Musakhan chicken rolls are made with shredded chicken, sumac, caramelized onions, flatbread, and olive oil.
Sumac chicken, or musakhan, could probably be labeled as the national dish of Palestine. Originally, Palestinians used to make it to celebrate the olive harvest. But you'll definitely find it as a main dish at all events.
Traditionally, musakhan chicken is served with layers of thick, fresh flatbread called taboon that's drenched in olive oil and sandwiched between generous beds of onions and sumac. This version packs shredded sumac chicken into crispy rolls.
What is Sumac?
Sumac: Sumac is one of the most famous spices in the Palestinian kitchen. It's a bright red/magenta colored powder that comes from the dried and then ground berries of the wild sumac flower. This is what gives musakhan its beautiful red color and its bold tangy flavor.
Sumac is used in fattoush, musakhan, sumac eggs, and you'll find it added to meat, chicken, fish, salad dressing, etc. It's also used as a garnish because it adds the perfect kick to any dish.
Ingredient Notes
Onions: Get your goggles out, because we're chopping LOTS of onions (around 9 to be exact). They're the base of the whole dish. To save time, I just like to slice them instead of chopping them up really small as you'll usually find in musakhan.
Flatbread: The key to this recipe is in the bread. You want to find a really thin flatbread like markook, shrak, or saj bread. They'll give you the perfect ratio between bread and the insanely delicious sumac chicken stuffing. The thinner the bread, the crispier your rolls will be.
Pine nuts: You can add some toasted pine nuts in the filling itself, but I like to sprinkle some right on top of the rolls so they stay crunchy. You can also use toasted almond slivers.
Spices for the Shredded Chicken
Since the chicken will be boiled, it's important to use the correct amount of spices to keep it juicy and flavorful. The combination in this recipe is my all-time favorite!! It includes cardamom, allspice, cinnamon, whole black pepper, and white pepper. Also, make sure to save the flavorful chicken broth to brush on top of the rolls before they bake.
Shredded Musakhan Chicken
In a pot, add the whole chicken, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, allspice, white pepper, black peppercorns, and about 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Boil for 45 to 60 minutes or until completely cooked through.
While the chicken boils, slice up the onions, and in another pot add them in with the olive oil and cook on medium heat until translucent for about 20 minutes. To speed up the process, add ½ teaspoon salt.
Once the chicken and onions are both fully cooked, take the chicken out of the water and shred. Add the shredded chicken and sumac to the onion pot. Mix until well incorporated. Add pine nuts if using.
How To Make Musakhan Rolls
Fold the flatbread in half and cut down the middle so you have two folded halves. Place the chicken and sumac on the widest end, tuck in the sides, and roll. Do this until your mixture is all rolled up.
Preheat your oven to 350 ℉ (180 ℃). Grease the baking pan with olive oil and line up your rolls. Brush with olive oil or leftover chicken broth (from boiling the chicken). Bake until the tops are golden (about 15 to 20 minutes). Garnish with more sumac and pine nuts if using.
Tips and Tricks
For both the traditional Palestinian sumac chicken and these musakhan rolls, cook the onions on medium heat. Make sure the olive oil isn't too hot, and let the onions slowly cook until translucent. Otherwise, the onions will be crispy. I like to stir it every couple of minutes to ensure it cooks evenly.
Roll the bread tightly around the sumac chicken stuffing, and tuck in the sides so the stuffing doesn't fall out. Also, D=don't forget to brush the tops of your rolls with olive oil or chicken broth to get them perfectly crispy.
Variations and Substitutions
The best bread for musakhan rolls is markook, shrak, or saj bread at your local Middle Eastern bakery or supermarket. I would look for large flatbreads that are paper-thin.
If you can't find anything similar and don't want to make your own, you can always use pita bread. I suggest pulling it apart into two halves so you'll get a thinner bread that's easy to roll.
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📋 Recipe
Musakhan Chicken Rolls
Ingredients
Musakhan rolls
Spices to boil the chicken
- 2 tablespoon allspice
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon cardamom ground or whole
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- In a pot, add the whole chicken, cinnamon stick, white pepper, whole black peppercorns, cardamom pods, bay leaf, allspice, and about 8 cups of water (don't add the sumac). Bring to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes or until completely cooked through.
- While the chicken boils, slice up the onions, and in another pot add them in with the olive oil and cook on medium heat until translucent for about 20 minutes. To speed up the process, add ½ teaspoon salt.
- Once the chicken and onions are both fully cooked, take the chicken out of the water and shred. Add the shredded chicken to the onion pot. Add all the sumac and mix until well incorporated. Add pine nuts if using.
- Fold the flatbread in half and cut down the middle so you have 2 folded halves. Place the chicken and sumac on the widest end, tuck in the sides, and roll. Do this until your mixture is all rolled up.
- Preheat your oven to 350 ℉ (180 ℃). Grease the baking pan with olive oil and line up your rolls. Brush with olive oil or leftover chicken stock.
- Bake until the tops are golden (about 15 to 20 minutes). Garnish with more sumac and pine nuts if using.
Notes
- Marinating the chicken is not necessary.
- Substitute 2 lbs of chicken breast for a 3lb whole chicken.
- This recipe uses A LOT of onions- it's not a typo.
Sheherazahde
I use flour tortillas for the wraps.
And sumac tastes like lemon. Sumac is that same plant that grows wild on the side of the road all over the US. The bright red cones of berries are the spice. If you get it fresh you can make pink lemonade out of the berries. Don’t worry about mistaking it for poison sumac. Poison sumac has white berries. The cones of red berries are definitely safe.
Lily
Thank you for the comment! I didn’t know that about sumac berries
Rubina Zaman
Can you use puff pastry for these?
Lily
I've not tried puff pastry but would imagine the puff pastry can be baked separately, then topped with the chicken. If you try it any other way please let us know how it turns out!
Kelly
Thank you Palestinian's have the best food
Lily
Thank you!
Amy
Can you use FILO or egg roll shells?
Lily
Thanks for the comment! We haven't tried making this recipe with egg roll shells, so we aren't sure how it will turn out. You can use filo, but it will probably be hard to roll the musakhan chicken. The better way to assemble the musakhan chicken if using filo, is more like a a pie. So you would put the filo layers on the bottom, then the musakhan chicken as a filling, then som more filo layers on top. You can add some butter in between a few of the filo layers if desired.
Layla
Delicious musakhan chicken recipe. I boiled the chicken a little longer than the recipe to make it extra tender.
Lily
Thanks for the comment!
Khadijah
Do you not marinade the chicken in anything?
Lily
Hi Khadijah, thanks for the question! This recipe doesn't require marinating the chicken, however you can if you want to. You can blend two medium onions in the food processor and then lather the onions all over the chicken with salt and pepper. Let the chicken sit for about 2 hours before boiling. This is not a required step and it does make the recipe take longer.