Joojeh kabob roast chicken from Good Things - Recipes and Rituals to Share with the People You Love (page 284) by Samin Nosrat

View complete recipe

Ingredients

saffron threads
Buy Now
whole chicken
Show all ingredients...
Serves : 4
EYB Comments

Chicken marinates overnight. Can substitute lemon juice for lime juice, buttermilk for yogurt, and chicken thighs for whole chicken.

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Accompaniments: Garlic and herb labne; Basic crispy rice

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

Eat Your Books

Chicken marinates overnight. Can substitute lemon juice for lime juice, buttermilk for yogurt, and chicken thighs for whole chicken.
franchimou on April 30, 2026

delicious and easy! would have liked a little more saffron flavor. the chicken itself was juicy but a little “boring” flavor wise but perfect with all the fixings (shirazi salad, garlic/herb labneh, and herb/lemon rice)
gpolkes on January 07, 2026

A very moist chicken! We found the flavor of the marinade didn't come through as much, but a great way to use up an open container of buttermilk. I also found the whole yellow onion to be too much, so saved a third of it to roast with vegetables under the chicken the next night.
rmardel on December 30, 2025

I loved this! I soaked the saffron threads (without pounding) longer - for an hour. The water was a deep reddish orange and the saffron stamens had lost all their color and were white at the bottom of the bowl. Then I continued with the recipe and made the marinade. I left the chicken in the marinade for slightly more than 24 hours. After roasting the chicken was tender and moist, even the breast meat had a delicate texture with a subtle flavor of saffron throughout. The smaller pieces, closer to the exterior had a more noticeable saffron flavor, but the saffron was not dominant or in your face, more of a gentle wafting of flavor that enhanced and added new dimension to the chicken rather than overpowering it. The saffron flavor was most dominant closer to the skin, not surprisingly, but still present even in the bits of breast nearest to the bone, although there it was almost a whispering afterthought of flavor. I will definitely be using this technique again.