Here it is, April 2nd, and I woke up to snow this morning. That especially hurt after spending a week in Florida. I needed something warm, comforting, and easy for dinner. I settled on this harissa chicken recipe since it is simple, easy, and makes enough for lunches tomorrow. One less thing to do!
The original recipe calls for jarred harissa sauce. I had trouble finding it when I first started making this recipe. My gut tells me that it probably contains some hidden sugar anyway since most jarred sauces do. She also offered a homemade harissa sauce that I think is just wonderful and pretty simple to make anyway. I just modify it a little to be less spicy!
Start by heating some oil and browning your cloves of garlic. It gives off a lovely fragrance and softens the bite of the garlic taste in the sauce. After you do that, just combine everything in the blender.
I leave mine a little chunky since I think it sticks better to the chicken that way. Blend to your preference and pour it over your chicken breasts in the crock pot.
What’s the phrase? Set it and forget it? Before you completely forget it, if you want to make the tzatziki sauce to complement the heat, make that now. It gets better the longer it gets to meld the flavors together. It is good right after it is made… amazing a few hours later.
I go a little heavier on the chives and lemon but I have friends who love to pile on the dill. Do what makes you happy!
For dinner, I serve the chicken over plain brown rice, with the tzatziki sauce and cucumbers. With leftovers the next day, I serve the chicken over chickpeas with cucumbers as a side. If you have any of the tzatziki sauce left, it is great with turkey burgers!
Enjoy!
Keilee
Yields 4 servings
Easy and filling shredded chicken dish smothered in a roasted red pepper sauce and served with creamy tzatziki. The leftovers make an excellent lunch the next day!
15 minPrep Time
4 hrCook Time
4 hr, 15 Total Time
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with the side of a knife
- 1 12 oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained (be sure to read your labels for sugar!)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon corriander
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Optional: cooked brown rice, cucumbers, chickpeas (drained and rinse), hummus, or tzatziki for serving.
- 1/2 cup plain, unsweetened greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 small or 2 mini cucumbers, shredded and drained (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil over a medium heat.
- Sauté the crushed garlic until brown.
- Add garlic, drained peppers, salt, cumin, corriander, paprika, crushed red pepper, and lemon juice to the blender.
- Blend to desired consistency (mostly smooth with a little texture, is my preference).
- Place the 2 chicken breasts in the slow cooker.
- Sprinkle the salt, garlic powder, and cumin on top of the chicken.
- Cover with harissa sauce.
- Cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours.
- Shred the cooked chicken and stir into the sauce in the slow cooker.
- Peel and scoop the seeds out of the cucumber.
- Shred the cucumber (I used a cheese grater) and place on several paper towels to absorb the moisture.
- In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice, drained cucumber, garlic, chives, dill, salt and pepper.
- Refrigerate until ready to use. (The longer the better - aim for at least 1 hour)
Notes
Original recipe from Skinnytaste: https://www.skinnytaste.com/easy-shredded-harrisa-chicken/
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