This Hot Clementine Sumac Roast Chicken is my new go to. I’m so delighted by all of the flavors of the chicken paired with the sweet potatoes and parsnips. It is pretty much my most exciting creation of this round of Whole30 for me. Trust me, this is going to be your new favorite roast chicken.

What I love about this recipe is how easy it is to prep. It’s the kind of dish that tastes way more elaborate than it is, and that is because of the great combination of Sumac and citrus. If you haven’t had sumac, now is the time to run and get it! I love getting mine from the local Middle Eastern Store in Chicago.

Sumac is one of my staple spices. While I use Smoked Paprika in a recipe like the Grapefruit Chicken, here I recommend avoiding it because you really want to let the sumac shine. Once you have it, you are going to want it on everything. I love it on my eggs in the morning.

If you make this dish, be sure to rate and review it to let me know what you think! If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below. And if you want to follow along, head to Instagram and Pinterest for more inspiration!

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Sumac Spicy Roast Chicken

Hot Clementine Sumac Roast Chicken

★★★★★ 5 from 18 reviews
  • Author: nocrumbsleft
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 60 minutes
  • Total Time: 70 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 4
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Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons salt, divided
  • 1 tablespoon Sumac
  • 1 teaspoon hot paprika*, or more if desired
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • ¾ cup juice from fresh clementines, approximately 5-6 clementines (reserving 6 juiced halves for stuffing the chicken)
  • 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil, divided
  • 1 whole chicken (about 4–5 pounds)
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds of vegetables (we used parsnips, sweet potatoes, and Japanese sweet potatoes), cut into 1/3-inch rounds

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons salt, Sumac, hot paprika, and oregano and stir until combined. In another small bowl, stir together the clementine juice and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Set aside.

Place the chicken, breast side up on a baking sheet and coat evenly inside and out with 1 tablespoon olive oil, or a bit more if needed. Sprinkle the spice blend on both sides of the chicken and rub it all in well so that the chicken is coated with spices and oil inside and out. Cover the chicken and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

When ready to cook the chicken, preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the chicken on it.

In a medium bowl, combine the vegetables with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, tossing to coat. If you want to do more vegetables, use a second tray. Distribute the vegetables evenly around the chicken on the baking sheet. Using the reserved juiced clementine halves, fold and stuff into the chicken.

Cook the chicken for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and baste and with the olive oil and citrus juice mixture. Then continue cooking, basting every 20 minutes.  Cooking time is about 20 minutes a pound, so a 5 pound chicken should take about 1 hour and 40 minutes.  If chicken starts to get too brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Notes

If you want your vegetables crispier, cut them into 1/4 inch pieces.

If you can’t find hot paprika, use cayenne. This is NOT a time to used smoked paprika.

Something important to know is that whenever you are roasting a chicken, place the breast side up (spine side down), no need to flip it in in the middle of cooking, unless a recipe you are using says other wise.

This recipe works great with different kinds of citrus.  You can try tangerines, Ruby Red Grapefruit, or Satsuma or your favorite citrus fruit.  Just use the same amount of juice that the recipe calls for and save half of the juiced fruit to stuff in the chicken.