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Main Dish

Palestinian Musakhan

Category
Main Dish
Prep time
30 minutes
Cook time
1 hour 30 minutes
Total time
2 hours
Servings
4 to 6 servings
Difficulty
Moderate

Musakhan is one of Palestine’s most beloved dishes: layers of traditional taboon bread soaked with Palestinian extra virgin olive oil and topped with soft onions, tangy sumac, roasted chicken, and toasted almonds.

From our kitchen

Instructions

1. Cook the chicken

Boil the chicken using your usual method with onion and whole spices until cooked through. Reserve some of the broth—you’ll need about ½ cup for the onions.

Traditionally, the remaining broth can also be used to prepare freekeh soup to serve alongside the Musakhan.

2. Prepare the onions

Add the chopped onions to a large pot without oil and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften.

Add approximately 2 cups of olive oil and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should become very soft and almost translucent rather than deeply browned.

Once cooked, reserve a little of the onion-infused oil for later.

Add ½ cup of the reserved chicken broth to the onions, followed by salt, mixed spice, and a generous amount of sumac. Stir well, then remove from the heat.

3. Prepare the bread

Dip the edges of each taboon bread into the onion-infused olive oil, then lay the bread flat on a baking tray.

Spread the onion and sumac mixture generously over the entire bread and finish with toasted almonds.

Place under the broiler/grill briefly, just until the bread develops a light golden color. Repeat with the remaining breads.

4. Roast the chicken

Mix some of the reserved onion-infused olive oil with a squeeze of lemon juice and sumac.

Brush the cooked chicken generously with the mixture, season with additional mixed spice and sumac, then roast or broil until beautifully golden.

5. Assemble & serve

Layer the prepared Musakhan breads on a serving platter and arrange the roasted chicken on top.

Finish with more toasted almonds and sumac, and serve warm. For a traditional Palestinian meal, serve it alongside freekeh soup made with the reserved chicken broth.

Rooted in Palestine

The Story

Musakhan is one of Palestine’s most beloved traditional dishes, deeply connected to the olive harvest season. When the new season’s olive oil arrives, families traditionally prepare Musakhan to celebrate its fresh flavor.

At the heart of the dish are two essential Palestinian ingredients: extra virgin olive oil and sumac. Generous amounts of olive oil are used to slowly cook the onions and soak the taboon bread, while sumac gives Musakhan its distinctive tangy flavor.

Served on large pieces of bread and traditionally shared around the table, Musakhan is a dish rooted in Palestinian land, harvest, family, and hospitality.

Cook's Notes

  • Don’t be shy with the olive oil. The bread should absorb the flavorful oil from the cooked onions.
  • Use a good-quality Palestinian extra virgin olive oil and plenty of sumac, they define the flavor of Musakhan.
  • Cook the onions slowly until soft and almost translucent, rather than deeply browned.
  • Taboon bread is traditional, but if unavailable, use a sturdy Middle Eastern flatbread that can absorb the olive oil without falling apart.
  • Watch the bread carefully under the broiler, it only needs a light golden finish.
  • Save the chicken broth. Traditionally, it can be used to make freekeh soup to serve alongside the Musakhan.