Chermoula Chicken with Butternut Squash

An easy one-tray dish, perfect for any weekday meal. Crispy, succulent chicken legs and butternut squash are smothered together in one pan with a punchy, aromatic chermoula marinade, allowing the flavours to seep into each other. Chermoula is a North African marinade or a relish made using coriander or a mix of herbs, garlic, lemon, smoked paprika and cumin. Although each country has its version of chermoula, the taste is always very similar. It traditionally was used to flavour seafood, esp. fish, but it can be used to marinate vegetables and various meats.

Chermoula Chicken with Butternut Squash

adapted from House and Garden

40 g Coriander
20 g Mint leaves
4 Garlic cloves, crushed
1 ½ tbsp Ground cumin
1 tbsp Smoked paprika
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp Sea salt
Freshly milled black pepper
4 Chicken legs (about 1.5-1.8kg)
1.2-1.5 kg Butternut squash, peeled and sliced

Heat the oven to 180C/350F. Put the herbs, garlic, cumin, paprika, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the oil into a blender with sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Blend to a paste. Cut 3-4 slits in each chicken leg and put them in a bowl. Add all the paste and rub it into the chicken.
Peel the butternut sqush. Use a large sharp knife to slice off the ends, then half and cut into 1cm thick slices.
Choose an ovenproof dish large enough to fit all the chicken pieces in one layer, with room underneath for 1-2 layers of butternut sqush. Pour a tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom of the dish and spread the butternut squashes into layers, seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Lay the chicken pieces, and any remaining paste, over the butternut squash. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 1¼-1½ hours. The chicken skin should be crisp and brown and the butternut squash tender to the point of a knife. Serve, garnished with extra herbs, if desired.

27 comments:

DEZMOND 28/3/25 13:10: What is in that leaf shaped black little dish?
Tom 28/3/25 14:19: ...another fabulous chicken dish.
David M. Gascoigne, 28/3/25 14:24: Healthy and delicious and I have the same question as Dezmond.
eileeninmd 28/3/25 14:35: Angie, the chicken looks delicious, the one tray meals are wonderful.
Have a great day!
Angie's Recipes 28/3/25 15:05: Chermoula is a North African herb marinade.
Ananka 28/3/25 17:04: It looks great. I love butternut squash :-D
Federica Simoni 28/3/25 17:08: wow che bontà!
Christine 28/3/25 17:27: Love squash
DeniseinVA 28/3/25 17:59: I love the pairing of chicken and the squash. All the other ingredients makes this a meal to enjoy. Thank you Angie, for another delicious recipe.
MELODY JACOB 28/3/25 19:18: The mix of spices and herbs in the marinade must make the chicken so tasty. It’s great that everything cooks together in one tray, making it easy to prepare. I’m sure the crispy chicken and tender squash make a perfect combination. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

You are invited to my new blog post, and have a nice Friday.
https://www.melodyjacob.com/2025/03/follow-on-instagram-melodyjacob1.html
Shashi 28/3/25 20:02: The chicken is cooked to perfection!
Bill 28/3/25 22:33: Looks delicious. Butternut squash is one of my favourites.
roentare 28/3/25 23:10: That looks scrumptious!
Cooking Julia 28/3/25 23:40: This well roasted chicken looks absolutely divine!
Brian's Home Blog 29/3/25 00:10: Boy that sure does look delicious!
J.P. Alexander 29/3/25 00:29: Gracias por la receta. Tomó nota. Te mando un beso.
Grace 29/3/25 03:51: ANGIE; Perfecto! Oportuna propuesta pues en este momento tengo en mi refrigerador esos ingredientes. Tomaré con gusto tu receta para disfrutarla y recordarte afectuosamente.
Te deseo un excelente fin de semana!
Grace.
Anonymous 29/3/25 05:35: I love using chermoula with chicken. How I wish I could get hubby to eat any squash or pumpkin!
Tandy (Lavender and Lime) https://tandysinclair.com
Margaret D 29/3/25 06:02: Looks wonderful, Angie.
Neil 29/3/25 07:39: I love an easy one-tray dish Angie and there's no much going on there flavour wise! Yum!
ellie 29/3/25 13:04: Oh, you have me wanting to cook this weekend!
Caitlin'nMegan 29/3/25 13:04: Amazing meal! So great that you are sharing this recipe!
My name is Erika. 29/3/25 16:06: I love that this has butternut squash, a favorite of mine. Your meals always look so tasty Angie. Happy weekend to you.
Cocoa and Lavender 29/3/25 16:14: I use chermoula quite often -- I found a spice blend in Morocco and then recreated it at home. The nice thing for me is that it doesn't have garlic in it! This chicken must tast absolutely amazing.
Laura. M 30/3/25 22:50: Me encanta el pollo. Gracias por la receta.
Un abrazo.
2pots2cook 31/3/25 12:46: Oh my, never too late for butternut squash !!!!
David 31/3/25 18:31: Hi Angie, This chicken entree looks and sounds amazing. My kind of dinner...squash and nicely seasoned chicken. The best chicken dish we've every had...Southern Fried Chicken being the exception...was in an Ethiopian restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave