This Egyptian minced molokhia with roasted chicken is a combination of minced molokhia soup, tender white rice, and roasted chicken. Molokhia is a thick green soup made with jute mallow leaves.
Molokhia is a very common dish in many Middle Eastern countries, and this is the Egyptian version. There are slight differences in how molokhia is made between countries, like this Lebanese molokhia recipe.
What You'll Love
Molokhia is a comforting meal that's easy to reheat the next day. The combination of roasted chicken, fluffy rice, and homemade chicken broth mixed with minced molokhia is a comforting well-balanced meal.
This is THE RECIPE I think about when Egyptian food comes to mind. Probably the most popular dish made for dinner, and for good reason- it's delicious!
Ingredient Notes
- Molokhia: You can use fresh or frozen minced molokhia leaves. Frozen molokhia is easier to find in the US, however, try to buy the already minced molokhia. If I come across fresh molokhia leaves in the supermarket, then I will go for the fresh leaves. This recipe uses frozen molokhia, but if you would like a recipe using fresh mulukhiyah, check out this Egyptian mulukhiyah from scratch recipe.
- Whole chicken: In order to get the chicken broth the right taste, I recommend going with a whole chicken. Molokhia just doesn't taste the same if you only use chicken breasts in my opinion.
- Rice: I use Egyptian rice for this recipe which is also known as Calrose rice.
- Butter: You can use ghee, butter, or olive oil.
- Onion: You can use brown onions, white onions, red onions, or sweet onions. Green onion won't work for this recipe.
- Garlic: Molokhia with chicken needs fresh garlic. Dried garlic or garlic powder will not give the same results.
- Tomato paste: Any type of tomato paste will do.
- Lime: I recommend fresh lime for this recipe.
- Spices: You will need whole cardamom pods, a bay leaf, and ground coriander.
If you can't find fresh molokhia, don't worry. Most middle eastern supermarkets sell frozen molokhia, like the one below. Just make sure that the molokhia is already finely chopped. For the purpose of this recipe, I'm going to use frozen molokhia.
How To Make Egyptian Molokhia
This recipe is split into four parts: making the homemade chicken broth, making the rice, preparing the minced molokhia, and roasting the chicken.
Make the Chicken Broth
The first step is boiling the chicken, onion, bay leaves, and cardamom. Boil the chicken on high for 45 minutes. Reduce to medium-low and cover with a lid for another 45 minutes. The total cooking time for the chicken broth is around 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The reason for cooking the chicken in water is to be able to use the broth for the molokhia and rice. A secondary benefit is that the chicken is very tender!
Make the Rice
Wash the rice in a bowl several times until the water runs clear. Melt 2 tablespoon butter, add rice to the butter, and stir. Add 2 cups of chicken broth (made in the step above) and 2 cups of water.
Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste. Bring the rice to a boil on high heat uncovered. Once the water is boiling, turn to medium heat uncovered.
When the liquid is not visible on top of the rice, reduce to very low heat, and cover the rice (about 5 to 7 minutes). Remove the rice from the heat and keep covered.
Prepare the Molokhia
Peel and cut off the ends of the garlic. Chop the garlic into finely minced pieces or mash the garlic with a mortar and pestle.
Add 2 tablespoon of butter or ghee to a non-stick frying pan. Heat the pan on medium-high heat. Fry ¾ of the smashed garlic. Add salt and ground coriander once the garlic starts to turn golden brown. Remove the fried garlic from the heat once the garlic is a medium brown color.
Add the frozen molokhia to the chicken broth and add ¼ of the fresh minced garlic. Once the molokhia comes to a boil, mix in the fried garlic with ground coriander. Remove the molokhia from the heat.
Roast the Chicken
Remove chicken from the broth using a strainer. Lay chicken on a sheet pan. Mix the tomato paste and lime together with some salt and pepper. Rub the tomato sauce on top of the chicken.
Roast the chicken in the oven at 425 ℉ (220 ℃) until the skin is brown and crispy like below.
Tips and Tricks
Homemade chicken broth: This recipe explains how to make chicken broth from scratch. The same chicken used to make the chicken broth is roasted with a tomato paste lime sauce later.
Tomato paste lime sauce: I don't know why, but this tip makes a big difference. Mix the tomato paste, lime juice, salt, and pepper in a bowl separately prior to slathering on the chicken. If you add the tomato paste, then squeeze the lime on the chicken it actually tastes a little different. Call me weird, but I swear it tastes different!
The ratio of broth to molokhia: Depending on your personal preference, you can add more or less chicken broth. If you like a thicker or thinner molokhia, you can adjust the broth ratio to achieve your desired consistency.
Sometimes I’ll make a double batch and we will have meals for 3-4 nights. If I plan on reheating this the next day, I will not roast all of the chicken. I’ll save half of the chicken for the next day and roast it fresh.
Substitutions and Variations
- If you use fresh molokhia, here's a more in-depth post on how to make mulukhiyah from scratch.
