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!
Hello Hayley ,
Cooked this recipe tonight. It worked out very well and my family ate it with gusto. The lemon juice and the hummus mixed together during the baking and made for a very tasty sauce on top of the sliced chicken. I made it alongside pan butter fried fingerling potatoes with garlic and dill, and steamed broccoli. I did marinate my chicken overnight with some lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.
Great way to use up leftover hummus. I appreciate the low prep time and the clever use of the humble chicken breast.
This dish is delicious, thank you so much for creating it!
Hello Marianna! This recipe and all of the others on this blog are Ali’s (this is her blog, I just help out with some things). :) But we’re so happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed this! And we think those fingerling potatoes and the broccoli sound awesome — thanks for sharing with us! :D
Just made this recipe – I’m an amateur cook (this is the literally the first dish I have made in YEARS) and it was a major hit! I love the flavors – and I never would have thought to put hummus over chicken and bake it in the oven. So juicy and delicious. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing, we’re so glad you enjoyed this! :D
This was great. I went to Fresh Market today to take advantage of a $10 off coupon and picked up some of their antibiotic free chicken breasts on sale on Tuesdays. They are some really big and thick breasts. I googled “chicken breast recipes” and found this. It just so happens I had a big old tupperware of yummy homemade hummus — mine is made with chick peas, tahini, raw garlic, fresh lemon, and a few Thai chile peppers for a touch of spice. Like many of the other commenters I had my doubts about how this would turn out. My chicken was cooked to absolute perfection at 450 for 30 minutes. I can’t imagine people are cooking with breasts much bigger than these. They were so tender and juicy and had the perfect look all the way through the middle. I would probably cut back on the hummus next time only because while it did crisp up on the top, it was layered so thick that it was still a bit mushy. That didn’t take away from the flavor but I could see how using about half the amount would just give it a better crunchy texture. Also I didn’t cut the lemon slices. I felt they were unnecessary given all the lemon juice. Oh and I also used some really good smoked paprika from Spain that I have had on hand and it really complemented everything. Given that I am a big fan of the high quality but cheap chicken breasts from Fresh Market and that I regularly make my own hummus, I am sure I will be making this again!
Thanks for sharing all of this with us Chris! We’re so happy you enjoyed the recipe (your homemade hummus sounds amazing), so does that Paprika you used! :)
Does one cover the chicken while baking?
Hi Nan! No, you don’t need to cover the chicken while it’s baking. We hope you enjoy this!
What are the nutritionals? Is this healthy?
Hi Ally, while we believe this recipe is healthy, we’re sorry but we are unsure of the actual nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!
I rarely get compliments for my culinary efforts, not so with this recipe. My husband stood at the counter and ate until he remembered he could sit. LMAO!! Thank you Jen
We’re so happy your husband enjoyed this! :)
Question.. I’m making this right now for a dinner party tonight. I wanted to make in advance to make sure it turns out good. Should I cook the normal time and just broil for 5-10 minutes once I get to party to heat it up? Sorry.. I’m not a very experienced cook.
Hi Christy, yes, that’s probably what we would try (just make sure not to leave it under the broil for too long. We’d keep a close eye on it). We hope you and your guests enjoy!
What is a good side dish if any for this recipe?
Hi Ashley! We like it best with some kind of orzo dish and grilled veggies, or a Greek salad, but honestly this chicken pairs well with so many things! :) We hope this helps, and that you enjoy!
This is honestly one of the best recipes I’ve tried this year! Quick question – have you tried making this ahead of time and freezing? I’m doing a big batch of freezer meals and am wondering if I can prep ahead of time…
Thanks Elise, we’re so happy you like it! Hmmm, we haven’ tried making this ahead of time and freezing it. You mean making it and cooking it all the way, right? We would try that, let it cool completely, then freeze – we think that should work fine.
I was so excited to try this tonight! It’s been in the oven at 450 for almost an hour now and the chicken still isn’t cooked through. I’m very disappointed.
Hmmm that definitely doesn’t sound right Natasha. Were the chicken breasts just really thick? That’s honestly the only thing we can think of as to why these wouldn’t have cooked through at such a high temp for so long. That’s never happened to us. :(