Ultra juicy chicken thighs are tossed through a flavor PACKED harissa honey sauce and then grilled to perfection for an easy weeknight-friendly meal. It takes just 30 minutes and can be served in multiple delicious ways (piled on top of soft flatbreads is a delicious choice!)

Harissa paste is a flavor powerhouse and something I love to have on hand. Here, it pairs BEAUTIFULLY with honey and lemon to create a seriously delicious sweet, sour, spicy sauce that is just SO moreish. Add juicy grilled chicken thighs and you have a wonderful, versatile recipe using just six base ingredients.

The great thing about this recipe is you can serve it in so many different ways, and it’s a fab one for meal prep or easy entertaining. The chicken can be marinated up to 24 hours ahead of time, and will last for four days in the fridge once it’s cooked.

Here, I’m serving it on top of soft 2-ingredient dough flatbreads, with shredded lettuce, tahini sauce and crumbled feta and honestly? Obsessed. But, I also love serving it piled on top of a creamy base, like white bean dip, creamy oil-free hummus or sun-dried tomato feta dip, with garlic flatbreads and a couple of salads (smacked cucumber, crunchy Asian-style salad or green goddess salad are great options). You could also stuff it into fluffy steamed bao buns, toss it through pasta, pesto orzo salad, a Greek quinoa salad, or serve it alongside grilled or roasted veggies.

This is the same sauce I use for my honey harissa glazed halloumi if you’d like to try a vegetarian twist on this recipe!

Ingredients

• Chicken thighs. I’m using skinless, boneless, free-range chicken thighs here. I prefer thighs because they’re juicier and more flavourful than chicken breast, but you can use breast if you like, or tenderloin.
• Harissa paste. This fiery North African spice paste is loaded with chilies, lemon and garlic and is a flavor powerhouse. I’m using Belazu Rose Harissa paste here, but you can use any harissa paste you like. Different brands have different levels of heat, so give yours a taste before using it and reduce the quantity (use 1 tablespoon) if it’s very spicy.
• Lemon. I’m using fresh lemon because the flavor is better, but you can use bottled lemon juice if you like.

How to make it

Mix the harissa paste, honey, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat then arrange on a lined oven tray, ideally on a single layer so that they have space to cook evenly and get lovely and charred.

Cook until beautifully golden and charred around the edges – if you’re worried about whether or not it’s cooked, you can just cut into a piece OR use a probe thermometer. Chicken should be at least 165F/75C all the way through.

Serve the chicken piled onto a serving plate with more cooking juices drizzled on top, or, as I have here, serve it on top of soft flatbreads with a drizzle of tahini, a little feta and shredded lettuce.

Five more ways to serve the chicken

• Slice it and pile it on top of creamy white bean dip or creamy oil-free hummus, with green goddess salad on the side.
• Pair with skin-on roast potatoes, miso sweet potatoes, dukkah roast potatoes or crispy oven fries.
• Pile onto soft, garlic flatbreads and dollop sundried tomato and feta dip on top.
• Stuff into steamed bao buns with garlic aioli and a crunchy Asian-style salad.
• Turn the chicken into a loaded miso chicken poke bowl, serve it on top of grilled chicken Caesar salad, toss through pasta salad (like this orzo pesto salad) or serve on top of risotto.

Watch how to make it

Got a question?

Like this recipe? Here are more easy ideas to try

If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.

Print