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!
My grocery store is carrying Hot Honey Hummus this summer. I have made this several times with regular hummus. I am trying it tonight with the hot honey. I can’t wait!
I have been making this recipe for years ! I kind of forgot about it for a bit and I happened to have all the ingredients on hand tonight .. I now remember why it was in my rotation for so long ! This recipe reminded me of how much I enjoy so many of your recipes .. you’re a OG of food bloggers , the real deal .. thank you for the content you provide !!
OMG! this was amazing! I was bored with my chicken, but I needed something easy with fresh, clean ingredients. This is certainly on my regular rotation now! Served it with a tomato cucumber salad in a cheater tzatiki sauce.
This is pure genius! Served it with cumin seed rice and roasted mini truss tomatoes. Heaven!
I have made this a million times and 30 minutes is never enough, even with tiny tenders instead of breasts. Tonight we tried again and ended up having to take the chicken off after 45 minutes and cook it separately. Still super delicious, but frustrating!
Made this for dinner tonight. We can’t eat onions so just did some onion powder and garlic powder to the squash. Did two chicken breasts and coated both sides. Super easy and delicious.
How does everyone keep the hummus actually on the chicken as it bakes? Every time I make this all the hummus slides right off. It’s frustrating. . help!!
There are 2 tricks to it- 1. Make sure you pat the chicken dry before adding the hummus, and 2. Make sure your chicken is either flat or the sides are sightly higher than the middle. It helps if your chicken is in a separate pan from the veggies, since it’s hard to keep the chicken flat on top of them, but with some arranging, it can work in the same pan, too. A wet chicken with a raised middle is a recipe for sliding hummus!
I tried it and its so delicious.
Absolutely delicious!!!!!!!
Delicious, easy to make, and a perfect way to use up some summer squash while waiting on the other veggies in the garden. Thanks again for an easy, tasty meal!
Used boneless, skinless thighs and 30 minutes was enough time.