Persian Fesenjan (Pomegranate Walnut Chicken)
Delicious Persian fesenjan is rich in color, flavor, and history! Made with sweet and sour pomegranate molasses and nutty toasted walnuts, this stew contains bold, defining Middle Eastern spices and chunks of juicy, tender chicken breast. Served over rice, it’s filling and satisfying!
Have you ever heard the Iranian saying, “He behaves as if he has had partridge and fesenjan”? Today, we’re not talking about the partridge — we’re talking about the thick, spiced stew known as khoresh-e-fesenjan.
This fesenjan recipe was considered a dish of royalty with its intricate ingredients and rich, almost festive flavor. Nowadays, these ingredients are pretty easy to come by! The trickiest ingredient to find is probably the pomegranate molasses, but even that is commonly found in baking aisles or Ethnic food sections at your local grocery stores.
This sweet-and-sour, fruity sauce is simmered with warm Middle Eastern spices and toasted walnuts to create a thick, luxurious stew filled with tender chicken breast, onions, and garbanzo beans.
Table of Contents
I suggest serving your stew with rice, such as saffron basmati, sabzi polo or lubia polo, crispy tahdig, or a tachin rice cake.
- Chicken Breast – I prefer to use quick-cooking skinless, boneless chicken breast. You can absolutely use a skin-on, bone-in cut or even use chicken thighs if you like, but will need to increase the cooking time accordingly.
- Yellow Onions – Feel free to substitute with shallots or any onion of your choosing.
- Chickpeas – Rinse and drain before using — even if using cooked, rehydrated dried garbanzos.
- Cinnamon Stick – A single cinnamon stick simmered in the sauce adds a depth of warm, earthy sweetness to this fesenjan recipe. If you only have dried, use ½ teaspoon or substitute with ground allspice.
- Walnut Pomegranate Sauce – This sauce has a base of chicken stock and is generously seasoned with warm, aromatic spices including nutmeg, cumin, and turmeric. But the defining flavors come from:
- Pomegranate Molasses – A mostly sour, fruity sauce sometimes also labeled as a syrup. You can substitute with pomegranate concentrate cooked down into a thicker syrup.
- Toasted Walnuts – Those with tree nut allergies can substitute the walnuts with sunflower seeds for a similar flavor. Otherwise, the chickpeas offer plenty of nuttiness — you can easily omit this ingredient and enjoy this fesenjan recipe with all of its intended flavors!
- Cook Onions. Pour the olive oil into a skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add half of the onions and cook for 4 or 5 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel, season with salt, and repeat with remaining onions. Leave the oil in the skillet to cook the chicken in later.
- Toast Walnuts. In a separate, dry skillet, toast the walnuts for several minutes until fragrant — but do not burn, lest the sauce become bitter. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
- Blend Sauce. Add the toasted walnuts to a blender with the chicken stock, ground turmeric and cumin, salt, nutmeg, and black pepper. Blend well and set aside.
- Cook Chicken. Reheat the oil from the onions over medium-high heat, then add another tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes until browned on all sides.
- Simmer. Return the onions to the pan along with the chickpeas and cinnamon stick. Pour the blended sauce and drizzle the pomegranate molasses over everything, cover, and cook at a low temperature for 15 minutes.
- Serve. Remove the lid, discard the cinnamon stick, and stir. Serve over rice and top with pomegranate seeds.
Golden Brown Onions
For that added layer of flavor I like to slowly cook the onions to a deep, golden brown. Do it in batches so as not to over crowd the pan and “steam” them which adds more water and defeats the purpose of getting them crispy.
Recommended Tools
- Cast Iron Skillet – A good Dutch oven is the next best thing.
Storing and Reheating
Transfer uneaten fesenjan to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days, separate from the rice used for serving — rice is almost always better to reheat separately!
Reheat slowly at a low-to-medium temperature, stirring until the stew and chunks of chicken are warmed through.
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Absolutely! You will first want to substitute the chicken stock with a vegetable or mushroom broth.
While traditionally made with poultry, fesenjan can be made with vegetables for a vegetarian-friendly meal. To keep with a Middle Eastern palate, try vegetables such as squash, okra, eggplant, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
It’s a little tricky, but so worth the effort. They’re great to top this fesenjan recipe — and several other delicious Middle Eastern recipes!
Try rolling the pomegranate around on the counter to loosen the seeds before slicing the fruit around the middle, just deep enough to cut through the rind, and pull it apart. From there, you should be able to squeeze each half and tap with a spoon to shake all of the seeds, or “arils,” free.
The stew should be more sour than sweet! If it’s too sour for your liking, add a bit of sugar while the sauce is still hot, stir, taste, and repeat until the flavor is right.
If it’s too sweet, then add a little more molasses. And if both flavors are too strong, you can add small amounts of chicken stock to neutralize them.
Fesenjan (Walnut Pomegranate Chicken)
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken breast chopped (See Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 yellow onions sliced
- 15 oz chickpeas drained, rinsed
- 1 cinnamon stick
Sauce
- 2 cups walnuts toasted
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup pomegranate molasses
Serving
- Serve with saffron infused rice or see Note 2
- Garnish- mint sprig and pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large deep skillet (or Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Cook sliced onion in 2 batches for 4 to 5 minutes, or until a deep golden brown. Transfer to paper towel lined plate to drain, season with salt. Repeat with remaining onions. Leave remaining oil in pan to cook chicken.
- Toast walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for several minutes and fragrant. Do not burn or sauce will be bitter. Remove from pan and cool.
- In a blender add the toasted walnuts, chicken stock, turmeric, cumin, salt, nutmeg and black pepper. Puree until blended. Set aside.
- Heat large deep skillet (or Dutch oven) over medium-high heat with oil from onions and add 1 tablespoon oil. Transfer chicken to pan, saute for 5 minutes, or until golden in color on all sides.
- Scatter half the crispy onions on top of chicken, layer the chickpeas and cinnamon stick on top of onions. Pour the walnut sauce on top of chickpeas and drizzle the pomegranate molasses all over the top. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes (20 minutes if using chicken thighs). Remove lid and stir through to mix everything. Remove and discard cinnamon stick.
- Serve with Fesenjan spooned over rice of choice (See Note 2) and pomegranate seeds on top.
Notes
- I use chicken breast meat because it has a lesser cook time. Feel free to use chicken thighs, skin on, bone in if preferred. Cook over medium heat, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove lid, turn chicken and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Rice suggestions: steamed saffron basmati rice, Sabzi Polo, Lubia Polo, Rice with Tahdig or Tachin.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
OMG, Kevin. This is one of my favorite Persian dishes.
I can’t wait to make it.
Thank you for all your amazing recipes.
xxoxoxo Jean
Excellent! Let me know what you think Jean. 🙂
This is a superb recipe! Glad you included it in your repertoire.
Thanks so much Pilar!
You’re like my secret food website! Wow, wow, wow this was amazing. So rich and nuanced. Thanks for another hit!
Much appreciated Katie, glad you’re enjoying the recipes. 🙂