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!
Made this recipe today. It was oh so very delicious!! Definitely a keeper!!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Adel!
Made this for my family tonight. Would have loved to take a picture for you, but it was gobbled up before I had a chance! Everyone loved it and said this recipe was a keeper! Used all sorts of veggies, as we had some on hand that needed to be used–broccolini, asparagus, green beans, mushrooms and onions. Put a ton of veggies in the pan and they cooked down to perfect portions. Added Spike seasoning to the olive oil coated veggies. Used red bell pepper hummus. Made a trip to the Persian market to get Sumac as suggested instead of swapping out for paprika–well worth the extra flavor to the dish! A simple weeknight one pan dinner full of flavor that keeps those boneless, skinless breasts nice and moist, as they are normally so easy to dry out. Thank you! Will definitely be making many more times in the future!
Thanks for taking the time to share this with us, Carol! We’re so happy to hear it was a hit with your family! :)
Thanks for the post. I try to make lunches for the week on Sunday for my wife and for me. I had made a couple suggestions, but they had been made too frequently, so this is a delicious option.
Awesome, we hope you and your wife enjoy this!
Hi im keen to try this tonight for dinner but my oven doesn’t go up to 450 degress so will i still be able to put it in the oven
Hi Jennifer! How hot will your oven get? You’ll just need to bake it longer and make sure to test the temperature with a thermometer, for doneness. We hope this helps and that you enjoy!
450 degrees farenheit, which is the equivalent to 230 degrees celsius ?
Have you tried this in a steamer? Wonder if it will work
Hi Stephanie! We haven’t tried this in a steamer, but we think baking would still be your best bet.
Hi! I’ve just come across your website (yay for Pinterest!) and I made your baked chicken breasts last night – they were AMAZING! Just wondering if the chicken should also be brined for this hummus recipe? Thanks in advance :)
Thanks for sharing, Loretta — we’re happy you enjoyed it! You don’t need to brine the chicken for this hummus recipe, though we suppose you could if you wanted.
Hi! That sounds like a great recipe! Will try it tonight. Just a quick query – should I put the hummus only on the top or can I coat the whole chicken piece with hummus?
Hi Shoma, we’re sorry for getting to your comment too late! We cover all of it. We hope you enjoyed the recipe! :)
This sounds amazing! I love all these veggies and I love hummus! That chicken looks so tender and tasty!
Thanks, Danielle — we hope you can give it a try soon! :)
Loved this recipe! I’m an amateir and lazy cook and the fact that you could use any veggies and just needed hummus is a huge hit for me. Kept it in the oven for 30 mins and wasn’t really crispy, so next time will keep it in the broiler for 5 additional minutes.
Seriously so good though.
Thanks Moha — we’re so glad to hear that! :D
This was fantastic! I cook a fair amount and am always looking for new and interesting ways to make chicken. This was a hit! I did choose to roast the vegetables in one pan and the chicken in another. Only modification I made was I thought it might be nice to put some chick peas on the bottom of the chicken pan, and lay the chicken on top of them. I think it came great!
This is a keeper :)
Thanks #gimmesomeoven
Posted a pic on IG too.
Yay, we’re so happy you loved it! And we think the chickpeas sound like a delicious addition! :)