Having chicken on Friday night is an ingrained tradition for Eastern European families. Good roasted chicken doesn’t require many ingredients, and it feeds a crowd, making it an obvious choice. And back in Eastern Europe, red meat was expensive and not as readily accessible; it was generally reserved for more special occasions like holidays. Food writer and cookbook author Ronnie Fein shares, “Shabbat was one of the few times the Jews, who were poor, could indulge in chicken. The rest of the week would be potatoes, vegetables and grains.”
According to Joan Nathan, while Jews have been serving chicken for Friday night dinner since the Middle Ages, it is a relatively recent occurrence that Friday night chicken has become roasted chicken.
Historically, Jews simmered the chicken with rice or made a tagine or fricassee of it. Ashkenazi Jews would boil it, serving the soup as a first course and cutting off the breasts to make cutlets for the Shabbat main dish.
Today chicken is still common (and delicious) to serve on Friday night, and while even the best of us love a good, simple roast chicken, we also crave some variety. So here are 25 totally delicious, different wonderful recipes to try all year round.
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- One Pan Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots
- Roast Chicken with Lemon and Thyme from Kosher Camembert
- Roast Chicken with Fresh Pineapple
- Cranberry Balsamic Roast Chicken from Cotter Crunch
- Pomegranate BBQ Chicken from Kitchen-Tested
- Honey Harissa Roast Chicken
- Beer Can Roasted Chicken from Cooking Glory
- Roasted Chicken with Autumn Vegetables
- Simple Spatchcock Chicken
- Braised Barley Wine Chicken from Nosherium
- Coconut Pot Roasted Chicken from Recipe Tin Eats
- Citrus Herb Roast Chicken (with video!)
- Peri Peri Roast Chicken from Delicious Magazine
- Pomegranate and Honey Glazed Chicken
- Honey Horseradish Roasted Chicken
- Shabbat Chicken with Dried Fruit
- Ina Garten’s Engagement Roast Chicken
- One Pot Greek Oven-Roasted Chicken from Super Golden Bakes
- Seasoned Spatchcock Chicken with Za’atar Potatoes from What’s for Dinner Esq.
- Baked Chicken with Fig Orange Balsamic Sauce from Ronnie Fein
- Oven Roasted Sweet and Sticky Chicken from Don’t Waste the Crumbs
- Beer Roasted Chicken with Chipotle Chimichurri from The Artful Desperado
- Maple Mustard Roasted Chicken from Tales of an Overtime Cook
- Roasted Shabbat Chicken with Spring Vegetables from What Jew Wanna Eat
- Za’atar Sheet Pan Chicken with Cauliflower and Chickpeas
Ashkenazi
Pronounced: AHSH-ken-AH-zee, Origin: Hebrew, Jews of Central and Eastern European origin.
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