- Buy a whole chicken already cut up from the store in lieu of a whole chicken.
- Roast the whole chicken as one piece or split it into smaller sections: thigh and leg, chicken breast, and wings.
- Add fresh chopped cilantro to the fried garlic at the end for something different!
- Serve with some pita bread and lemon wedges.
FAQs
Molokhia is a thick stew or soup made with jute leaves, also known as Jews mallow.
Jute is a leafy green vegetable high in fiber, Vitamin A, and Vitamin c.
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📋 Recipe
Egyptian Molokhia with Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
- 1¾ lbs frozen or fresh molokhia 800 grams, see notes
- 3 lbs whole chicken
- 1 onion
- 4 cups uncooked Calrose rice
- 3 bay leaves
- 8 cardamom pods
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 lime
- 1½ heads of garlic about 20 garlic cloves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 tablespoon butter or ghee
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 10 cups water
Instructions
Broth
- Cut whole chicken into quarters. Cut onion into quarters. Put water onto the stovetop. Add cardamom, bay leaves, salt, and pepper to the water. I start with 2 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper to start. Add the chicken and quartered onions.
- Boil on high for 45 minutes. Reduce to a simmer and cover the pot for 45 minutes. Strain out the broth. Check the salt and adjust to your preference.
Rice
- Wash the rice several times with water until the water runs clear. Melt 2 tablespoon butter. Add rice to butter and stir. Add 2 cups of chicken broth (made in the step above) and 2 cups of water.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring the rice to a boil on high heat uncovered. Once the water is boiling, turn to medium heat uncovered. Once the liquid is not visible on top of the rice, reduce to very low, and cover the rice (about 5 to 7 minutes). Remove the rice from the stovetop and keep covered.
Roasted Chicken
- Set oven to 425 ℉ (220 ℃).
- Place boiled chicken into a baking pan. In a separate bowl, mix the tomato paste, lime juice, salt, and pepper together. Rub the chicken with tomato paste lime sauce.
- Put the chicken in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the top of the chicken is crispy.
Molokhia
- Make sure the frozen molokhia has thawed. Keep it in the package until it's ready to be added to the broth. Peel a whole head of garlic. Chop the garlic very finely.
- In a nonstick skillet, add butter. Once butter is melted, add ¾ head of mashed garlic. Add ground coriander to the garlic. Fry the garlic in butter or ghee until dark golden brown. Set aside.
- In another pot, add about 4 cups of the chicken broth to a stovetop pot. Add 800 grams of fresh or frozen minced molokhia and the minced fresh garlic (about ¼ of the original garlic). Bring the molokhia to a boil stirring continuously. Check the consistency and add 1 to 2 more cups of broth to reach desired consistency. See notes.
- Let the molokhia boil for about 1 minute. If using fresh molokhia, boil for about 3 minutes. Add the fried garlic to the molokhia. Serve with rice.
Notes
- If you would like a more in-depth version of cooking molokhia with fresh molokhia leaves, read this Egyptian mulukhiyah from scratch recipe.
- Depending on how thick or thin you want your molokhia to be, you can adjust the amount of molokhia added. For every 400 grams of frozen minced molokhia, I use about 2 cups of chicken broth.
- Depending on the brand of frozen molokhia, you may need to adjust the broth amount in order to reach your desired consistency.
Elena S.
I loved it. Especially the chicken covered in the tasty tomato paste/lime marinade (I had lemon, so used lemon). An Egyptian lady told me that they serve with sliced to tomatoes and fresh onion on top and vinegar. But the tomato puree caramelized so nicely on the chicken. Thank you.
Lily
I'm so glad you liked the recipe! My Lebanese family add vinegar and onions to molokhia, so I'd imagine it would be tasty to eat it that way!
ameerah
cute you have gone totally Egyptian. Im also a foreigner living in Egypt for now . I learned how to make this dish years ago and can make a few others good job One thing I dont agree with tho is when you said its only better with the whole chicken i beg to differ. i have used the chicken breasts when i did not have whole chicken and it came out the same and tasted great . Another thing this dish isnt arab its jewish
Lily
I guess I have lol! Thanks for the feedback on the option for using chicken breast.
Dina
Authentic. Please add instructions for the fresh jute option.
Lilian B.
Thanks for your comment! I will update the recipe for fresh jute very soon- once I can find it in the stores!
Elena S
I tried to grow jute last year, in Michigan, specially for this dish. It was a disaster...LOL...
Lily
I really like fresh molokhia if it's available. I can't imagine growing it!
Ahmed
This is pretty close to my mother’s version.
Caren Lee
I’ve never tried jute before! I’m going to try this. Where can I get frozen jute? Do they have that in the US?
Lilian B.
Hey Caren! So try googling in your area for Arabic food stores. The key is that you want minced frozen jute. That way you don't have to blend it before adding to the broth.