Roast Pomegranate Chicken with Golden Beets
Pomegranates are back in season! If we don’t eat all those bright little seeds first, they usually end up in a couple of meals in the fall rotation, including a version of this chicken. And tart pomegranates paired with sweet, earthy beets … yum!
Roasting a whole chicken for our small family (even with the big eaters!) means leftovers for sandwiches, stir-fries, casseroles, tacos, or pretty much anything. Plus, this entire meal is cooked on a single sheet pan meaning that most of the cooking of this meal is hands-off and fewer dishes.
Spatchcocking the chicken, the chicken cooks faster and more evenly. Usually, I just end up cutting the entire bird in half. Your choice.
Mix together some lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, and minced garlic in a large bowl and put the chicken in the bowl coating it in the mixture and let it marinate while you do the other prep.
Wash and peel the beets then cut them into 1-inch cubes. Next, toss the beets in pomegranate molasses, honey, olive oil, chicken broth, sumac, and salt. Spread the beets out on a baking sheet, making sure to pour all of the liquid over the beets. Make a space for the chicken to sit.
Remove the chicken from marinade and place over the beets and pour over the remaining marinade. Sprinkle over some ground ginger, salt, dried mint, black pepper, and sumac. Roast for about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of your chicken.
Let the chicken rest about 10 – 15 minutes before slicing up. Serve with the beets, spoon over some of the yummy juices from the bottom of the baking sheet, and sprinkle some pomegranate arils over the top. Enjoy!
Roast Pomegranate Chicken with Golden Beets
Ingredients
Golden Beets
- 3 lbs golden beets (about 3 large beets)
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp chicken broth or water
- 2 tsp sumac
- ½ tsp salt (optional depending on the saltiness of the chicken broth)
Chicken
- 4-5 lb whole chicken, spatchcocked or cut in half
- 6 tbsp lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
- 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ heaping tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp dried mint
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp sumac
- arils from 1 pomegranate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Mix together the lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, and minced garlic in a large bowl and put the spatchcocked or halved chicken in to marinate for a few minutes.
- While the chicken is marinating, wash and peel the beets then cut into about 1-inch cubes. Toss the beets with the pomegranate molasses, honey, olive oil, broth, sumac, and salt (if using). Spread the beets in a single layer on a baking sheet, leaving a little space for the chicken. Pour all the remaining liquid over the beets.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on the baking sheet in between the beets. Pour the remaining marinade over the chicken then sprinkle on the salt, ground ginger, dried mint, black pepper, and sumac. Add a few splashes of chicken broth to the bottom of the baking sheet.
- Roast for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the inside temperature of the chicken reaches 165°. The time will depend on the size of your chicken.
- When the chicken is cooked through, let it rest for about 10 – 15 minutes.
- Slice the chicken into pieces. Serve with a large scoop of beets, spoon some of the drippings over the top, and sprinkle with pomegranate arils. Enjoy!