This past week while standing around on a photo shoot, my coworkers and I noticed that our conversations somehow kept circling back to food (as often seems to happen!). I was getting ready to go grocery shopping that night, so asked if anyone had any blog-worthy chicken recipes to recommend. My friend, Jen, immediately lit up and told us about this hummus-crusted chicken recipe she had recently tried and loved.
Um, “hummus-crusted”??? Sign me up!
Somehow the idea of using hummus as a sauce in baking had never occurred to me. But as soon as she mentioned it, the recipe moved to the top of my list. So this weekend, I picked up some chicken and my favorite hummus (thought about going homemade, but I was in the mood for quick and easy). And then in order to make it a one-pot meal, I also picked up a bunch of veggies to bake up alongside the chicken. And then in less than 10 minutes of prep time, roughly chopped the veggies and added them and the chicken breasts to a big baking dish, slathered the chicken with hummus and some lemon juices, sprinkled on a little sumac (or you can use smoked paprika), and popped it in the oven. About a half hour later, I learned what “hummus-crusted” is all about.
Pure deliciousness, people.
I took the dish to a friend’s house for dinner on Saturday night, and we couldn’t stop talking about how amazingly flavorful and yummy this dish was! The hummus was the total rockstar of the dish — it indeed developed a light crust on the chicken, and then some of the extra oozed onto the veggies to give them a little extra sauce to go with the light lemony flavor. You could easily add some extra herbs, or balsamic, or even a little white wine to go with this. And of course, you could customize it by using your favorite flavors of hummus. But honestly, I loved the simple version with classic chickpea hummus. And holy moly — you can’t beat a one-pot meal with less than 10 minutes of prep time!
Highly recommend that you give this one a try. Thanks, Jen!!
Hummus-Crusted Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 1 yellow squash, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 cup hummus, homemade or storebought
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 lemons
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika or sumac
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare one large baking dish or two smaller baking dishes with cooking spray.
- Pat the chicken dry. Season the chicken breasts with generous pinches of salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss the zucchini, squash and onion with olive oil until evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper.
- If using one baking dish, place all of the vegetables on the bottom of the dish in an even layer. Lay the four chicken breasts evenly on top, then cover each chicken breast with the hummus so that the entire breast is covered. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the chicken and vegetables. Then sprinkle the pan with smoked paprika or sumac. Thinly slice the remaining lemon, and place the slices in between the chicken and vegetables if desired.
- **If using two pans, use one for the chicken and one for the vegetables.**
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Serve immediately.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Thank you for this fast and FAB! recipe, and please forgive me for initially questioning your sanity… LOL. The unexpected use of hummus and 450 degree temp sounded like a recipe for disaster , but I had an almost expired tub of plain Saba® Hummus so I thought I’d give your a recipe a shot. I only had some baby carrots and sugar snap peas, so subbed them for the summer squash in the original recipe. I also got all crazy-clever and added a several sprigs of fresh Greek oregano I clipped from my garden. I must have checked the oven 10 times, expecting a scorched ruin of chicken. Exactly :25 minutes, and I opened the door a final time to see…chicken magic!!! Perfectly done, moist meat, a nice thin crust, and vegetables done to a turn. (Did I mention it was MAGIC?! ) Anyway, thank you, and I promise never to doubt you again.
Just a couple of my thoughts that may help those who have had less success with the crust.. I made sure to pat my chicken breasts completely dry, so as to help the hummus ‘stick’ better. I also used more than a cup of hummus; I actually used the whole tub and made sure each breast was generously covered. I hope this helps! Don’t give up, this one is a keeper!
Thank you Terri! We’re so happy you like the recipe, and appreciate you sharing! :)
this looks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good
Thank you, we hope you enjoy! :)
I tried this tonight and the chicken came out very tender and moist. I loved the choice of veggies with this recipe. My chicken was a bit thicker so I baked it about 35 minutes. Not being a big lemon nut, I would cut down the amount next time out of personal preference. This was delicious!
Thanks for sharing Donna, we’re glad you enjoyed this!
I covered mine with foil, and it turned out a little soupy. I recommend not covering the chicken, but also it’s probably a better idea to cook the chicken and veggies separate so that the hummus doesn’t slide off into them.
We’re sorry to hear that Emily :( Thanks for sharing your experience though. Not covering it next time really should help it stay coated, and crisp up!
this recipe is AMAZING!!! Huge hit with the fam! Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks Holly, we’re happy to hear that!
This was amazingly good. Thanks. Chicken breast stayed really moist and was full of flavour.
Thanks Bea, we’re so glad to hear you liked it!
Made this last night, didn’t have any zucchini in the garden, so I used yellow squash, carrots and onion. I loved this dish, the chicken was very tender and moist the flavors were good and the prep time was minimal. only downside was that my husband thought the texture of the hummus was odd (yet we eat hummus a lot) and it didn’t really get crispy. I would recommend this dish and will make it again using zucchini as written.
Thank you, Jane! We’re glad you and your husband enjoyed the dish, and we’re sorry it didn’t get crispy like it’s supposed to! Hopefully second time’s a charm! : )
Could you make this using pork?
Hey, Bethany! We haven’t tried it with pork, but don’t see why it wouldn’t work just as well with a pork chop!
This sounds delicious! I love hummus so love anything coated with it. I don’t eat chicken though. Do you think this would work well on fish? Thanks for such a great recipe!
https://lemonsandpetals.com/2015/06/20/zucchini-hummus-vegan-low-carb-high-protein-keto/
Thank you, Kavita! Hmm, it probably depends on the fish. We can’t say for sure, since we haven’t tried it, but we say go for it! Let us know how it turns out!
Made this tonight! I love hummus and I love chicken so I knew I’d love this! Normally I don’t like squash so I was a little skeptical, but wow! I cooked it all in one big baking dish and the veggies soaked up the juice and hummus so nicely! My husband who also doesn’t like squash ate all of his too. Thanks for such a yummy recipe.
We’re so happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed this, Crystal! : D