Last Updated on June 12, 2022
Lebanese Grilled Chicken Recipe
Lebanese grilled chicken recipe is a tangy, garlicky traditional BBQ dish that tends to be our “Sunday special” at home. This dish is popular also in Lebanese restaurants in Lebanon and is often served as the main dish, along with grilled Kibbe.
Lebanese Grilled Chicken – Dajaj Mishwi
Dajaj Mishwi Marinade
The marinade is quite simple: It includes lemon juice, apple cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar), extra virgin olive oil, 7-spices, a ton of garlic, and some salt. Slicing the chicken before the marination helps the intensify the flavors.
Slice the chicken to help absorb the marinade
Marinate chicken for at least 4 hours
Baste Chicken With Leftover Marinade
Serve Grilled Chicken with Lebanese Garlic Paste
Lebanese Grilled Chicken ss Quite Easy to Make
This Lebanese-style grilled chicken recipe is quite easy to make and the secret is in the marinade. If you’ve ever tried Nando’s chicken, the outcome resembles their lemon herb grilled chicken a tad bit.
FAQs
How do you prepare chicken for grilling?
Preheat the grill for 15 minutes with the lid vents open. About 500 degrees Fahrenheit should be the fire temperature. Grill the chicken skin-side up for best results. Move the thighs, drumsticks, and wings closer to the flames and further away from the breasts and wings.
Should chicken be oiled before grilling?
The short answer is no, you don’t to boil chicken before grilling.
Lebanese Grilled Chicken BBQ Recipe – Djej Mishweh
Ingredients
- 6 pieces chicken (breast or leg quarters with skin
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1 head garlic pealed
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Lebanese 7 Spices
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preparation and Marination
- In a bowl, sprinkle then rub ground cinnamon on raw chicken, rub with half a cup of vinegar for a couple of minutes and then rinse well with cold water. This will help rid the chicken of any smell.
- Make cuts in chicken pieces for the marinade to penetrate.
- Rub the chicken with the spices and salt, then add the lemon juice and remaining vinegar. Rub well. Add the oil, then rub it all one more time.
- Place the chicken in a sealed container in the fridge for 4 hours to marinate well. Once done, save the marinade to baste the chicken with on the grill.
Grilling the Chicken
- Grill the chicken on a BBQ as you would other chicken on medium heat for about 12-15 minutes.
- As the chicken pieces grill, flip them every 2-3 minutes for an even cook. Grill until internal temp reaches 165F or the chicken looks nice and crispy on the outside. Don't overcook or it will dry up.
Notes
- This chicken tastes best when grilled over mesquite charcoal.
- Baste the chicken with the leftover marinade while on the grill to keep it moist, add flavor, and avoid charring it.
- Serve chicken with our Lebanese Garlic Dip and Pita bread and indulge your taste buds 🙂.
What to do with the garlic and when to add , do I grind the garlic in to paste and add it in the marinade?
Why save the marinade? It doesn’t explain what it’s used for.
Save the marinade for basting. As the chicken cooks you can use the extra marinade the brush on the chicken for flavor
Made this today. Somehow the half cup red apple cider vinegar in the marination left overnight made it tooooo tangy and couldn’t be consumed.
Absolutely wonderful! Feel like I’m on vacation back in Lebanon!
Can I bake this recipe in oven? If yes , can I know the temperature and duration. Cooking. Thanks
Zeina you could bake it at 450 degrees for about 30-40 mins
Can we bake it with all the oil and juices or do we remove them?
You could bake it certainly. It just won’t taste as good as BBQ 🙂
Hi,
I have some doubt about the quantity,
could you please tell me what is the unit of cup?
1 cup = ?? ml
Hi,
Planning to make tawook and dejaj mishwe tomorrow.Few doubts on the mishwe.In Saudi we used to eat at a Lebanese place called McCoys and we called the barbacued chicken as “dejaj faham”. Is it the same as mishwe( does mishwe in Arabic mean barbacue ?)
Is the Arab 7 and lebanese 7 spices the same ?
You mentioned Arabic 7 spices or black pepper in the recipe. Can I just go with black pepper if I dont have the spices ?
Since the Arabic 7 spices contains cinnamon, if I use the 7 spices, should the cinnamon mentioned in the recipe be added ?
Hi Vincent – Mishweh means grilled, and Faham means charcoal. So essentially the Dejaj Faham and Mishweh are the same thing. I’ve seen varying recipes for both Lebanese 7 spices and Arabic 7 spices. I’m guessing that they started out as just 7 spices, but people started attaching labels to them. Even in Lebanon, if you go to two different spice stores, you may get slightly different formulas for the 7 spices as people get artistic with it. We have one basic formula here, if you want you can buy the spices seprate and just mix them: https://www.mamaslebanesekitchen.com/pantry/ . The cinnamon the recipe calls for is additional to what’s inside the 7 spices.
Can you advise on where I get red vinegar as I would like to use a non alcoholic version? I used malt white vinegar and it did not come out right. I will redo it if I can get the red vinegar. Thanks.
Hi Ash – we usually find this red vinegar in supermarkets. It could be either Apple Cider Vinegar, or Red Wine Vinegar. You’re right about white vinegar, we’ve also tried it with it and it doesn’t come out well. Red vinegar gives it a beautiful tangy flavour.
Thank you for the advice. Much appreciated.
hi…i love all ur recipes..n try 2 follow them…dey rlly very easy 2 follow ..ws wonderin if u cud teme whts ths 7 spics..plzplzplzz