great to hear! Hope you enjoyed!
I love Ethiopian food and this was excellent and easy to make. I especially appreciated the Berbere spice recipe. I also made it with cut up beef and it was also a winner. Thank you for the recipe.
Awesome Maria! Great to hear!!!
Truly delicious. We were worried the redundancy of spices in both the lentils and chicken would make for a dull dish, but they both took on an entirely different taste. Lovely Sunday meal. Thank you.
Yay… I love this one too. Im so happy you gave it a go- and thanks for the rating!
Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe. Is it helpful for weight loss diet?
I thought it would be really spicy but it was sweet and then had a little bit of a kick to it at the end. It was really good! I will defiantly make this again.
I love this recipe! Easy to make, and it is soooo tasty!
Have made this several times following the main tenets of your recipe.
I actually made a mistake the first time and after browning the chicken put it in with the onions, carrots, lentils etc in my pressure cooker. The resulting “casserole” was delicious (I’d clearly inadvertently gone off piste at this point as I’d also fortunately added a bit more water to cover everything in the pot)! Anyhow, I now deliberately do this every time and it is a firm favourite with everyone who tries it. Thanks!
So Glad you have been enjoying this – and good to hear it works in the instant pot! Thanks for sharing!
I have made this recipe at least 4 times. Absolutely spot on every time. I love it, easy and quick!
Thanks for letting me know Toni- I really love this one too!
Very delicious! I finished lentils with juice half a lime and served chicken with lime wedges.
Too salty
Fabulous! I cooked the chicken and used the same pot to cook the lentils, and used chicken broth and white wine instead of water. Yummmy!
Hello
Do you use chicken thighs with or without the bone ? Thanks
I used Bone-in, but either should work, just adjust cooking time. It will cook faster without bone. 😉
I have made this 3x already in the span of the past week as it is THAT good!!! The Berbere spice mix is absolutely divine and I keep craving it day in and day out (it is the PERFECT mixture!). I added 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper to the lentils just to kick it up a notch and it turned out spicy and delicious. I also made a Persian style rice to go with.
I combined 1 Tablespoon of butter, 1 cup of rice, 1.5 cups of water, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric and 1 teaspoon ground saffron that was soaked in 1 tablespoon of hot water and placed this into my rice cooker. Once the rice was ready and the cooker automatically shut off, I turned it back on intermittently, as you want the rice to have a nice crisp on the bottom.
For serving, I layered this in a lovely glass serving bowl with rice on bottom, topped with lentils, chicken and chopped parsley. Simply heaven!
This sounds delicious Stephanie, thanks for sharing!!! Love the addition of Persian rice. Great Idea!!!
My friend recently returned home from serving in Ethiopia with the Peace Corps. He was staying with his family in Florida and decided to move in with my boyfriend and I in Spokane, WA (I’ll have to check out the Kitchen Engine next time after eating at the Queen of Sheba). I asked what he’d like his first meal here to be, he enthusiastically replied “Ethiopian!”. So, he is flying in today and I hope he’ll love this recipe! Thank you!
Extra potatoes!