Without a doubt, this is an exceptional tahini fried chicken cutlet recipe.
Fried chicken is my guilty pleasure and always a crowd-pleaser. It can also be time-consuming especially if it involves brining the chicken in buttermilk for a day and using a deep fryer with tons of oil. I believe there’s a time and place for involved recipes. Thankfully, and because I’m feeling lazy, this is not that kind of recipe. But it still delivers an amazing flavor in a short amount of time.
The recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman’s 15-minute fried herbed chicken. The coating is more fragile compared to other fried chicken recipes but the flavor is fantastic.
Normally I use regular onions but since it’s spring, I let the season guide me at the farmer’s market. I thought I bought spring onions but, after doing some research, I realized it was something else instead. We bought what was marked as green onions but it didn’t look like your typical scallion. It looked more like a young leek or an overgrown scallion. Nevertheless, it still had that great onion flavor but in a milder form. I’m so curious now and kicking myself that I didn’t carefully investigate so I’ll have to go back to the vendor and inquire about the specific varietal we bought. I’ll report back if I’m successful. In any case, you can’t go wrong no matter what type of onion you use.
The majority of the cost in this recipe is the chicken so you can definitely bring your total down if you purchase the chicken on sale or at a special price. Overall, it’s still pretty cost-effective and will feed the both of us for a few more meals during the week.
What makes this fried chicken so amazing, in my opinion, is the combination of tahini and onion mixture used for the coating. It’s a brilliant idea and adds a depth of flavor in no time. You’ll want to make this again and again because it’s delicious and it only takes 20 minutes to make!
20-MINUTE TAHINI FRIED CHICKEN
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- 8 chicken thighs boneless, skinless ($14.94)
- 3/4 to 1 cup flour ($0.24)
- 2-3 medium/large spring onion white and light green parts ($1.66) or 1 medium onion roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp mixed fresh herbs tarragon, parsley, oregano ($0.00)
- 2 tbsp tahini ($0.56)
- 3 tbsp olive oil more for frying ($1.15)
- flat leaf parsley fresh, for garnish, chopped ($0.00)
- lemon wedges for serving ($0.00)
- salt ($0.01)
- Prepare all your ingredients.
- Place onion, herbs and tahini in a food processor.
- Pulse the mixture and slowly add olive oil (a Tbsp at a time) through the feed tube until it becomes a thick paste.
- Place flour on a plate and add a pinch of salt. Mix together. Place chicken in another bowl and salt each piece.
- Take a piece of chicken and rub tahini mixture on both sides
- Then dredge in flour. Gingerly shake off any excess flour and repeat once more - in tahini mixture then flour.
- Repeat previous step for remainder of chicken pieces and placing them on a plate making sure not to stack the coated chicken pieces.
- Prepare all your ingredients.
- Place onion, herbs and tahini in a food processor.
- Pulse the mixture and slowly add olive oil (a Tbsp at a time) through the feed tube until it becomes a thick paste.
- Place flour on a plate and add a pinch of salt. Mix together. Place chicken in another bowl and salt each piece.
- Take a piece of chicken and rub tahini mixture on both sides
- Then dredge in flour. Gingerly shake off any excess flour and repeat once more - in tahini mixture then flour.
- Repeat previous step for remainder of chicken pieces and placing them on a plate making sure not to stack the coated chicken pieces.
- Heat just enough olive oil over medium/high heat in a heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) to cover chicken halfway. When it is hot but not smoking, place coated chicken one at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pan, and fry chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side until browned and cooked through.
- Setting a timer for this is recommended. Lower heat slightly if you notice the chicken getting too brown. Bigger pieces of chicken will need a bit more time to cook through.
- Place cooked pieces of chicken on a plate with paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- When ready to serve, garnish with parsley if desired and serve right away with lemon wedges. Enjoy!
Serving suggestions: mac and cheese and/or green herb salad
* Note regarding pricing: The fresh herbs and lemons used in this recipe are from my garden which is why there is no price listed. The price for some of the pantry items such as olive oil, tahini and flour takes into account the cost of the amount used for the recipe and not the cost if you had to purchase the entire item.
** All prices in US dollars.
This is quite possibly the most amazing chicken!! I don’t usually time myself when frying chicken but I used a timer, and the chicken came out perfect; juicy and flavorful. The tahini, onion and herbs provided a refreshing touch to fried chicken if that’s possible. This is is an absolute keeper…enjoyable by adults AND kids
I’m so happy you like it, Patty! 🙂 I LOVE this fried chicken, too!! You can’t really go wrong with anything that has tahini, in my opinion. Haha 😉